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by Mabel Segun

Paperback

About the author

Mabel Segun was a Nigerian poet, playwright and writer of short stories and children's books who was also a teacher, broadcaster, and a sportswoman.

Reviews

[Madolyn Chukwu · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an ex (radio) broadcaster the author was at her peak as a very intelligent, humorous and forthright writer, as this collection shows. The pieces here are well written, insightful, and fairly objective - even a piece on polygamy! Her language is of a high order yet dipping into Nigerian ideas and proverbs if need be. The book shows that she has always been a thinker, in love with ideas and stories, and an entertainer. Her humour is obvious throughout. even in the piece on 'witchcraft' where she still pulls off something of a joke at the end. One of the early Greats of Nigerian and west African Literature

[Lupna Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just think of it; or rather imagine the pressures early Nigerian wimen writers were under... they could not have been happy with the lot of females, but they still had to exist within the patriarchal confines and sentiments of the society. Hence in her early writings eg we see Mabel Segun pleasantly reflecting on the "advantages" of polygamy, even from the point of women. The great early female playwright, Zulu Sofola, one can see, was somewhat subdued too despite her great talent, and pioneer status. It was a time when the men - and society - was already suspicious of "akada" (highly educated women) anyway...could they be good wives...?. But Buchi Emecheta, for one always railed against the establishment as it were. She was independent minded in her writings and even "militant/pushy", as some dubbed it. So many stereotypes on women and it's a pity when women themselves seemed to be working (writing) against their own interests...