Recent Must-Read Fiction Set in Nigeria

Temi is 20 and has things all figured out. She just graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University, plans to move to Lagos, and will get her bumbum operated on so she can bag a man who will worship her. But then she has a temporary lack of judgment and tells her family of her plans. It causes a tizzy, and now all the women in her life—her sister, mother, and aunties—are trying to speak some sense into her. But then the women start spilling long-buried tea, which includes what really happened when her sister mysteriously disappeared years ago, and Temi realizes that maybe she’s not the one lacking sense after all.

I just got this and am excited to get into the funny and biting commentary on female beauty standards I’m sure this will be.

Two girls in Nigeria are at the precipice of great change. Treasure and her mother struggled after her father died, having to beg for scraps in the marketplace just to get by. When a man promises to solve her problems, Treasure notices his feet are hovering above the ground. Salvation through him will come at a terrible price. Then there’s Ozoemena, whose father said that the itch at the middle of her back is part of a great honor. It means she will become a Leopard capable of defending her land and people, something that girls were never before able to do. But all she wants is to fit in at her new boarding school. As the two girls travel on these new trajectories, they become wilder and soon ask the question of what girls must do to make it in the world.

This is the first release from Roxane Gay’s imprint. Ani Kayode Somtochukwu is a queer Nigerian activist, and with this debut, he explores the lives of queer men in a deeply homophobic country. When track star August leaves home to go to college, he seems to be doing pretty well initially. His grades are decent, he’s making friends, and there’s a girl that might become his girlfriend. But his thoughts constantly go to Segun, an openly gay student who works nearby. As the two become closer, Segun wants more than ever to be loved openly, while August’s true self remains guarded and hidden from the violence that surrounds them.

In this clever mystery, investigative psychologist Philip Taiwo starts working on a case based around a megachurch in Ogun State, where a bishop’s wife was murdered, and a young woman went missing. As Taiwo will soon learn, there are secrets that, if uncovered, will threaten the entire church.

This is the second in a mystery series—that starts with 2021’s Lightseekers—that you don’t necessarily have to read in order.

This shimmering queer coming-of-age novel takes place just before the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2014 would make queerness officially illegal. Obiefuna is a sensitive and creative boy who develops a sweet connection with a boy from a neighboring village, but when his father catches the two of them together, he gets sent away to boarding school. There, his fight for survival entails hiding who he really is and trying to navigate random violence. Meanwhile, his mother, Uzoamaka, wonders why her son was sent away since his father won’t say, and is left to reckon with long-avoided truths.

The characters of this Lagos-set short story collection seek freedom from the shackles of the past. In 12 deliciously eerie stories, a woman bears an uncanny resemblance to a wicked but deceased grandmother, an architect comes across a house set on vengeance, and a girl gets kidnapped by the local market’s tomato seller.

If you want more Nigerian writing, but set anywhere, here’s a list of some of the best Nigerian Books, which includes nonfiction.