His works have appeared in Hazlitt, Per Contra ,
Evergreen Review , FT and the Caine Prize for African Writing anthology 2013 , 2014 and 2015 .
He mostly writes weekly political satire for the Nigerian newspaper Daily Trust on Sunday. He also made it to the short list for the Caine African Prize for writing in 2013 and 2015.
Synopsis
Dantala who lives in Bayan Layi and studies in a Sufi school, far away from home. By chance he starts to follow gang leader Banda, a nominal Muslim. Dantala is thrust into a world with fluid rules and casual violence. In the bloody aftermath of the elections he runs away and ends up living in a mosque. With a simple and practical approach to life, as he teaches himself English, Dantala slowly embraces the Salafism preached by his new benefactor, Sheikh Jamal.
He falls in love with Sheikh’s beguiling daughter, Aisha, and tries to woo her without breaking the rules. All the while, Sheikh struggles to deal with growing jihadist extremism within his own ranks.
Narrated in Dantala’s raw yet inquisitive voice, this debut novel explores brotherhood, religious fundamentalism, and loss against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent periods in contemporary Northern Nigeria.
The novel is out in Nigeria on November 12 2015 from, in the US from Grove Atlantic in May 2016 and in the UK in spring 2016 from Cassava Republic (UK). Follow him on Twitter @elnathan for updates on events and book readings.
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