Shigidi, a fantasy novel by Wole Talabi, is a fine display of the author’s dexterity as a writer and his keen eye for story. It is also a fine demonstration of how grossly underutilized African mythology has been in world fantasy.
Nigerian fantasy has come a long way since Amos Tutuola’s The Palmwine Drinkard. Published in 1952, and widely regarded as the first Nigerian fantasy novel, Tutuola’s story wove Yoruba folklore, fantastical quests and political commentary into a compact and punchy tale. Nigerian fantasy has evolved since then to include Ben Okri’s genre-defying novels, Nnedi Okorafor’s witchy storytelling and new entrants like Suyi Davies who writes mediaeval high fantasy and Dare Falowo whose work stretches the limits of the Nigerian weird. Though well subscribed, the genre is still in its infancy and still largely considered ‘fringe’ literature. Wole Talabi’s debut novel, Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon is uniquely positioned as the novel that opens the genre to mainstream reckoning.
It has taken ten years and many false starts for Talabi to weave a fascinating world filled with gods, monsters and cosmic entities who are all driven by complex motives to intervene and interfere in the mortal world. Shigidi was first published as a collaborative short story published on the now-defunct Alchemist’s Corner column on the Naked Convos in 2013, and Talabi revisited the story over the years, expanding the core idea until it evolved into its current iteration...
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