Weaverbird

Weaverbird is a collection of fourteen short stories touching all aspects of Nigerian life—from the deeply personal to the overtly political. National crises like corruption and conflict in the Niger Delta are explored, alongside experiences of love, sex and pride. Many of the stories balance the complex interplay and contradictions between the individual and the social. Adebayo Ayobami’s ‘Shadow of Eclipse’, for instance, is the tale of a young girl’s desperate choice to sell her body and a commentary on the national condition. Other authors in the collection are bold, even provocative, in their choices: Uche Umezurike in his ‘A Night So Damp’ confronts homosexuality, an issue most Nigerians would rather silence, and Tolu Ogunlesi writes about how corruption in Nigeria corrupts even the incorruptible.

Edited by Akin Adesokan, Ike Anya, Sarah Ladipo Manyika and Ike Oguine, Weaverbird presents a wonderfully thought-provoking body of new Nigerian writing.