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23.09.2018 Book Review

 Kasali’s Africa: A Novel By Feyisayo Anjorin

23.09.2018 LISTEN
By Feyisayo Anjorin

Publisher: Lifescripts Publishing
Tagline: The only difference between Africa and Kasali’s Africa is the man

Pages: 278
Kasali’s Africa is the story of Kasali Adebayor’s struggle with the encroachment of the modern on the domain of the ancient in West Africa of the late 80s and 90s, as the states struggle in the treacherous waters of local politics; the time of the Liberian civil war, and the Sierra Leone diamond wars, and the military government’s devastating grip on power in Nigerian.

Kasali Adebayor, a barely literate farmer, who lives in the distant end of Akure, his home state’s capital city with his five wives and numerous children, gets a unanimous vote from all the farmers in the state as the head of the state farmers’ union; this happens at a time when government policy direction favours the agricultural sector.

The popular farmer, unprepared for the burdens of fame, becomes a hit with the press for his charisma and the myths attached to his name, and soon gets the attention of Liberia’s dictator, President Samuel Glay, who tries to match the desperation of persistent coup plotters with his own desperation to hold on to power by any means necessary.

Glay’s government is soon swept away, ushering in an unbridled reign of blood, tears, ruin and rot.

And with the passage of time Liberia’s national crises appears to unravel as Kasali’s family tragedy, as the farmer’s obsession with his youngest wife turns out fatal.

This is the story of humanity; the best of us, the worst of us, and everything in-between.

THE VOICES
The story chronicles the life of Kasali Adebayor, as seen through the eyes of journalists, family members, acquaintances and other anonymous observers in the life drama of Kasali and the 20th century Africa.

RELEASE:
Kasali’s Africa is available on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Okada Books, Loot Online (In Southern Africa), Roving Heights (West Africa)

Available in Paperbacks and e-book format.
THE WRITING PROCESS
The first part of Kasali’s Africa was the chapter “A Family Affair” (2013), which was inspired by my contact with some conservative residents of Akure and their defiance in the face of 21st century savvy ideas that could have been tolerated, if not embraced, in cities like Lagos and Johannesburg.

After writing it I was intrigued by Kasali; I loved him and I hated him, but I got curious and couldn’t stop there. Then I wrote the “Kasali’s Love” (2014), which then appeared online in “Fiction On the Web”.

Professor Briggs was inspired by the feminist movement in Nigeria and their friends and their opponents; and the typical reaction of the patriarchal society to feminism.

The parts set in Liberia is inspired by the stories I heard through a friend whose father was one of the Nigerian soldiers deployed to Liberia during the first Liberian civil war. As childhood friends she would share her fears that her father could soon be brought home in a flag-wrapped coffin.

When her father came back, he came back with stories too.

It took three months of writing every night on weekdays for three months to finish the story.

THE WRITER
Feyisayo Anjorin was born in Akure, Nigeria in 1983.

He was educated at Damelin Bramley College, Johannesburg; the University of Ibadan; and AFDA Johannesburg. He started writing poetry and song lyrics at an early age (12) – inspired by the popular boybands of the times (Backstreet Boys, Westlife, Nsync, Boyzone) – before graduating to short story writing. He has written over 60 short stories, which are works of realist fiction, and a few science fiction works.

He has worked on film and TV productions in the UK, Nigeria, and South Africa. Notably MNET’s TV series “Jacob’s Cross”, South African TV soap “

KASALI’S AFRICA
A novel by Feyisayo Anjorin
Publisher: Lifescripts Publishing
Tagline: The only difference between Africa and Kasali’s Africa is the man

Pages: 278
Kasali’s Africa is the story of Kasali Adebayor’s struggle with the encroachment of the modern on the domain of the ancient in West Africa of the late 80s and 90s, as the states struggle in the treacherous waters of local politics; the time of the Liberian civil war, and the Sierra Leone diamond wars, and the military government’s devastating grip on power in Nigerian.

Kasali Adebayor, a barely literate farmer, who lives in the distant end of Akure, his home state’s capital city with his five wives and numerous children, gets a unanimous vote from all the farmers in the state as the head of the state farmers’ union; this happens at a time when government policy direction favours the agricultural sector.

The popular farmer, unprepared for the burdens of fame, becomes a hit with the press for his charisma and the myths attached to his name, and soon gets the attention of Liberia’s dictator, President Samuel Glay, who tries to match the desperation of persistent coup plotters with his own desperation to hold on to power by any means necessary.

Glay’s government is soon swept away, ushering in an unbridled reign of blood, tears, ruin and rot.

And with the passage of time Liberia’s national crises appears to unravel as Kasali’s family tragedy, as the farmer’s obsession with his youngest wife turns out fatal.

This is the story of humanity; the best of us, the worst of us, and everything in-between.

THE VOICES
The story chronicles the life of Kasali Adebayor, as seen through the eyes of journalists, family members, acquaintances and other anonymous observers in the life drama of Kasali and the 20th century Africa.

RELEASE:
Kasali’s Africa is available on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Okada Books, Loot Online (In Southern Africa), Roving Heights (Nigeria)

Available in Paperbacks and e-book format.
THE WRITING PROCESS
The first part of Kasali’s Africa was the chapter “A Family Affair” (2013), which was inspired by my contact with some conservative residents of Akure and their defiance in the face of 21st century savvy ideas that could have been tolerated, if not embraced, in cities like Lagos and Johannesburg.

After writing it I was intrigued by Kasali; I loved him and I hated him, but I got curious and couldn’t stop there. Then I wrote the “Kasali’s Love” (2014), which then appeared online in “Fiction On the Web”.

Professor Briggs was inspired by the feminist movement in Nigeria and their friends and their opponents; and the typical reaction of the patriarchal society to feminism.

The parts set in Liberia is inspired by the stories I heard through a friend whose father was one of the Nigerian soldiers deployed to Liberia during the first Liberian civil war. As childhood friends she would share her fears that her father could soon be brought home in a flag-wrapped coffin.

When her father came back, he came back with stories too.

It took three months of writing every night on weekdays for three months to finish the story.

THE WRITER
Feyisayo Anjorin was born in Akure, Nigeria in 1983.

He was educated at Damelin Bramley College, Johannesburg; the University of Ibadan; and AFDA Johannesburg. He started writing poetry and song lyrics at an early age (12) – inspired by the popular boybands of the times (Backstreet Boys, Westlife, Nsync, Boyzone) – before graduating to short story writing. He has written over 60 short stories, which are works of realist fiction, and a few science fiction works.

He has worked on film and TV productions in the UK, Nigeria, and South Africa.

As a writer, his works has appeared online in Litro, African Writer, Brittle Paper, Bakwa Magazine, Fiction On the Web, Bella Naija, Agbowo and 365 Tomorrows; and in anthologies “One Hundred Voices Volume 1 by Centum Press” (2016), and “The Best of Fiction on the web” (2018).

As a public speaker he is known for his TED talks which are available online (TEDxKids and TEDxAkure)

He loves and adores Alice Munro as the best writer in his world; he also loves T C Boyle, John Grisham, Ben Okri, C S Lewis, J M Coetzee, Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe

As a writer, his works has appeared online in Litro, African Writer, Brittle Paper, Bakwa Magazine, Fiction On the Web, Bella Naija, Agbowo and 365 Tomorrows; and in anthologies “One Hundred Voices Volume 1 by Centum Press” (2016), and “The Best of Fiction on the web” (2018).

As a public speaker he is known for his TED talks which are available online (TEDxKids and TEDxAkure)

He loves and adores Alice Munro as the best writer in his world; he also loves T C Boyle, John Grisham, Ben Okri, C S Lewis, J M Coetzee, Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe

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