We are pleased to announce that we have acquired three exceptional manuscripts. This acquisition demonstrates Masobe’s dedication to identifying and championing African literary talent. The manuscripts are an important addition to Masobe’s expanding tradition of works by gifted African authors.
Ike Anya
Ike Anya’s Small by Small: Becoming a Doctor in 1990s Nigeria tells the story of his life growing up in Nigeria and his journey towards becoming a doctor. The book is structured around a series of vignettes, each focusing on a particular moment in Anya’s life, and collectively painting a vivid and engaging portrait of his experiences and the world around him. As he works his way through his medical training, Ike Anya’s grandmother reassures him, Everything worthwhile is achieved small by small.
Ike’s story charts the triumphs and failures of his student days through to his first demanding year as a house officer. A medical memoir unlike any from the Continent, this book is filled with the colour and vibrancy of tempestuous 1990s Nigeria, where political unrest, social change and a worsening economy make a doctor’s life particularly challenging.
Small By Small has been critically appraised as:
“A small miracle of a book.” –Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“A marvellously rich and lucid account of a doctor’s journey, clear-eyed and compassionate.” –Jowhor Ile
“An uplifting story of hope and ambition vividly recalled. Filled with fascinating characters and insights.” –Tendai Huchu
About the Author
Ike Anya is a consultant in public health medicine working in Nigeria and the UK, most recently supporting the NHS response to COVID in Scotland. An honorary lecturer in public health at Imperial College, he teaches at Bristol University & the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. A 2007 TED Global Fellow, he co-founded Nigeria Health Watch, EpiAfric, TEDxEuston and the Abuja Literary Society. He is an advisory council member of the AKO Caine Prize and published in The Guardian, Huffington Post, Granta, Catapult & Eclectica and in the anthology of essays by Nigerian writers on Nigeria: Of This Our Country. Co-editor of The Weaverbird Collection of New Nigerian Writing, he has an MA in Creative Non-Fiction from UEA.
YOMI ADEGOKE
Compulsively readable, wildly entertaining, and filled with sharp social insight, The List is a piercing and dazzlingly clear-sighted debut about secrets, lies, and the internet. This is a searing portrait of these modern times and our morally complicated online culture. In this sensational, page-turning debut novel, a high-profile journalist’s world is upended when her fiancé’s name turns up in a viral social media post—a nuanced, daring, and timely exploration of the real-world impact of online life, from award-winning journalist and internationally bestselling author Yomi Adegoke.
Ola Olajide celebrated journalist at Womxxxn magazine, is set to marry the love of her life in one month’s time. Young, beautiful, and successful—she and her fiancé Michael are considered the “couple goals” of their social network and seem to have it all. That is, until one morning when they both wake up to the same message: “Oh my god, have you seen The List?” It began as a crowdsourced collection of names and somehow morphed into an anonymous account posting allegations on social media. Ola would usually be the first to support such a list—she’d retweet it, call for the men to be fired, write article after article. Except this time, Michael’s name is on it.
The List has been critically appraised as:
“Topical, heartfelt, provocative and wise” – Bernardine Evaristo
“The perfect summer read: intelligent, funny, topical and impossible to put down” – Paula Hawkins
“Phenomenal. Brilliantly written and incredibly clever” – Abi Daré
About the Author
Yomi Adegoke is a multi award-winning journalist and author. She is currently a columnist at The Guardian and British Vogue and is the former host of the Women’s Fiction Prize podcast. In 2018, she co-wrote the bestselling book Slay In Your Lane and the same year was named one of the most influential people in London by the Evening Standard. She also was awarded the Groucho Maverick and Marie Clare Future Shaper awards. In 2021, she was named on the Forbes 30 under 30 list.
OBARI GOMBA
Obari Gomba’s Free Troubles: A Writer’s Eyes on the World is a collection of beautifully written essays that x-rays, critiques and parodies the ills of modern day society. Obari argues that there are habits of power at the centre of local and global contentions; and there are manifestations of might that require all humans to stand up for truth and justice on all continents. As writers, “our texts should aim to please or to annoy: never to leave the public indifferent. Whether the public laughs or rages, a text should dare to make people think and talk and act.” This book leads the charge.
Obari Gomba employs tropes of satire and social commentary, pyrotechnics of wit, beauty of language, diversity of style, force of imagination and experimentation, and first-person point of view to give immediacy to his context and content. The essays risk everything, through a blend of aesthetics and insightfulness, to compel us to pay attention to the intractable problems of existence. It is an intense examination of our culture, a critique of our social structures, a show of irreverence towards abusive authority, and a resistance against the normalisation of evil.
Free Troubles has been critically appraised as:
“A work of art that will poke, prod, chafe, thrill, and rouse readers; that is the spur of satire which animates Gomba’s critique of our convictions, comforts and culture.” –Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike
“An uncommon collection of essays. The depth and richness are unmistakable; profound creativity and brilliant scholarship.” –Camillus Ukah
About the Author
Obari Gomba, a multiple award-winning writer, is an Honorary Fellow in Writing of the University of Iowa (USA). He has been TORCH Global South Visiting Professor and Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford (UK). He is presently the Associate Dean of Humanities at the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria. His poetry collection, The Lilt of the Rebel, won the PAWA Prize for African Poetry in 2022.
The books are scheduled for release in the third and last quarters of 2023. Specific publication dates and will be announced in the coming weeks. For more information, please contact: Theresa Ominiabohs at 07018383286, email: info@masobebooks.com, follow us @Masobebooks on Instagram and Twitter, or visit the Masobe Books website at www.masobebooks.com.