Bookcraft Africa organises multi-city tour for Okey Ndibe book launch

In the month of July, from the 9^th to the 29^th, the US-based Nigerian writer, Okey Ndibe, will be embarking on a book tour across a number of key Nigerian cities, to promote his recently published books: “Never Look an American in the Eye“ (a memoir) and “Foreign Gods Inc.“ (a work of fiction).

Okechukwu Ndibe, better known as Okey Ndibe is a novelist, political columnist, and essayist. He moved to the US to become the founding editor of African Commentary, a US-based international magazine published by the renowned Chinua Achebe.

He later served as an editorial writer for the Hartford Courant, and subsequently, as a fellow at the Black Mountain Institute in Nevada. For many years, his opinion pieces have been published by The New York Times, BBC Online, Al Jazeera, the Financial Times, and the Nigerian Daily Times, as well as Sahara Reporters. He is the author of three novels, and with the Nigerian publication of his two most recent works, he joins critically-acclaimed authors such as Professor Wole Soyinka, Professor Femi Osofisan, and Professor Niyi Osundare on Bookcraft Africa‘s list of authors.

Bookcraft Africa, a dynamic and innovative twenty-five year old Nigerian publishing house, has steadily been consolidating and expanding their presence in the African book market, and in the process, developed a diverse range of titles across a variety of genres, from political non-fiction to biographical accounts to illustrated coffee table books, now including Okey Ndibe‘s Foreign Gods Inc. and Never look an American in the Eye.

Foreign Gods Inc. (first published in the US in 2014) tells the story of Ike, a New York-based Nigerian cab driver who, driven by poverty and desperation, sets out to steal the statue of an ancient war deity from his home village to sell to a New York gallery. US National Public Radio named it one of the best books of 2014.

Never Look an American in the Eye (also published in the US in 2016) is a memoir that tells of Okey Ndibe’s move from Nigeria to America, where he came to edit the influential–but forever teetering on the verge of insolvency–African Commentary magazine. The book recounts stories of Ndibe’s relationships with Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and other literary figures, and examines American stereotypes about Africa and Africans, and vice versa, all together in this funny, charming and encompassing book about the making of the writer, Okey Ndibe.

He will be sharing his story, and reading from both books as he tours Lagos, Ibadan, Awka, Enugu, Abuja and Port Harcourt. The itinerary for the tour is as follows:

Patabah Bookstore, Surulere, Lagos – July 9^th – 2pm

Faculty of Arts Boardroom, University of Lagos – July 13^th – 11am

Goethe Institute, Lagos – July 15^th – 12pm

Saro-Wiwa English House, English Department, University of Port Harcourt – July 18^th – 10am

UNEC Main Hall, University of Nigeria, Nsukka – July 21^st – 5pm

Havila Suites, Awka – July 22nd – 11am

Abuja Literary Society, Sandralia Hotel, Jabi – July 28^th – 7pm

Quintessence, Ikoyi, Lagos – July 29^th – 2pm.

Bookcraft Africa Headquarters, Bodija, Ibadan – July 30th – 1:30pm

For daily updates on the events, visit the Bookcraft Africa social media pages: Bookcraft Africa (on Facebook); @bookcraftafrica (on Twitter) and @bookcraft_ (on Instagram).