Welcome to the Book Tour of Satans and Shaitans
At long last, the tour has begun. And I am excited to share readings and excerpts from the conspiracy crime thriller, Satans & Shaitans and and a short interview with you. Welcome to a book tour by AMAB Author, Obinna Udenwe. During this online book tour, the author will stop by seven literary websites, from March 7 through March 14th, 2016. You can read the tour schedule HERE.
Again, welcome to the tour. We’ll start with a book reading.
Listen to Obinna Udenwe read the prologue of Satans and Shaitans
Click the Play button to listen
Click to Download the transcript: Prologue – Satans & Shaitans
Obinna Udenwe gave a brief interview. I hope you enjoy reading.
CWN: Congratulations on winning the ANA Prose Prize 2015. How did it feel to win?
Obinna Udenwe: It felt great. I was excited because Satans and Shaitans is a queer book – it is different from the books you have out there in Nigeria – the very conventional Nigerian book. And you also have to put into consideration the fact that it belongs to an orphaned genre, the crime fiction. So there was the fear that this book, though well loved by the readers, might not be well received by judges in a literary contest, as we find mostly in Nigeria that most of the judges are academics and most of them who are academics do not take to genre fiction.
CWN: What did you enjoy most about writing this novel?
Obinna Udenwe: The research part. It took me seven years to work on the book – long years of research on various things – the issues of terrorism and insurgency and how jihad is related to terrorism. I had to study what jihad is, if jihad and terrorism is same thing and if one who is a terrorist can argue strongly that he is a jihadist and if he can, does Islam approve of his struggle as jihad. I had to read the holy Quran to understand Islam better. I had to dissect the holy book to find the surahs that talk about jihad and war. I had to read the Hadith. You see, the two books are the strongest Islamic reference points – you cannot say that you understand the religion of Islam well if you haven’t read the Quran and the Hadith.
I had to research on the Catholic part, but that was easy because I am Catholic and was an Altar Boy for close to ten years. I had to research on the making of Improvised Explosive Devices, and also on the northern part of Nigeria to find a suitable place to situate Kafurzan, the fictional town where the Centre for Islamic Knowledge is in the book. So the most exciting part of writing the book was the research.
Another reading by Obinna Udenwe, author of the Satans and Shaitans, Satans and Shaitans Page 108.
Click the Play button to listen
Do you have questions for Obinna Udenwe? Leave your questions in the comments section. Don’t forget to write your name at the end of the comment. There will be a draw at the end of all the tours. And free books will be given to tour participants. Want to increase your chances of winning an autographed copy? Don’t just ask questions. Place an order via the buy links. Mention @Amabbooks on twitter or send an email to amabbooks@gmail.com. Book orders automatically give you three spots in the Rafflecopter draw.
I hope you had a great time. Don’t forget to share and attend the other tours on all six other websites. There will be more readings and more fun.
About The Author
Obinna Udenwe is the author of the conspiracy crime thriller, Satans & Shaitans, published in Nigeria by AMAB books and in the UK in 2014 by Jacaranda Books.
Satans & Shaitans was a joint winner of the ANA Prose Prize in 2015. His novel addresses very topical issues of terrorism, jihad and politics. He is one of the few African writers fearless enough to delve into controversial issues – in 2015 he eroticised the Nigerian church in fiction in a series titled Holy Sex, published to wide readership and criticism.
In 2015 he established the ‘Crossover Mexico-Nigeria’ writing project. His works have appeared in Fiction365, Ehanom Review, Brittle Paper, Tribe, Kalahari Review, Alariwo, African Writer, Outside In Magazine etc., and anthologised in African Roar, Dreams at Dawn, ANA Review, and the Short Story is Dead Long Live the Short Story. In 2014 he was honoured with the award of the ‘State Literary Icon’ by the Government of Ebonyi State. Obinna Udenwe is a farmer and a democracy enthusiast.
Obinna Udenwe will be stopping at two websites tomorrow.
Praxis Magazine For Arts and Literature — 8th March, 2016
Praxismagonline.com
Say My Name — 8th March, 2016
Don’t forget to enjoy the varied readings and excerpts and interviews they will feature.
