Of This Our Country

Of This, Our Country is an anthology of shared and varied experiences of twenty-four Nigerian writers who were given the brief to reflect on the Nigeria they know. The brief further specifies that they share personal significant memories of how and where they have experienced Nigeria, whether that be in the country itself or in aspects of its culture and tradition found elsewhere in the world. The following quote "from the outside looking in it is hard to understand, from the inside looking out it is hard to explain" best describes the challenge put to these writers. Reading this book is akin to being given extracts of the writers' memoirs. What comes across is how their various experiences have contributed to their chosen careers as storytellers either by accident or design. The stories cover different aspects of Nigeria such as culture, politics, education, classism, arts, history, religion and so on. The diverse experiences make this book a compelling read. The editors of the book, Ore Agbaje and Nancy Adimora have produced a work of literary significance that will no doubt produce several hours of discussion in a book club or social setting.

As an Anglo- Nigerian, I've been desperate to read this book since I first heard of it, and I'm so grateful to have had an advance copy.
It was everything it promised to be - a taste of home, a living portrait of the most wonderful, terrible, beautiful, ugly, promising, disappointing country in the world. I loved it. And have pre-ordered in hardback.