As most of
you know, I have almost solely handled this blog. All articles, reviews,
interviews and others have been from me. This is my first Guest Post. Rahpael
Mokoena is a book critic and a South African and wants to introduce to us the
'intriguing African writer', Omosoye Bolaji, a writer from Nigeria. This is
more like a South-West connection.
_________________________
By Raphael Mokoena
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| Omoseye Bolaji (right) with Pule Lechesa |
Omoseye Bolaji, the South
African based versatile Nigerian writer, is an intriguing wordsmith. He often
baffles readers and critics. Is he a “serious, committed” African writer, or otherwise?
What is his literary legacy? Why is he often dubbed a “grassroots oriented”
writer?
Yet, many serious
literary critics and commentators take him (Omoseye Bolaji) serious; to the
extent that over half a dozen different studies (books) have been published
about his literary work. The academics of the rather conservative University of
the Free State were also in unison when they conferred the Chancellor’s Medal
of the University on Bolaji in 2007.
It is clear enough that
that just like in the world famous case of British writer, Dorothy Sayers, most
of Bolaji’s readers will always associate him with Mystery/Detective works.
Indeed, Bolaji has created one of Africa’s best known sleuths, Tebogo Mokoena,
who features in seven published books – from Tebogo Investigates (2000) to
Tebogo and the pantophagist (2010) See
selected works at end of this article.
Despite the great success
and the popularity of the “Tebogo Mystery series”, especially in South Africa,
it would be wrong to pigeon-hole Bolaji, or his corpus of writings in this way.
Bolaji’s versatility as a writer often works against him, as he is a novelist,
short story writer, journalist, poet, biographer, playwright, essayist,
literary critic, etc.
I for one feel that
Bolaji’s contributions to sparkling literary criticism/essays, has been largely
undermined. His two major books of this ilk, Thoughts
on Free State Writing (2002)
and Miscellaneous Writings (2011) are powerful and eclectic
enough to earn him a solid reputation as a skilful literary critic/writer. Thoughts on Free State Writing,
though published almost ten years ago, is an intelligent work containing well
thought-out chapters on subjects like African fiction, Books for children,
Literary criticism, Poetry, Biographies, African renaissance, vagaries of
Education etc.
Omoseye Bolaji’s latest
published work, Miscellaneous
Writings (2011) is already
being described by some pundits as a breathtaking work of art containing many
short dazzling essays. At least half of these essays involve world, African
literature, but there are many other topics brilliantly brought to life by the
author in this new work. Topics, or, and protagonists covered in this new work
include: DH Lawrence, Lewis Nkosi, The Allure of Father Xmas!, The National English Literary Museum (Grahamstown), Steve Biko, Nigerian and South African Writers, Camara Laye, Dambudzo Marechera, NMM Duman, Gabriel Okara, Facebook, Ola Rotimi, The tormentone, Gordon Banks, Horrific Murder/Rape, Segun Odegbami, The Illustrators, Teboho Masakala, Musical Maestros, Sheila Khala, Relativity of Poverty and others.
Omoseye Bolaji’s
reputation as a poet is also limited, despite the fact that his poems are often
evocative and dazzling, and they have been reviewed liberally across the board.
Bolaji has actually published three books of poetry (see list below)
Bolaji has published only
one play – The subtle
transgressor, a drama which has been put on stage a number of times. The
published play itself, especially the Sesotho edition, was reportedly a
“fast-seller”. Translated into Sesotho by poet and literary critic, Pule
Lechesa, Joo, letsa Shwa-Letla Botswa has
been quite a success.
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| Bolaji's 2011 Book |
This short introduction
to the literary contributions of Omoseye Bolaji can not be complete without
mentioning other general novels published by him (as distinct from the “Tebogo
Mystery series). Bolaji has written and published other interesting works of
fiction like Impossible Love, The ghostly adversary and People of the Townships. The
latter (People of the townships) is considered by many to be a quite important
work in South African Black Literature.
I hope this piece will
inspire others to do more research on Omoseye Bolaji and his published works –
for one thing, there is no shortage of interesting articles on the man and his
work on the internet. Let’s all learn more about the man dubbed “The Black
African master of the unexpected”!
A SELECTION OF BOLAJI’S
WORKS:
The Tebogo Mystery series - Tebogo Investigates (2000)
- Tebogo’s spot of bother (2001)
- Tebogo Fails (2003) Ask Tebogo (2004)
- Tebogo and the haka (2008)
- Tebogo and the epithalamion (2009)
- Tebogo and the pantophagist (2010))
Poetry
- Snippets (1998)
- Reverie (2006)
- Poems from Mauritius (2007)
Literary essays/criticism
- Thoughts on Free State Writing (2002)
- Miscellaneous Writings (2010)
General novels
- Impossible Love (2ooo)
- The ghostly adversary (2001)
- People of the townships (2003)
- The subtle transgressor (2006)
