Book Reading and The Detective Novel

Book Reading
Martin Egblewogbe read from his short story anthology, Mr. Happy and the Hammer of God at the Niagara Plus Hotel on July 28, 2010. This book reading was organised by the Writers Project of Ghana.

Inspector Darko Dawson Mystery
I have read numerous detective novels but none of them was authored by an African. Most novels by Africans either dwell on the past or complain of the present. Crime as it is known in novels is a 'no-go' area for most of us. This might be because of the humanity of our spirits and the attachment we have towards the spirits that we fail to see that it occurs, that it has become part of the present Africa and Ghana.

But Kwei Quartey has not forgotten. He writes about it and he doesn't just gloss over it in his writings but it is the subject of his writings. This Physician cum Writer has created the Inspector Darko Dawson Mystery. The title of his first novel in this series was titled Wife of the Gods. Currently he is working on his second novel in this series titled Children of the Street, which would be released in 2011.

Dr. Kwei Quartey was born in Ghana and raised by an African American mother and a Ghanaian father.  Even though his professional writing career began after he became a Physician, his desire to be a writer started at a very early age.

So if you are the mystery novel aficionado please just check him out, you may never let go.

Book Reading and Citi Fm Literary Appreciation

The Reading of Mr. Happy and the Hammer of God by the Author

There is going to be a reading of Mr. Happy and the Hammer of God at the Niagara Plus Hotel, Osu behind Koala Shopping Centre on 28th July 2010 at 7pm.

Mr. Happy and the Hammer of God is an eclectic collection of short stories written by the Ghanaian Writer and Physicist, Mr. Martin Egblewogbe, co-founder of the Writers Project of Ghana, the Eha-Lakasa Poetry TalkParty held at the Nubuke Foundation, and host of the new and exciting literary appreciation program on Citi Fm 97.3 (which I would talk about in the next item).

As a Physicist, Martin as a strange way of penetrating into life and of coming out with essence of issues. Some of the titles in the book are Pharmaceutical Interventions, Small Changes in the Dynamic, Jjork, Three Conversations with Ayuba, Down Wind, and many others. These are just no collection of Short Stories. These are the best collection of short stories you would ever read. Martin once told me, during a discussion on which books to read, that if there are over six billion people on earth and 10% of these people are creative writers, then there would be 600,000,000 (six hundred million) writers. If we further assume that each creative writer writes and publishes just two books, there would be about 1.2 billion books to read. How many of these books would an avid reader read before he dies? It is thus important for one to read good books. Books that would poke you to reason and not books that makes one goes 'and so what?' And good stories is what Martin writes.

I have reviewed Martin's short story collection on this blog and you can click here to read my review and also click here to read my interview with the author. 

The interesting part is that I have five copies of Martin's books with me. It sells for GHCedis 10 a copy. If you get yourself a copy and attend the reading by the author, your copy would be autographed. You would also get a free drink in addition to the enjoyment you are guaranteed to have at the reading. So if you need a copy please send me a mail at freduagyeman(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Come let's support our literary writers. If you think writers have no place in society building and in shaping society or directing it onto a better path, try living as a writer in nation's whose rulership has been forcefully and fearfully taken over by military juntas. Writers and members of the arts the first group of individuals to be banned in any country with such military government. Ken Saro-Wiwa, a writer and human right activist was killed by hanging under the Abacha regime for writing about the devastation Shell Petroleum is causing in his native state of Rivers State, Wole Soyinka has been put to prison by several military governments. Think in earnest of these things and you would know the important role authors play in every country's development. Come let's develop the new to take over the old.

Literary Appreciation on Citi Fm 97.3

A new program has been launched on Citi Fm 97.3 by the Writers Project of Ghana (WPG). It started yesterday, Sunday 18th July 2010 and it would be running on every Sunday at 8:30 to 9:30 pm.

The first show featured writers such as, Kojo Laing, author of Big Bishop Roko and the Altar Gangsters, Novisi Dzitre, a member of the Eha-Lakasa TalkParty and a Poet, and Crystal Tettey, a Poet, Performer, and an Author . So tune in to Citi Fm 97.3 this and every Sunday at the specified time and listen to authors discuss literature in Ghana and the world over.

Winners of ImageNations' Book of the Quarter

A poll was conducted for all books that were reviewed on ImageNations from July to September 2009 and which had ratings of 4.5 or higher. In all nine (9) books excluding a book on poetry, Dimples on the Sand, by Henry Ajumeze and a non-fiction political book, Kwame Nkrumah: Vision and Tragedy, by David Rooney were selected. The poll closed today October 16, 2009 at two o'clock GMT.

In all there were fourteen votes and Half of a Yellow Sun won with 60% of the votes. This was followed by Purple Hibiscus, which won 21% and Two Thousand Seasons (14%). There were two collection of short stories: The Thing Around Your Neck (7%) and Mr. Happy and the Hammer of God (7%).

NOVEL
Half of a Yellow Sun is ImageNations' Book of the Quarter. Half of a Yellow Sun is Adichie's second novel following Purple Hibiscus. It tells of the human side of the Biafra war. The novel won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2007. Click to read my review of Half of a Yellow Sun.

Brief Biography of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born on 15th September 1977 in Enugu, Nigeria, the fifth of six children to Igbo parents, Grace Ifeoma and James Nwoye Adichie. While the family's ancestral hometown is Abba in Anambra State, Chimamanda grew up in Nsukka, in the house formerly occupied by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe. Chimamanda's father worked at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Her mother was mother was the first female registrar at the same institution.

Chimamanda completed her secondary education at the University's school, receiving several academic prizes. She went on to study medicine and pharmacy at the University of Nigeria for a year and a half. During this period, she edited The Compass, a magazine run by the University's Catholic medical students.

At the age of nineteen, Chimamanda left for the United States. She gained a scholarship to study communication at Drexel University in Philadelphia for two years, and she went on to pursue a degree in communication and political science at Eastern Connecticut State University.

Chimamanda graduated summa cum laude from Eastern in 2001, and then completed a master's degree in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. It is during her senior year at Eastern that she started working on her first novel, Purple Hibiscus, which was released in October 2003. Her second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, was published in 2006. In 2009, Chimamanda released her third novel, The Thing Around Your Neck, which is a collection of short stories.

Chimamanda was a Hodder fellow at Princeton University during the 2005-2006 academic year, and earned an MA in African Studies from Yale University in 2008.
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Note: All three of Chimamanda Adichie's novels have been reviewed on this blog.

SHORT STORIES
Though there were two collection of short stories and both had the same votes, ImageNations Rated Mr. Happy and the Hammer of God above The Thing Around Your Neck. Thus ImageNations Short Story Collection of the Quarter goes to Mr. Happy and the Hammer of God. Click here to read a review. 

Brief Biography of Martin Egblewogbe

Martin Egblewogbe presently lectures Physics at the University of Ghana and is also a PhD student. He is a poet, a novelist, an astronomist and many others. He is currently working on the Ghana Poetry project and a coordinator for the Talk Party, which is a fortnightly meeting of Poets and Literary folks. Martin has published numerous poems and short stories in different magazines and newspapers in Ghana and elsewhere. I interviewed the author Martin Egblewogbe on this blog. Click to read the interview.

POETRY

Only one collection of poetry was reviewed. Dimples on the Sand is Henry Ajumeze's first published hard copy poetry collection. Before this he had published many other poems at different sites and anthologies. He is first an Anioma citizen and then a Nigerian. His poetry identifies with his roots, Anioma, with poems littered with traditions and symbols of his people. He is more of a speaker for his people and writes as a matter of necessity.

Read my interview with Henry Ajumeze here...

An Interview with Author Martin Egblewogbe

Martin is the Author of "Mr Happy and the Hammer of God", which is a collection of short stories. He is also coordinating the Talk Party, a poetry reading at Nubuke Foundation located at East Legon, and also presently working on the Ghana Poetry Project. Martin is a man of many parts and has been able to fuse all these parts into the arts, for it is in art alone where one can dump all his diverse talents. This is my first interview and I am glad that it was with Martin. Martin keeps a website kpokplomaja where a lot of issues ranging from articles, essays, poetry, books are discussed.

#1: Can you tell us something about yourself, your background both in literature and outside of it?

OK. I live in Accra, my hobbies are still photography and collecting coffee mugs; I am interested in astronomy; I love to be engaged by philosophy; I write poetry and short stories, I am involved in advocacy for Ghanaian writing -- that's how come I'm involved with the Ghana Poetry Project, The Talk Party, and others. Long ago I hated sleeping, but I've now given up.

#2: You are a Physicist, as I understand, how did you come to be so attached to the literary arts and what challenges have you faced so far? Is there anyone who motivated you?

Well, I'm more of a physics student -- writing though is a serious hobby. My father was a writer -- so I cannot escape the fact of his influence, but I guess the larger impact came from all the books that were living in our house with us as we grew up (my siblings and myself, that is). And I think like playing with words and meanings, in general. And I like telling stories.

#3: How long have you been writing (literary)?

Oops -- Ages? I believe that my first serious attempt at a story, which ended with the glorious line ("...and he COLAPASED and died"), was written when I was eight or nine years old. Long ago.

#4: What inspires or motivates you to write and what do you intend to achieve or accomplish with your writings (poetry, stories, essays, etc)?

Different stuff motivates writing in different genres. Things long thought about usually generate short stories or novellas -- things due to sudden events -- bereavements, etc. usually yield poetry. What do I intend to accomplish?

1. Some of the works are written just to help me see through situations in clear and stable light -- if I transpose actual events (over which I have little control) into a story (over which I perhaps have much control), then manipulating parameters etc. etc. I can see better.
2. Some of the writings are simply to tell a story imagined -- and hope others find it fun.
3. Some of the stories are to present ideas -- maybe generate thinking and arguments and rebuffs...
4. and I guess just to have fun with words.

#5: Having read your novel "Mr. Happy and the Hammer of God" I must say I am deeply impressed by your writings, choice of words (diction), and the depth of your writings. Is this your first novel? What difficulties did you encounter whilst putting these stories together and finally getting it published?

Thank you. Well, not my first publication. I've short stories and poems in other books (see, for example: Face To Face: Poems and Short Stories about a Virus). Some of the works in "Mr Happy and the Hammer of God" have been published earlier, elsewhere. Getting published -- methinks that in general the publishing industry in Ghana is rather barren and not yielding much fruit -- but things happen. There are books out there -- by Ghanaians, published in Ghana, etc.

#6: I realised that your writings deal mostly with the metaphysical, the surreal and are very philosophical. Why are you interested in these subjects? Besides, almost all the stories in the collection borders on the pursuit of happiness. Any reason for this? Is it based on any personal experience?

Not all my writings are on such topics or themes. For this collection I put together stories that were similar, and which were based on a common thread of "the happiness thing". For a long time in the past I thought deeply about what happiness was all about, and some of the thoughts led to these stories, which try to suggest that happiness is not really the point of our living. (Not to say that it is unimportant -- only rather pointless). -- OK, let's argue about this...

#7: Even the names you choose for your characters (those that you choose to name) sound mysterious. You would agree with me that names like Dervi, Bubu, Subu, Mhan, Dobo, Jjork are a bit mysterious. How do you come up with such names and is there any reason for these names or what are they meant to signify?

I suppose such names are to firm up the sense of other-worldliness. But there are some that have slightly deeper meaning. Dervi is a few letters short of "Dervish" -- in a sense, he is an imperfect attempt at a holy man of some sort...

#8: I also realised that sometimes your characters remain nameless, making them mysterious. This was so in "To-morrow", "Coffee at the Hilltop Cafe", "Pharmaceutical Interventions", "Down Wind", why did you choose to keep them nameless?

This was an attempt to give less a handle to the characters in the stories and to coax the mind towards the story itself; in some of these stories (for example, "Down Wind" and "Pharmaceutical Intervention"), the "idea" in the story is itself a character in the story -- so the name somewhat distracts and therefore I did not give the characters names...

#9: With the exception of "Pharmaceutical Interventions", which is obvious, almost all your characters are male. Do you have any special attachments to this sex? Are you a male chauvinist?

I guess I do have special attachments to this sex ... I am male... (laugh). Chauvinist? Oh well. I'll leave that to others to decide ...

#10: Which authors did you read when growing up and which of them are your all time favourites or have inspired you in your writings?

Hard to give an accurate list. But maybe the following might give a rough idea... All time favourites? Beckett. Kafka. Dostoevsky. Thomas Mann. Ibsen. Shaw. Mark Twain. Orwell. Tennessee Williams. Gore Vidal. Enough. Africa? Ngugi. Soyinka. Dennis Brutus. Ghanaian? Bill Marshall. Atukwei Okai.

#11: What is your view of the Arts in general (literary and visual) in Ghana (problems, achievements etc)? Is there any hope for the future, especially these days when children prefer playing video games to reading a book?

Hmm... that's a really big one. In a word, it's disappointing. From where I sit, I see little public interest in the Arts. Besides, people tend to see the arts as entertainment -- there is an aspect of entertainment, but the arts are actually much more serious -- to quote Joyce, "Art is the affirmation of the spirit of man ..." It's depressing, really, to see this. But there's always hope for the future though...

#12: Are you working on any projects that we should be aware of?

Mainly the Ghana Poetry Project -- which has spawned interesting things like an upcoming anthology, and contributed to the Talk Party sessions at the Nubuke Foundation...

#13: Anything else to tell us, those of us with the intention to publish our works?

No, nothing really. I want to hear from you instead.

#14: Thank you for your time.

Thank you Nana. I must also congratulate you for this great idea of running a blog of book reviews.

Read my review of Martin's 'Mr. Happy and the Hammer of God' here...

13. Zeroing in on Mr. Happy and the Hammer of God

Title: Mr. Happy and the Hammer of God*
Author: Martin Egblewogbe

Genre: Novel

Publishers: Self Publication (Printed in Ghana)

Pages: 126

Year: 2008

Country: Ghana

Mr. Happy and the Hammer of God is a collection of short stories by Martin Egblewogbe. Written in different narrative styles ranging from an omniscient narrator to a first person narrator, the stories describe everyday affairs of life such as adultery, abortion, and unusual events such as ones thoughts or musings at the point of death, the life of a neurotic and a psychotic and man's place in the universe. If the title seems surreal, the stories are no less. The collection is divided into two parts. The first part consists of seven stories and the second part consist of three. 

"Pharmaceutical Intervention" tells of the guilt and mental suffering of a young girl who aborted a pregnancy in order to save face in the society. "Down Wind" is about a man who has committed a crime but does not know the crime he has committed and the reader is also not told of the crime and whether the man is really innocent as he claims to be. "Small Changes within the Dynamic" tells of a young man who married a particular lady against the advice and wishes of family and friends. He was later to catch her, unashamedly and proudly, cheating on him after he has made her the heir to his properties. "Twilight" presents the thoughts of a man at the point of death. "Mr. Happy and the Hammer of God", the longest of the short stories, tells the story of a young man who was threatened with a demon by his auntie whilst a boy and was later to find out throughout the stages of his life that the demon has a physical representation that just don't go away whether you are a devout Christian or somewhere on the continuum between an Agnostic and an Atheist. "Three Conversations with Ayuba" depicts the hopelessness of a neurotic man who sought the help of a phantasmogorical man, Ayuba, for the solutions to his problems.

The narrative is poetic and one common theme that runs through all the stories in this collection is the pursuit of happiness or the hopelessness of man. The author explores the human mind and makes nonsense of our everyday quest and makes complex and understandable issues we gloss over or hardly ever think about, for how often do we think about the cause of someone's madness and even if we do, how often do we not associate it drugs? Though the stories are short, they are neither straightforward nor their ends easily predictable. Rather than 'inventing the wheel' as most first time novelists do, Martin's short stories are different from any other story I have read in terms of content and presentation. It deeply explores the mind and the metaphysical with such a passion and intensity that other storytellers lack. With this style I believe Martin is in a league of his own. If this book had had the necessary publicity I believe it would have made waves even more than what similar books (other collection of short stories) are making.

Whereas some authors are at home when describing morbid scenes and others are able to turn the worst debauchery into a longing activity, Martin is at home with the metaphysical and the ease with which he does this needs to be appreciated. He easily weaves his way in and out of his characters' mind carrying the reader smoothly along. As a Physicist it is no wonder that Martin writes in this manner. After all, both the metaphysical and the laws of physics are only perceived when they are expressed. How many of us have seen gravity, except when it expresses itself through a falling object.

However, I think most of these short stories could have been expanded because sometimes they end suddenly and leaves the reader asking for more; wanting to know what happened or would happen. Besides, if you are one of those whose mind sometimes slips from the story at hand no matter how short a time or how interesting the story is, then you are in for a disappointment because before you would regain your consciousness the story would have ended. Yet, keeping the stories 'too' short could be an advantage as it continues in your mind, telling you that even though life is short, it doesn't end, it revolves.

I recommend this short story anthology to anyone. With its fresh stories, those who want to cultivate the reading habit can start with this.
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Read my interview with Martin Egblewogbe by clicking here
*Update: This book has been republished by Ayebia-Clarke in 2012