Renowned writer and former ANA President, Dr Wale Okediran, is among literary personalities and aficionados expected to grace the launch of three books by Port Harcourt- based author, Anaele Ihuoma, on February 3, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The books to be launched include Imminent River (a novel), One Day with the Hounds (a play), and The Sea Route to Señorita’s Heart (a short story collection). The books will be reviewed by Comrade Chris Nkoro of the Abia State Polytechnic, Aba.
The events, comprising book signings, panel discussions, spoken word poetry and cultural extravaganza, will be chaired by Associate Professor NHA Nwafor, HOD, Educational Foundations, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.
Ihuoma’s novel, Imminent River, described as a new age classic, was written at Ebedi International Writers Residency and published by Narrative Landscape Press, Lagos.
The fiction seamlessly melds a delectably gorgeous love story into a historical family saga, one reminiscent of Alex Haley’s R-o-o-t-s, but in which the search is in the opposite direction, for the “shoots” rather than “roots”. It is an epic spans half a world – from the fetid swamps of West Africa, Europe and North America and Back.
Among others, The Sea Route to Señorita’s Heart, is a collection that tells of returnee exiles rebuilding their shrivelled lives with nothing but mirth and communal spirit, and of a teacher who receives her own life’s lessons at the breaking waters of an abandoned pregnancy.
Lovers of office romance will relish the story of a serial corporate raider who meets his match in a stubborn beauty that had appeared tailor-made for his taking. And then, there is Melchizedek, whose story you probably though you were familiar with. And more! The stories have grist for everyone’s mill. They may appear disparate on the surface, but they bear, beneath, a common thread sustained by the writer’s humane, radical and universalist sensibility.
One Day with the Hounds, the third book, is a snapshot of a page in the historical evolution of modern Nigeria. It’s a snapshot that was actually taken with the lens of a chronicler with deep social conscience. This open-ended play, with elements of Brechtian alienation effect, may be documented as a comedy.
The book launch, which starts at 1 pm on Sunday, February 3, will take place at 318 Refinery Road, Akpajo-Elelenwo, Port Harcourt.