Cassava Republic has announced the release of the UK edition of Nights of the Creaking Bed, a short story collection of author and journalist, Toni Kan.
The book hits stores on Wednesday (today) in the UK as the first book to be released under the company’s new imprint, Cassava Shorts.
First published in 2009, the UK edition features new stories and a brand new cover that appropriates the yellow of Lagos danfos.
Winner of the Saro Wiwa/NDDC prose prize in 2009, Nights of the Creaking Bed has received praise from home and abroad.
Author of On Black Sisters Street, Chika Unigwe, describes the books as “a brash and vibrant collection that brims all at once with sadness and humor; suffering and compassion; longing and loss. Toni Kan is an astute observer of human nature and writes convincingly about the ineluctable grasp of poverty and culture on his characters.”
Zambian-born Kenyan author, Zukiswa Wanner, said: “In Nights of the Creaking Bed, Toni Kan holds a mirror to humanity’s ability to love tenderly one minute and destroy cruelly in the next, thus capturing with style the complexity and unpredictability of not just his characters but ourselves. A necessary addition to the library of any discerning reader.”
For Michael Sears, one half of Michael Stanley tag team, the collection’s “lyrical prose and harsh insights make each story a sweet and sour treat.”
Author of Every Thing Good Will Come, Sefi Atta, says “beginning with deliberate brevity and ending on a note of lush lyricism, these fascinating vignettes of Lagos life showcase an array of peripatetic characters who are hopelessly stuck in their dilemmas.”
Mr Kan has expressed his happiness at the development.
“Every writer wants to publish a work that endures and defines him. It is early days yet but Nights remains a gift that keeps giving,” he said.
