Mazi Chiagozie Nwonwu: “You know how you at times stand on a balcony, watching strangers go by; wondering where they are from, where they are going and what lives they lead? Or how you enter a church, a classroom, an office, and wonder about the people there; what they are thinking, what’s responsible for those sad eyes, secretive smiles and angry faces? Well that is Farad, a painting of random people linked by a current–in this instance a university campus church.”
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Dami Ajayi: “Emmanuel Iduma is a debut novelist. His prose is effortless and sparse. His style lies in a simplicity that holds a tinge of deception. His language is fluent and tangy, organic. Iduma deploys a meta-psychological technique where his characters are dissected for both experiences and motives; the innards of his characters are exhibited as though for contemplation or for seeking similarities. And in spite of this experimental foray, their humanity is left intact.”
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Onyeka Nwelue: “Emmanuel Iduma is one of the most challenging voices in Nigerian literary scene…He has written the novel to engage and enrage audiences. His novel, Farad is about the world: it tells stories about people. It is completely peopled with mad men, lovers, politicians, teachers, musicians and people that Iduma loved. His arrival onto the scene is at once, charming and intimidating.”
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Oluseun Onigbinde: “Wake up in the morning. Bear your silence. Do some face washing. Find Farad that gleams with fine printing. In the end after reading this swift and gorgeous piece remember the referenced words of Colm Toblin ‘We saw nothing, not because there was nothing but because we had trained ourselves not to see’.”
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Joseph Omotayo in Critical Literature Review: “Farad thoroughly searches through the complexity of human existences and the differences of religion discoloured by deceitful ethnicity. It goes on to attune them with the simple yet delicate issues of everyday worries – the daily worries that easily connect with our feelings. Farad is authoritative in its distinctness, it despises the dead way of novel writing.”
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Tola Okunlola: “As a debut novel, “Farad” makes a statement for its author. Iduma portrays himself as an assertive writer. He coins words and writes vernacular yet he refuses to apologize with italics or imprison his words with quotation marks.”
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Oyinkan Braithwaite in All Things Art See: “Iduma’s turn of phrase is peculiar to him and fascinating to read. The experience of reading his words was like walking into a room that is familiar to you but you cannot call your own.”
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