FELA’S Biography Comes HOME

Cassava Republic, a publisher in Nigeria would be publishing in English, Fela; A Bitch of Life by Carlos Moore. The authoritative biography was first published in French language in 1982. The 350 pages book takes the reader around the labyrinth of the life, struggles and Times of Fela, one of Africa's most celebrated music icon. Moore writes from the humble beginnings of posthumous Grammy award winner to his black consciousness days as a student in England. His musical evolution and his return to Nigeria to fulfil purpose was not left out in Fela: A Bitch of Life.
Fela was no doubt a brazenly fearless agent of change who guided the mind with his music with both blunt truths and satire. The book also reveals Fela's stunning music skills, his anti colonial, anti oppression messages that made him a regular visitor of the Nigerian prisons during the military era. Nevertheless, Moore notes his undoubting and undaunting spirit of the late Icon in the face of these threats.
The book does not limit itself with the musical prowess of Fela alone. It gives pages to interviews with Fela's wives. Opening up aside of Fela many people do not know, Fela as lover and husband.



Fela remains one of the few Nigerians with both an authorised book, a film on Broadway in Hollywood and a yearly celebration in the famous kalakuta shrine. Felabration, the yearly event for the late icon is scheduled for October. Also, the author of the biography will be will be touring Nigeria this coming October. He will be at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Sabo Lagos, French Cultural Centre, Wuse, Abuja on the 9th and 16 of October respectively.




Carlos Moore is a cuban political scientist in exile. He was persecuted by Castro when he opposed Castro racial policies. He left his native cuba for guinea in 1963 and had since served as an in house journalist for Agence France-presse. Moore who is fluent in five languages is also a specialist on West African affairs for the international weekly, Jeune Afrique. He also served as personal consultant to the Secretary General of the Organisation of African Unity, now African Unity,AU. He specializes in African, Latin-American and Caribbean affairs. Moore is currently a honorary research fellow at the University of West Indies. He currently lives in Brazil.
Other books written by the author are, Pichón. Race and Revolution in Castro´s Cuba, África que Incomoda, Racismo e Sociedade, African Presence in the America, and Cette Putain de Vie.

A Date with Toni Kan’s Infidelity

A Date with Toni Kan’s Infidelity



Literary Buffs and friends of Toni Kan’s have been wondering what has become of Kan’s creative stories. Kan, the current editor of The Sun’s Art page is known for Night of the Creaking Bed, his collection of Short Stories, published in 2008. He is also the author of When a dream lingers too long, a poetry collection, and Ballad of rage, a novella, which he got honourable mentions at the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, and Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG literature prize in 2003 and 2004 respectively. He is involved in Infidelity amongst other things at the moment.
Infidelity is Kan’s forthcoming collection of urbane short stories set to be published later this year. Readings of Harbinger and Wasiu Karimu don Hammer, two of the stories of the unpublished collection was organised by the author and Kaine Agary, winner of the NNLG prize for Literature 2009 and author of Yellow Yellow, at Lifehouse,Victoria Island on 0ctober 14. Kan said that infidelity talks about crime, conning, and unfaithfulness.
Harbinger is about a Nigerian military man with the responsibility of informing family members of the demise of their breadwinners fighting at the Liberian peacekeeping front. Although the harbinger keeps to his duty, the story reads “he sleeps with the widows,...who told you...my Dad told my mum, my mum told me. The harbinger truly does use the loopholes of the military structure to feather his sexual nest, as he drives his 504 to the homes of emotionally troubled widows. The Harbinger lies to the wife of a military man who is alive in Liberia and had his way with her, that began the end of such activities. Wasiu Karimu don Hammer is a funny story about the frustration of the average Nigerian who began a life of infidelity with policemen in order to gain financial standing.
see pictures,
Highlights of the event were a room for questions and discussions. One of the issues discussed was the portrayal of negatives and poverty in Nigerian Literature. While some described it as a sort of exoticism that has cast a shadow on the existing hopes, excellence and aspiration of the people, others justified these writings, they said, “it was the duty of writer’s to create out of the existing realities”. Other issues were about the Art, philosophy and influence of Fela on the individuals present, and books that gained the approval and disapproval of Toni Kan, as fela’s song played at the background.
“Infidelity is about being untruthful, not being faithful. It does not necessarily have to do with sex as one may think” Kan told the magazine. He also revealed “ I am also engrossed with writing a novel entitled Lasgidi and its so interesting, I can’t stop writing”.

Mandela Reflects, Conversations with Myself

Mandela Reflects, Conversations with Myself

What has been described as Mandela's last and definitive biography before he goes whereever he goes was made public on October 12.Conversations with Myself, a book written by Verne Harris, an archivist at the Mandela Foundation with the help of a team of archivists, editors and collaborators with materials such as notes, letters, recorded materials, amongst others. Mandela, the 92 year old South African former president’s new book throws up the psychological conflicts in humans just like in James Joyce’s Portrait of a Youngman as an Artist.
Conversation with Myself reveals the human frailties and the pains of sacrifice of Anthi-Aparthed Hero. The Book is a huge deviation from the brave and saintly tone in Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela's 1995 autobiography. Long Walk to Freedom was reported to have been used to elevate Anti-Aparthied Activists to new roles as South-African leaders and to unite the white South-Africans with the Black ones. Conversations with Myself, seem contrary with the 1995 autobiography as Mandela reavels "My installation as the first democratically elected President of the Republic of South Africa was imposed on me much against my own advice," saying he would have wanted a younger person to be the first president of the Country.
In Conversations with Myself, Mandela reveals his frustration of not spending time with his children due to the several imprisonments at the behest of the Anti-Apartheid Struggle."I find it difficult to believe that I will never see thembi again. On February 23 this year he turned 24. I had seen him towards the end of July 1962 a few days after I had returned from a trip
abroad. Then he was a lusty lad of 17 that I could never associate with death...I was deeply touched for the emotional factors underlying his action were too obvious. For days thereafter my mind and feelings were agitated to realize the psychological strains and stresses my absence from home had imposed on the children." This was an excerpt from the book, originally a letter written to his then-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, after he was informed of the death of his eldest son, thembi, in a car accident in 1969.
There is no doubt that Mandela did not only lose his youthful gait but also his relationship with children, for his activism. Mandela says in his new book that "I never was one, even on the basis of an earthly definition of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying." He also talks about his many divorces, first with Evelyn Ntoko Mase was troublous as she never supported his activism while his marriage and was reportedly froth with scences of violence. His second marriage to Winnie Madikizela came crashing in 1992, two years after he came of 27 years in prison for sabotage and attempted coup plot against the Aparthied government.
All of Mandela’s life is not full of sadness, as one may be wont to think. Conversations with Myself also recalls the humour that has not left Madiba. He also reveals that he was offered up to 1 million rand ($145,500) for a picture of himself by a magazine shortly before his release,"So I refused, and poor, you know to be poor is a terrible thing," Mandela said. The romantic yearnings of Mandela towards Winne are also sources of inspiration for lovers, "my sleeping without you next to me and my waking up without you close to me, the passing of the day without my having seen you".
Barrack Obama, sums it all in the forward he wrote in Conversations with Myself, "By offering us this full portrait, Nelson Mandela reminds us that he has not been a perfect man. Like all of us, he has his flaws. But it is precisely those imperfections that should inspire each and every one of us,". Obama says in the foreword tha his full portraiture makes him gain a high respect for Madiba.

Churning Spades and Spinning Yarns: காம்பஸ் ஒப் தி Heart

Churning Spades and Spinning Yarns: காம்பஸ் ஒப் தி Heart: "Review, Compass of the Heart These last months, I have been reading a book titled Compass of the Heart written b..."

காம்பஸ் ஒப் தி Heart

Review, Compass of the Heart

These last months, I have been reading a book titled Compass of the Heart written by Priscilla Cogan. Drawing extensively from the rich indian tradition, the book reels on the importance of tradition and the fact that rich traditions of the world are going into extinction.

I bought the book at the University of Lagos,Lagos, Nigeria, where I went to attend a political conference. It took some time to read it because I felt that I was in for a boring anthropological lecture in the form of a novel.However, one of the first attractions for me was that it was published by HarperCollins, one of America's formidable publishers. Also, that there was no problem with clarity. It's a book with a universal appeal-anyone can relate to it.I bought it 500naira but according to Random House it nineteen dollars.

Love also takes centre stage even by the title. However, beyond the famed tale of love battles and triump. Compass of the Heart gives insights into the psychology of the average human being. Characters are well shaped, well carved.

Another great attraction for me are the use of worlds, quotes, limericks and songs from the indian tradition. For me, there is a lot of similarity between indian and African traditions.Check the next post for quotes for 10 best quotes used in the book.


Nevertheless, one should not be to surprised about the full grasp cogan has on her subject. Cogan is a Clinical Pyschologist with a PhD.A practitioner of pipe and sweat-lodge ceremonies . She is also the author of Winona's Web, winner of the Small Press Book Award.Its a book you wont drop when you start the very first lines. Visit for more info.

காலேஜ் நியூஸ்

A Boston man was arraigned this morning in Waltham District Court in the stabbing death of a Waltham man last week on the campus of Regis College in Weston.

Judge Gregory Flynn order Robenson Daniel, 20, held without bail.

Police arrested Daniel this morning and charged him with last week's stabbing death of a Waltham man at Regis College.

Daniel, 20, is charged with murder, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and armed assault with the intent to murder.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone, in a statement, says Daniel killed Elhadji Ndiaye, 18, of Waltham, on Friday, Sept. 24 at 3:50 a.m. in a parking lot at Regis College.

Authorities said Ndiaye and Daniel were both with groups of friends and visiting students at Regis College when the two groups got into an argument inside the dorm, which spilled out into the parking lot.

Once outside, the argument turned physical. Daniel stabbed an unidentified 22-year-old Waltham man several times. He then stabbed Ndiaye as he was standing nearby, the district attorney's office said in a statement.

However, Daniel's lawyer, Mark Shea, argued his client should be released on low bail because he was defending himself from a group of men, including one who claimed to have a gun, and the alleged victim, who had a crowbar.

He said the whole incident was caught on video and will prove it was a case of self defense.

The state medical examiner's office ruled that Ndiaye died of a single stab wound to the chest. The other man was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where he was treated and released.

"This is another tragic example of the deadly consequences that too oftentimes occur when young people resort to weapons as a way to settle disputes,'' said Leone. "Because of the alleged violent actions of this defendant, a young life was lost and his family's lives altered forever. We continue to expand our efforts in schools to include colleges and universities in Middlesex County, as the issues such as these that we see in high school do not disappear when students go off to college. In fact, the freedom that college provides often exacerbates such issues.