Fiction Friday: Excerpt from Roses and Bullets by Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo
Today we bring you an excerpt from Roses and Bullets by Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, a love story set during the Nigerian Civil War. Adimora-Ezeigbo, author of more than 20 books, is a previous winner of the NLNG Prize for Literature, “the biggest prize for literature in Nigeria”.
The excerpt comes courtesy Pulp Faction, which also features an interview with the author:
Then she heard a swishing sound and listened. “What was that noise,” she asked, turning to Udo. Udo looked blank. It sounded like a plane, but the swishing sound was strange. The seller was talking to her but she was not listening. The sound was increasing, and there was indication other people had heard it too. She heard a loud voice crying, “Hey, it is enemy plane-o! Take cover!”
Ginika did not have time to think, but the training she had had as a special constable guided her action, as she grabbed Udo’s hand and cried, “Follow me! Bend forward as you run!” They took off before the other people in the market who seemed mesmerized by the sound of the planes. Some of them stood in one spot, watching, as the first plane entered the space, in the sky, above the market. Ginika found the first tree at the edge of the forest and shouted to Udo, “Stop! Lie down beside me!” Even as she listened to the whooshing sound of the jet bombers, she heard the first explosion. The earth shook. Ginika flung one arm round the base of the tree and pressed her head to the ground; she could feel Udo’s body pressed to her side. “Stay down! Keep your body flat!” she whispered fiercely. “Don’t get up!” Was she trembling or was it Udo’s body quivering and shaking hers?
Interview with Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo:
The Nigerian literary scene is blessed with many gifted writers. In the midst of them all, Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo shines like a thousand stars. Her writing career was launched when “The Call of Death”, a short story she wrote, got published many years ago. She is a former winner of the NLNG Prize for Literature, the biggest prize for literature in Nigeria; she heads the Prize’s panel of judges this year. Besides being a writer, she is also a scholar per-excellence – a professor – the former Head of English Department at the University of Lagos; critic; essayist; journalist; and administrator. She is the author of more than twenty books.
Book details
- Roses and Bullets by Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo
Buy the eBook from Amazon
EAN: 9789789125302
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Photo courtesy Jeff Unaegbu
Apr
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