These stories explore, and attempt to define the inexorable new world of emigration and globalisation, fragmented and uncertain, where the legacy of racism and colonialism confuses, prevails, or takes on new forms. The author and his protagonists are the children of the independence movement - the black privileged bourgeoisie, educated abroad and lecturers at universities of world renown; but also the crooks and anonymous odd-jobbers on the streets of the cities. They are cultural hybrids and unwanted aliens in ruthless pursuit of money; their children in pursuit of paper qualifications and fast cars, racing into modernity, without asking what it might mean. Then there is the question of the black complex: symbol of black freedom and solidarity, and the root of racism and inferiority. The author is a professor of French and Francophone Studies. His works include Exlie at Home, and Dead End, One Little Girl's Dream for which he won the Association of Nigerian Authors' Prize for Children's Literature.

Black Gods. A Collection of Short Stories

Literature & Fiction

Ojo-Ade, Femi

United States

African Heritage Press

A conspiracy of earth-shaking importance; a successful nationalist revolution in Russia; the spectre of nuclear war in Europe, Bosnia- Herzegovina centre-stage. African leaders converge to chart the destiny of their country in the event of global rupture, and a visioary African leader emerges to plot the survival of his continent.

Ken Saro-Wiwa: A Bio-Critical Study

Biographies & Memoirs

Africana Legacy Press

Femi Ojo-Ade’s new poetry collection, Gorée’s Unwavering Songs comes a few years after his first, the honourably mentioned Exile at Home. The wait, one daresay, is worth it. This collection is poignant and thought-provoking. The poems delve into the innermost confines of Africa’s soul to address myriad issues stemming from the dual tragedies of slavery and colonialism. At the basis lie the multifarious forms of black experience in Africa and the Diaspora. There is none other more qualified to explore the bitter-sweet life of the continental and the diasporic than Ojo-Ade whose birth and background, as well as personal and professional existence, are encompassed by both sites, such as Nigeria, The Gambia and Senegal, and the Americas and Brazil. The titles in the collection are proof enough of the poet’s deep knowledge of the spaces explored and the intricate, inescapable linkage between the two homes of Blacks. According to the poet, the black experience is a continuum over generations and eras. Africa is nothing without the Diaspora. African poetry follows its own particular drumbeat; similar to jazz, it emanates from spontaneity. An authenticity dipped in the sweat and blood of those that have seen their midday suddenly or slowly become midnight. The rhythm of Africa’s soul reverberates throughout these poems. There is embedded the syncopated percussion of much pain, and pride in a culture maligned but magnificent in its very core. “In these poems Ojo-Ade uses the metaphor of Gorée Island, in its double meaning: as “the door of no return” for millions of African slaves, and as the location that historically links Africa to its Diaspora. From this metaphorical locus, the poet poses to the reader a fundamental question: What is the actual situation of Black people, both in Africa and all over the world, in the so-called contemporary global village society? These poems/songs—at moments denunciatory and harshly critical, at others tender, hopeful and proud—, make evident that Black people’s human aspirations remain mainly unfulfilled. Departing from this realization, in the so-called global village the poet calls/sings for an unwavering revolution of the mind and the heart that will (re)unite all Black people to finally achieve total human dignity and true freedom.” —ISRAEL RUIZ, Professor of Afro-Hispanic Studies, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, USA Gorée’s Unwavering Songs is a poignant work of remembrance that captures the beginning of the historical derailing of Black humanity. Ojo-Ade’s preoccupation with the Black experience worldwide is reminiscent of the Pablo Neruda’s love of his people. The songs remind us of what most people re-shaped by history want to forget but which the wise want to remake. Ojo-Ade’s voice, expressed in free verse in this volume, is a voice we must not miss. —ROPO SEKONI, retired Professor of English, Lincoln University, USA, and columnist, The Nation, Lagos-Nigeria

Gorée's Unwavering Songs Poetry

Poetry

AMV Publishing Services

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ojo-Ade, Femi. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Ojo-Ade, Femi