OMOSEYE BOLAJI’S BIRTHDAY BASH

  

The literary world reverberates this weekend as distinguished, creative writer Omoseye Bolaji celebrates his birthday. The occasion will be marked in selected literary centres in South Africa, and in west Africa.   

A most fecund writer, extraordinary literary activist and catalyst for decades, Bolaji was also a long-standing  editor at Free State News where he presided over countless diamond-studded literary-critical features, most of which have now been published in diverse journals and books all over the world.   

In Bloemfontein this weekend a keynote address on the life and works of Bolaji will be delivered by the well-known author, critic, and Pan Africanist, Mr Ishmael Mwandile Soqaga (his speech will be published exclusively in Free State News next week).

A visibly elated Soqaga told Free State News this week: "No praise is too much for this great son of Africa, Ntate Bolaji who has augmented respect for blacks worldwide in the sphere of arts and culture. In the history of Africa I think Bolaji's influence can only be likened to that of Ulli Beier - my speech will focus on
this, and much more,"  

Also in the eastern Free State, a symposium on the "galvanic influence of Bolaji" will be taking place in Clocolan this weekend. The event will be anchored by the
award-winning novelist, Mr George Rampai.    

Literary pundits worldwide continue to focus on the literary work of Bolaji, especially his technicolour fiction. How does one even begin to scratch the surface of the fiction of an African writer who has been quite prolific like Omoseye Bolaji? I suppose the same daunting obstacles will apply to the likes of Es’kia, Ngugi, Achebe, and many other greats.

Most of us would rather focus on a few memorable works of a particular author. Like Fools of Njabulo Ndebele. One advantage Bolaji has is that his fiction is generally memorable, brisk and exciting. Take works like Impossible love (2000) and Ghostly adversary (2001) for example. These are books we can re-read with pleasure. The love story in the first is enchantingly yet realistically told. Most readers seem to agree that Ghostly Adversary  is a well written thriller. Bolaji's Tebogo Mystery series - now eight in all – is readable, often keeps us guessing, and informative.

One aspect that impresses me is how the author grapples with language, ranging from somewhat refined prose to bathos. Consider this passage from Tebogo fails (2003) for example – ‘We got to a sort of field, like a meadow, copse, quite attractive. It was a romantic setting. Shame about those who abused the place, stalking, slinking in the dark, ready to pounce on individual females who chanced to use this route alone. But the ambience itself was magnificent. Made for lovers... Youngsters no matter how intelligent, often have a devil-may-care trait in them, a predilection to brave the world and its perils sometimes. Undoubtedly, many females here must have traversed this quote short cut route in the dark, intermittently. Rape is different from murder. No child believes he/she would be killed. Decent people do not harm the young of the world....”

To his credit, Bolaji creates fiction and language many ordinary readers in Africa can identify with. The above quote shows his prose at a fairly high level - though it can be quite uneven. But note the very first sentence of his latest Tebogo adventure: ‘The wind seemed to have a malevolent, jeering quintessence on that day..’ Tebogo and the bacchae (2012) Thereafter, the prose is relatively simple, though.

In her study of the Tebogo Mystery series - Tebogo on the prowl (2006) – critic Petro Schonfeld seems bemused with the style of Ask Tebogo (2004). She writes: 'It seems that the narrator, and sometimes even the minor characters, uses a somewhat more formal language in this novelette. The style differs from the others in the series. It could be that the author wants to emphasise Dave's essays or he wants to blend a unity. Examples of English expressions and aphorisms are abundant...the sentence construction and word choices are sometimes more formal...' (Page 28)

In People of the townships (2003) Bolaji seems to achieve the perfect equilibrium of language that makes the work still a sterling achievement. John Lefuo, the main character is clearly a semi-literate (in theory), but his love for reading makes him such a fine narrator, despite his intermittent stylistic infelicities.

Aryan Kaganof, writing on People of the townships, states: 'The pace of the writing is so snappy and its un-putdownable factor so high that the reader is left out of breath as I imagine protagonist John Lefuo must have been at the end of his last Sunday walk as a free man...this is a relentlessly grim novel that is surprisingly funny along the way. There are some hilarious dialogues...'

As part of the birthday celebrations, a brand-new book authored by Bolaji will also be presented this weekend. It is titled "Far Up! Far Out! Far More!" Those interested in the book can phone 074 0467177

-         - Report by P Lechesa and L Giwa (Courtesy of Free State News)