An evening of readings and stirring conversations it was on Friday, February 8, 2019 at Ouida House, GRA Ikeja as the German cultural centre, Goethe Institut Nigeria launched the book, Limbe to Lagos: Non-fiction from Cameroon to Nigeria.
This anthology of narrative nonfiction is the outcome of the Literary Exchange project organized by Goethe Institut Lagos and Goethe Institut Cameroon in partnership with Bakwa Magazine and Saraba Magazine. Edited by Dami Ajayi, Emmanuel Iduma and Dzekashu MacViban, the book, through the writers’ perspectives, captures the inter-cultural life of the two neighbouring countries and serves ‘as windows that open into our contemporary African existence’.
Safurat Balogun, Head of Information and Library at Goethe Institut Lagos, served as host for the event, steering the conversation and having four writers from the anthology—Caleb Ajinomoh, Howard M.B. Maximus, Adams Adeosun and Lucia Edafioka—read from their works and share bits of their creative process and what meaning their contributions in the book holds for them.
“I was in a place of grief when I wrote my story,” Adams Adeosun said of his story, ‘I Call Her Beloved’, a tale of friendship.
For Lucia Edafioka, her piece titled ‘Daddy’, about her on-and-off relationship with her father, wasn’t an easy write also. “Writing it was difficult. I spent like two years writing this. I’d write and stop,” she said.
Speaking of his experience at the Literary Exchange project workshop earlier in 2017, Caleb Ajinomoh said, “It was fantastic,” and Adams Adeosun added, “It was a huge eye-opener for me and gave me a lot of confidence.”
During the Q & A session, a member of the audience, Amatesiro Dore stressed the importance of ‘giving back’ and thanked Dami Ajayi and Emmanuel Iduma of Saraba Magazine for their support to other writers and contributions to African literature.
Afterwards, it was all about taking pictures and hearty laughter and conversations.