Trained as a human mine detector, My Luck, a boy soldier in West Africa witnesses and takes part in unspeakable brutality. At 12, his vocal cords are cut to prevent him from screaming and giving away his platoon's presence, should he be blown up. Awaking after an explosion to find that he's lost his platoon, he traces his steps back through abandoned villages and rotting corpses - and through his own memories - in search of his comrades. The horrors of past events lead My Luck to find some glimmer of hope and beauty in this nightmarish place. 171pp, USA. Akashic Books.

Now available in paperback. Tells the story of Elvis Oke, a teenage Elvis impersonator living in Maroko, a sprawling, swampy, ghetto of Lagos, Nigeria. His life unfolds against a backdrop of lush reggae and highlife music, American movies and harsh urban existence. 321pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PICADOR AFRICA.

Novella about the trials of immigration. Tough, spirited and fiercely independent Abigail is brought as a teenager to London from Nigeria by relatives who attempt to force her into prostitution. She flees, struggling to find herself in the shadow of a strong but dead mother. 120pp, USA. Akashic Books.

A novel exploring a fictional Nigerian history with strong social, religious and cultural themes running through. Gloss, notes, xiii, 175pp, NIGERIA. DOKUN PUBLISHING HOUSE.

The journal of Lola Ogunwole which she starts at the age of nine; it charts her survival from childhood to adulthood. Born in London to Nigerian parents, Lola and her brother Adebola grow up in a temporary foster home after their mother abandons them. They are briefly reunited with their father when, in danger of losing them for good, he packs up and moves them back to Nigeria to live. For Lola, the trauma of leaving London and settling in Lagos is soon overshad-owed by separation from her father and the only constant in her life, her brother Adebola. They are both sent to live with different relatives and Lola ends up with her aunt, in a small village called Idogun where her struggle for survival begins. Shortlisted for the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize. 331pp, UK. SW BOOKS.

The story of unfulfilled hopes, greed, lust and betrayal and the life of Martin, a Nigerian boy fresh from the ghettos of Lagos hungry for success, and ruthlessly ambi-tious. But women, and his feelings for them, will change everything. 202pp, UK, 0953165809

2000 Paperback

Set during the tense times before the Nigerian civil war, this novel looks at the complicated lives of several protagonists and their involvement with each other. 161pp, UK. ADONIS & ABBEY PUBLISHERS.

New in paperback. Sweeping new novel from the author of PURPLE HIBISCUS, set in Nigeria in the 1960s, at the time of a vicious civil war in which a million people died, and thousands were massacred in cold blood. The three main characters in the novel get swept up in the violence during these turbulent years. As these people's lives intersect, they have to question their own responses to the unfolding political events. This extraordinary novel is about Africa in a wider sense: about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race; and the ways in which love can complicate all of these things. 448pp, UK. HARPER PERENNIAL.

Fifteen year old Kambili's world is circumscribed by the high walls of her family compound in Nigeria. When she is sent to her aunt's house, as the country begins to fall apart under a military coup, she discovers love and life beyond the confines of her father's authority. Her new freedom also uncovers a terrible secret at the heart of her family life. 307pp, UK. HARPER PERENNIAL.

New smaller format edition. Debut novel from the 2005 Caine Prize winner. It's Berlin, summer 1985. Vincent is an overweight, struggling photographer living in a shabby apartment in Kreuzberg. His neighbours and friends are an ex-marine transsexual escort girl, a Kurdish refugee, a Nigerian playboy and various 'artistic' types. Vincent misses Lucille, the girl he left behind in London; he has not spoken to his adoptive father for years and resents his successful older brother. Content to get drunk in bars and embark on a series of one-night stands, Vincent isn't doing very much at all. Then a chance encounter, the murder of a charismatic politician and an urgent phone call from his aunt shake up his world and Vincent finally has to stop slacking and take some control. 312pp, UK. VINTAGE UK.

An impressive debut collection of seventeen short stories from the winner of the 2005 Caine Prize for African Writing. For the characters in Segun Afolabi's debut collection, 'elsewhere' is a place they must transform into home. The Far East, Europe, the Americas, Africa - the stories are as varied as their geographical settings. In the award-winning 'Monday Morning' a refugee boy puzzles out his place in a new land. 288pp, UK. VINTAGE.

The story of Shola Badmus, a serial womaniser whose labyrinth of relationships results in tragedy. BNS, 257pp, NIGERIA. SPECTRUM BOOKS LTD, 9780292810

A novel written from the perspective of a child living through the Biafran War. BNS, 117pp, NIGERIA. THE BOOK COMPANY LTD.

Short stories drawing on the salient features and dominant values of society in semi arid northeastern Nigeria, land of the ancient Bornu Empire. 126pp, NIGERIA . MALTHOUSE. 9780230297

1997 Paperback

A novel about the fight against the 4 1 9 syndicate, a mafia style organisation which is bringing terror to Nigeria. It is up to Peter Ofondu, whose commando skills he learned in the Biafran War, to confront the men. 67pp, UK. BOOK GUILD LTD, 1857767713

The first collection of prose fiction from the publisher, journalist and poet focusing on physical and mental aspects of Nigerian life. B/w illus, 108pp, NIGERIA. KRAFT BOOKS LIMITED.

Ihuoma, a beautiful young widow, has the admiration of the entire community in which she lives, and especially of the hunter Ekwueme. However, their passion is fated, and jealousy, a love potion and the closeness of the spirit world lift this simple Nigerian tale onto a tragic plane. 216 pp. UK. Heinemann African Writers Series.

A tale of a ruinous feud between two villages. 217pp, UK. HEINEMANN AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES.

1970 1969 0435900447 Paperback

Set in post-independence Lagos and seen through the eyes and lives of two lovers - an Igbo Muslim and a Yoruba Catholic - this novel confronts the problematic process of transforming the Nigerian state into a modern nation. 312pp, NIGERIA. FOURTH DIMENSION PUBLISHING CO. LTD, 9781564873

THE JOURNEY WITHIN

A chronicle of the progress of two Igbo marriages, one traditional and one Christian in twentieth-century Nigeria. Gloss, 242pp, UK. HEINEMANN AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES.

The story of three days during the Nigerian civil war describing the bitter confrontations between two Biafrans. Map, 115pp, UK. HEINEMANN AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES.

Moving between the Igbo community of Numa and the colonial centre of Lagos, this novel describes the meeting of two cultures. 276pp, UK. JANUS PUBLISHING COMPANY. 1857564715

Acclaimed debut novel, new in paperback. It is 1971, a year after the Biafran War, and Nigeria is under military rule - though the politics of the state matter less than those of her home to Enitan Taiwo, an eleven-year-old girl tired of waiting for school to start. Will her mother, who has become deeply religious since the death of Taiwo's brother, allow her friendship with the new girl next door, the brash and beautiful Sheri Bakare? Charts the fate of these two African girls, one born of privilege and the other, a lower class of mixed race; one who is prepared to manipulate the traditional system while the other attempts to defy it. 336pp, UK. NEW INTERNATIONALIST.

A fictional story of a western journalist who goes into publishing in a developing country and is sentenced to life imprisonment for criticising a military dictator. Index, app, lxvii, 354pp, NIGERIA. SPECTRUM BOOKS LTD, 9780293272

New in paperback. The story takes the reader from the jungles of Burma to a malaria-induced drunken adventure through the streets of Cairo depicting in brilliant detail historical characters, including Benito Mussolini and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and his own nation's fight for freedom. A story of the adventure of war and the terrible consequences of that adventure. Biyi Bandele's novel is a meticulously researched, elegantly written tribute to the Africans who fought in the Second World War - detailing the madness, the horror, the sacrifice and the dark humour of its most vicious battleground. 212pp, UK. VINTAGE.

This novel recreates the unique atmosphere of a multiracial community in contemporary Britain. Set in Brixton, South London, The Street is populated with a series of amazing characters. At the book's centre there is Nehushta and the amazing relationship with her father, Ossie Jones, following his awakening from a 15 year coma. 292pp. UK. PICADOR, 0330375393

This novel revolves around Rayo, a man who is at once victim and executioner. He dreams of justice but provokes mayhem. His lovers love him to destruction, all others will his death. How can Nigeria survive, indeed will it survive? Tragicomedy. 202pp, UK. African Writers Series, 0435905929

When a young white child discovers why her family's African gardener so dislikes the chameleon she spots in a tree, she is plunged into a puzzled awareness of the complexities of race, colour and difference. As the 'I' of the stories grows into adulthood in Nigeria, she too becomes a chameleon of sorts, one thing when she is with her Nigerian friends, another with the white tribe when she can no longer resist the lure of the scarce luxuries to be had at the British embassy. When the 'I' makes the crossing from Nigeria to the Caribbean, she discovers that it is not only people who are chameleons. Osun, the Yoruba orisha has also made the journey, a little outwardly changed, but inwardly the same in Trinidadian and Cuban manifestations. 110pp, UK. PEEPAL TREE.

2007 9781845230418 Paperback

This is the private story of a public servant; the inner life and voice of the poet expressed in the public sphere; a Nigerian-American cross-cultural and migratory love story, that reveals much about life, art and the nature of relationships in both environments. BNS, 141pp, NIGERIA. KRAFT BOOKS LIMITED.

A tale of Northern Nigeria where, when the grass is burnt on the plains, the Fulani cattlemen move southwards towards the banks of the Niger. 118 pp. UK. African Writers Series, 0435906690

1962 Paperback

Powerless to resist his grandfather's bitter, lifelong struggle with the village chief, Ajuzia is drawn into a world of feuding and intrigue. 227 pp. UK. African Writers Series, 0435906666

1986 Paperback

This work of fiction centres on the character of Onome Oha, whose ascent to power after a bloody civil in Nigeria leaves him corrupt with both money and power. The author presents a novel of desire and intrigue set in the dark side of African politics. 345pp, USA. EKUKBERE EJOH, 0971189609

Novel which addresses the conflict between missionaries and indigenous practitioners of Juju in the Niger Basin in the early twentieth century. 259pp, UK. NEW MILLENNIUM.

The story of Filia Enu, a beautiful young Nigerian girl who moves to Lagos and its literary and political world. Conflict ensues when she begins to attract the attentions of politicians and journalists. 222pp, NIGERIA. SPECTRUM BOOKS LTD, 9782462721

A collection of short stories chronicling Nigerian city life first published in 1966. Includes the stories The Ivory Dancer, Timber Monkey, Under the Almond Tree and Glittering City. 152pp, UK. AFRICA WORLD PRESS, 1592211852

The story of a young crime reporter who realises that what he can do for his country is more valuable than the varied pleasures he can find in the city. 120pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS, 1592211836

A collection of fifteen short stories about city life, love and death, and Christmas in two West African cities. Includes the stories Farewell Nigeria, Bus Stop Mystery, Christmas Gold, Eku Palemo Odun!, and The Great Beyond. 100pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS, 1592211879

New fiction. Chrys Chimé, a postgraduate student at Southampton, publishes The Wacky World of Dark Dictators', which stirs up the Rastamuffins, an obscure group of fundamentalist Rastafarians, who considered it heretical and a collective insult that Haile Selassie should be maligned as a dictator. The media take up the story and Chryss wife, Amanda, is shot in Lagos, Nigeria. Chrys is abducted in London. The arrows point to the controversial book as the source of these violent events, but investigations also reveal a shocking web of intrigues, cultism, family lies, and scams. 183pp, UK. ADONIS & ABBEY.

When your nurse is your first and true love... BNS, 208pp, NIGERIA. FOURTH DIMENSION PUBLISHING CO.LTD, 9781564814

Is there life after death for the deceased? BNS, 148pp, NIGERIA . FOURTH DIMENSION PUBLISHING CO.LTD, 9781564822

Love stirs for our heroine. BNS, 164pp, NIGERIA. FOURTH DIMENSION PUBLISHING CO.LTD, 9881564822

A collective ensemble of the themes of previous titles in the Nerissa series: honour, justice, nobility, service and selflessness as a definition of love. BNS, 164pp, NIGERIA. FOURTH DIMENSION PUBLISHING CO.LTD, 9781565187

New in paperback. Mamo and LaMamo are twin brothers living in a small Nigerian village, where their domineering father controls their lives. With high hopes the twins attempt to flee from home, but only LaMamo escapes to live their dream of becoming a soldier. Mamo, the awkward, sickly twin, is doomed to remain in the village. Gradually, he comes out of his father's shadow and gains local fame as a historian, embarking on a 'true' history of his people. But when the rains fail and famine rages, religious zealots incite the people to violence - and LaMamo returns to fight the enemy at home. 383pp, UK. PENGUIN BOOKS.

Now available in paperback. Tells the story of a young journalist who decides to speak out against the military regime in Nigeria after it begins to affect his friends and family. Winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. ix, 228pp, UK. PENGUIN, 0141010061

Getting to the bottom of the exam paper theft racket in Lagos. Originally published in 1980. 190pp, NIGERIA. UNIVERSITY PRESS LTD, 9780302417

2001 Paperback

Newly qualified abroad, the protagonist returns to a newly independent, mythical West African state. BNS, 295pp, NIGERIA. FOURTH DIMENSION PUBLISHING CO.LTD, 9781565233

Now in paperback. Acclaimed debut fiction by a 23-year-old Harvard graduate, whose mother is currently the Nigerian finance minister. Drawing on his work with refugees and the memories of family members who fought in the Nigerian civil war, he has crafted a first-person account as told by nine-year-old Agu. Kidnapped by rebel forces after his mother had fled and his school-teacher father is shot in front of him, Agu soon becomes a rapist and murderer himself. 180pp, UK. JOHN MURRAY.

Based on the author's own turbulent experiences during the 1970s, this comic novel tells the tale of eighteen-year-old Janni, just turned out of posh boarding in England, who heads off to spend a gap year with her expatriate parents in rural Northern Nigeria. From naive schoolgirl, she quickly turns into a hippie wild child, and during the next twelve months, she encounters all manner of highs and lows - a rape in an African brothel, love, heartbreak, wilderness travel, and accusations of drug dealing. The first part of the story (Book One) details Janni's expatriate way of life and that of the other characters who live in the small bush town of Gombe. 373pp, UK. VANGUARD PRESS.

October 1973. In a mud hut, in the middle of Africa, eighteen-year-old Janni's ship has finally come in. She's met the man of her dreams. And she s not going to let a distance of 250 miles between them stand in her way. Abandoning bush town Gombe, her parents (and the rest), Janni legs it up to Maiduguri, a veritable oasis on the edge of the Sahara, to spend wondrous, dope-filled, lust-driven, romantic weekends with her guy. But soon, this just isn’t enough. Her stays in Maiduguri stretch to a week; then two, then four... By Christmas, the two lovebirds are hitchhiking their way through the African wilderness; sailing down rivers, sleeping under stars and reading Robert Burns poems around their camp fire. It all seems so total and perfect... 499pp, UK. VANGUARD PRESS.

A layered collection of stories about the Biafran Civil war and the tragedy that unfolded for the people involved. Gloss, xxii, 183pp, USA. OHIO U P, 0896802299

A story about two young people whose love is shattered by an arranged marriage and exile. 328pp, USA. 1ST BOOKS LIBRARY, 1403357889

2002 Paperback

A young Guyanese woman sets out to write an historical novel based on the 1823 Demerara Slave Rebellion and the fate of an English missionary who is condemned to hang for his alleged part in the uprising. She has wanted to document historical fact through fiction, but the characters she invents make an altogether messier intrusion into her life with their conflicting interests. As an African-Guyanese in a country where a Black ruling elite oppresses the population, she begins to wonder what lay behind her 'ancestral enslavement', why fellow Africans had 'ex-changed silver for the likes of me'. Beset by questions, the novel is stymied and to unblock it, she decides to spend some time in Nigeria, to experience her African origins at first hand. For a couple of years, falling in love, marriage to a Nigerian university professor and the birth of their first child silence the characters in her head. Then the hanging of a family friend by El Presi-dente, Butcher Boy's murderous military regime brutally plunges her back into the world of her novel. To her consternation, one after the other, the seven main characters in the novel reveal themselves in contemporary Nigerian guise and she finds herself implicated in uncomfortably personal ways in a narrative where the distinctions between her 'life' and the 'fiction' she is writing have become utterly permeable. 191pp, UK. PEEPAL TREE.

This political drama reflects on the long period of military rule in Nigeria, which officially began with the end of Shagari’s regime in 1983 and ended with the ascent of Obansanjo in 1999. It gives a satirical account of the clandestine machinations employed behind the scenes by a very powerful group of individuals. 442pp, NIGERIA. SPECTRUM BOOKS LTD.

In this collection of six short stories, the author portrays his homeland of Nigeria as a jungle, insane and inharmonious. It is a cauldron of chaos, seething with socio-economic injustice, with an ethos of corruption. Against the backdrop, he tells a story of survival by stealth, hinting at some glimmers of achievement against the odds. BNS, 156pp, NIGERIA. KRAFT BOOKS 9780390634

When Lisa dropped in on Alex's flat and walked in on him, she found him stark naked, then he started walking towards her. BNS, 108pp, NIGERIA. FOURTH DIMENSION, 9781565632

Friendship between male and female pitted against tradition. BNS, 108pp, NIGERIA. FOURTH DIMENSION PUBLISHING CO.LTD.

A young woman runs into the sea and drowns. The last man who spoke to her, a curious individual known as Bukuru, is asked to account for the suicide. His shocking revelations land him in court. Alone and undefended, Bukuru has to calculate the cost of silence in the face of stories which must be told. 248pp, UK. HARCOURT EDUCATION [HEINEMANN AFRICAN WRITERS' SERIES].

A novel telling the story of Emeka, a young Nigerian from a poor background, determined to succeed in life. The author traces how he pursues his educational and employment ambitions, and describes the difficult social world in which he and his family friends must live in the best way they possibly can. Gloss, 254pp, NIGERIA. CSS BOOKSHOPS LTD.

A story about the relationship of a young Nigerian couple whose different ethnic backgrounds cause havoc in their respective families. 128pp, NIGERIA. FOURTH DIMENSION PUBLISHING CO.LTD, 9781561513

International terrorism, murder, kidnapping and the subversion of governments form the backdrop to this new thriller by the noted political activist and writer. BNS, 221pp, NIGERIA. FOURTH DIMENSION PUBLISHING CO.LTD, 9781564350

First published in 1994. Violent crime, drugs and sex. BNS, 162pp, NIGERIA. FOURTH DIMENSION PUBLISHING CO.LTD, 9781563753

A novel which explores the underside of modern Nigeria, a country wrought by corruption and violence. 125pp, NIGERIA. FOURTH DIMENSION PUBLISHING CO.LTD, 9781561505

Written after the Biafran War, Flora Nwapa concentrates on the importance of Biafran women in sustaining their men and society in general. 85pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS, 0865433194

The story of Efuru, who is beautiful and respected, but is loved and deserted by two undistinguished husbands. 221pp, UK. HEINEMANN AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES.

The story of a group of Nigerian women, from their schooldays together through the trials and tribulations of their adult lives. 138pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS, 0865433267

Originally published in 1993. The heroine of this short novel passes through troubled waters to discover her identity. 116pp, NIGERIA. FOUNTAIN NETQUOTEVAR:NIGERIA PUBLICATIONS, 9781563443

Debut fiction from a Nigerian born author. Fitzgerald's life changes forever when his father is killed by a lorry on his way home from the timber yard. As Fitzgerald tries to decide, with the help of his 'nearest and dearest', where to inter his father's ashes, he finds himself struggling to understand who his father was and the nature of the burden that he seemed to carry throughout his life. 245pp, UK. JONATHAN CAPE.

Tale of corruption and witchcraft. 102pp, NIGERIA . FOURTH DIMENSION PUBLISHING CO.LTD.

A fictional account of a conflict arising from the meeting between Christian colonisers and Igbo Juju priests. The novel explores the destruction wrought by Western religions on the fabric of African religion, philosophy and ethics. xx, 162pp, NIGERIA. FOURTH DIMENSION PUBLISHING CO.LTD, 9781560258

Ike Oguine's first novel explores the alienation experienced by Nigerians as they become economic refugees. 201pp, UK. HEINEMANN AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES.

Tells the story of a young Nigerian woman struggling with her culturally determined position and her life as a modern, openly sexual woman. Set in the her home village and the university environment, the author portrays his character's struggle to create her identity in a conservative and male dominated society. 308pp, KENYA. EAST AFRICAN EDUCATIONAL PUBLI., 9966251510

These ten short stories, of varying length, intensity and focus, are the first by Ojaide, published in the genre. The title story concerns the spiritual and sexual illusions, confusions and realities to which a young Nigerian girl, the daughter of a pastor, and the people in her milieu, are subjected. 156pp, NIGERIA. MALTHOUSE. DELAY.

Okolo is the voice, who offends the Igbo elders by his search for the truth. The elders exile him but he still returns to make a final gesture of defiance. 127pp, UK. HEINEMANN AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES.

1970 1964 0435900684 Paperback

The poet, a veteran anti-corruption campaigner, argues that 'African values can be dressed up in any poetic garment.' BNS, 132pp, NIGERIA. FOURTH DIMENSION PUBLISHING CO.LTD, 9781564997

A collection of nine short stories. The title story tells the tale of Anayo, a grief-stricken and pregnant widow, who stands accused by her jealous brother-in-law, Ezeji, of poisoning her husband. Anayo faces a dehumanising and humiliating trial under the clans traditional laws. An educated women, she stands firm and achieves some concessions, but can do little in the face of entrenched discrimination. 92pp, NIGERIA. AFRICAN HERITAGE PRESS. BNS

A novel exploring themes of reincarnation and ancestral memory. During the 1960s, a young African American man begins to chant a text nobody understands. When his family seek help, Otis's chants are recognised as a corrupted family chant from the Yoruba. His journey to Nigeria begins a process of reconciliation within himself as he begins to piece together his own identity. 260pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS, 1592211917

Presents characters who are trying to survive in the ball of confusion called the global village, a world where racism and other ills prevail, and where unwary victims are too often hoodwinked into internalizing myths that dehumanise them, in the name of civilization. xii, 176pp, USA. AFRICAN HERITAGE PRESS, 0962886440

Dr James Abe finds intrigue not far from the surface when he takes up an appointment in a rural town. 312pp, NIGERIA. HEINEMANN EDUCATIONAL BOOKS NIGERIA.

This is the author's semi_fictional autobiography, written in the third person, following in the tradition of Camara Laye's African Child. The narrative describes the author's birth and childhood, education and career at the University of Lagos and at universities in the United States. Throughout, the author is concerned with the historical junctures and social and cultural changes in postcolonial Nigeria. BNS, 205pp, NIGERIA. KRAFT BOOKS, 9780391029

Oshare and Omote have been married for over ten years, but the marriage has not produced a child and their community discards them. Their marriage is widely considered bankrupt, even by themselves. This novel explores how the modern Nigerian couple contend with their dilemma. BNS, 100pp, NIGERIA. MALTHOUSE.

A fictionalised history of Nigeria. . SPECTRUM BOOKS LTD. 9782460079

Two men claim to be the father of a dead boy. 88pp, UK. HEINEMANN AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES.

The story of an African student in the UK, whose marriage to Daisy begins to crumble when he brings her home to Nigeria. Omotoso delves into the complicated responses to Dele's presence in Britain and Daisy's arrival in Nigeria, looking at different attitudes to race and their impact on personal relationships. 121pp, UK HARCOURT EDUCATION NETQUOTEVAR:HEINEMANN. 0435901028

1971 Paperback

Collection of short stories that won the Association of Nigerian Authors' Award for prose in 1992. 145pp, NIGERIA. MALTHOUSE, 9780231439

Reprint of Osofisan's first novel, originally published in 1975. It was quickly adapted as a play by the author with Dexter Lyndersay, the then Artistic Director of the Unibadan Performing Arts Company and earliest director of the play. The setting for the action of the novel/play is the life over four years of an African university college campus, which has been granted independence from its mother country due to the outbreak of an otherwise uncontrollable cholera epi-demic.The stage version has enjoyed tremendous success both within and outside Nigeria, and the prose and stage texts, long out of print, are here newly reissued in a combined volume. 196pp, NIGERIA. OPON IFA READERS.

New in paperback. Second novel by the author of THE ICARUS GIRL. Maja Carmen Carrera was only five years old when her black Cuban family emigrated from the Caribbean to London, leaving her with one complete memory: a woman singing - in a voice both eerie and enthralling - at their farewell party, while little Maja peered out from beneath a table. Now, almost twenty years later, Maja herself is a singer, in love with Aaron, pregnant and haunted by what she calls 'her Cuba.' Growing up in London, she has struggled to negotiate her history and the sense that speaking the Spanish or the English of her people's conquistadors made her less of a black girl. But she is unable to find in herself the Ewe, Igbo, or Swahili of her roots. It seems all that's left is silence. 262pp, UK. BLOOMSBURY.

Acclaimed debut novel. Jessamy Harrison, a child growing up in England, shares the cultural heritage of both her British father and Nigerian mother. It is on a visit to Nigeria that she meets Titiola, an usual girl shrouded in secrets. The novel explores twins, doubles and ghosts with echoes of their cultural significance in Nigeria. 336pp, UK. BLOOMSBURY.

Describes the fortunes of a young naive recruit in the Nigerian Civil War. "Rotten Engish" is a mixture of Nigerian pidgin, broken and idiomatic English. With an introduction by William Boyd. "A triumph" - Kole Omotoso. Gloss, 188pp, UK, LONGMAN AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES

Stories of a master trickster: one of Nigerian TVs best comedy shows. 216pp, NIGERIA. SAROS.

One of a series of short novels written to tie in with his popular Nigerian TV show, Basi and Company. NIGERIA. SAROS.

Short stories drawing on the experiences and lives of women in rural Nigeria - hardships, sorrows and small joys. Gloss, 129pp, UK. LONGMAN AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES.

The story of a young child who is fostered with a white family and soon becomes part of a life that is alien to her Nigerian family. When she returns to her parents, conflict ensues as the realities of trans-racial fostering and class conflict in the UK become apparent. 248pp, UK. MANGO PUBLISHING, 1902294254

2003 Paperback

'...brief, thronged, grisly and bewitching...Nothing is too prodigious or too trivial to put down in this tall, devilish story'. Dylan Thomas in the Observer. 125pp, UK. FABER, 0571049966

Poverty, morality, self-reliance and temptation come face to face in this novel. viii, 256pp, NIGERIA. UNIVERSITY PRESS LTD, 9780305335

Four short stories by a young Nigerian living in Italy. Each story has a central character: a young boy in a strange world; a woman who fuses sexuality and spirituality; a cruel oppressor in a vulnerable family; and a DJ hallucinating. BNS, 149pp, UK. MINERVA PRESS, 0754114058

A timely political novel describing the actions of the eponymous Amina and her friends as they try to effect a change in the social status of Nigerian women. Dealing with pressing issues rarely appearing in fiction - the legal status of Muslim women; the limitations imposed on them by traditional and religious conventions; the restrictions on their activities; the effects of a corrupt patriarchal system on the society at large and women in particular; the humiliations visited on women as a result of unquestioned male power in personal relationships - it presents a unique view of the issues prevalent in modern Nigeria from a woman's point of view. 244pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

Debut fiction from an academic thorn in the side of the Babangida military government. All is not well in the state of Niagra, the America of the African continent. The General the Unique Miracle of the Century has banned all but country and western music; a giant statue of Elvis desecrates the sacred Amuz Rock, street children are terrorised by the General's Disposal Units and someone is conducting experiments on unwitting Evangelical Christians. In Xanadu, Bob Marley, the sign painter, draws portraits that are more real than the real, more human than human and longs for the mother stolen from him by Idi Amin Ogwu. And in the oil rich province of Lidiziam, villagers who refuse the attentions of the Burton Holly corporation, and its promises of US dollars in exchange for their oil, are massacred. An African Catch 22 [John Pilger]. 404pp, UK. JONATHAN CAPE.