"His total conviction in multiple existences within our physical
world is as much an inspiration to some of the most brilliant
fiction in Yoruba writing as it is a deeply felt urge to 'justify
the ways of God to man.'"--Wole Soyinka, translator and Nobel
Laureate
A classic work of African literature, "Forest of a Thousand
Daemons" is the first novel to be written in the Yoruba language.
First published in Nigeria in 1939, it is one of that country's
most revered and widely read works, and its influence on Nigerian
literature is profound, most notably in the works of Amos Tutuola.
A triumph of the mythic imagination, the narrative unfolds in a
landscape where, true to Yoruba cosmology, human, natural, and
supernatural beings are compellingly and wonderfully alive at once:
a world of warriors, sages and kings; magical trees and snake
people; spirits, Ghommids, and bog-trolls. Here are the adventures
of Akara-ogun--son of a brave warrior and wicked witch--as he
journeys into the forest, encountering and dealing with
all-too-real unforeseen forces, engaging in dynamic spiritual and
moral relationships with personifications of his fate, projections
of the terrors that haunt man.
Distinguished Nobel Prize-winning author Wole Soyinka offers a
supple and elegant translation and provides an essay on the special
challenges of translating Fagunwa from the Yoruba into English,
along with a glossary of Yoruba and unfamiliar words.
With illustrations by acclaimed Nigerian printmaker Bruce
Onobrakpeya.
Daniel Orowole Fagunwa was born in western Nigeria in 1903. He died
in a motorcycle accident in 1963.
Praise for "Forest of a Thousand Daemons"
"A deep tale of the spirit; a classic of the African
imagination."--Ben Okri
"Fagunwa is as important to the Nigerian imagination as Grimm's
tales to the Western imagination. Except that Fagunwa's book is not
a collection of oral tales, but an original modern novel, one that
sets out to test the limits of the form of the novel, the range of
myth and its overlap into daily life. Soyinka offers us not a
simple translation but a complex and truly respectful re-rendering.
With this tender touch by Soyinka, Fagunwa's book comes alive -
reanimated in this new language. Beautiful, important and endlessly
fascinating. A must read."--Chris Abani, author of "The Virgin of
Flames" and "The Secret History of Las Vegas"
Praise for the contributors:
"The work of Fagunwa stands at the head of creative writing in the
Yoruba language and exerts the most pervasive influence on every
category of Yoruba literary expression. . . . He responded early to
the need for a literature in the vernacular, at a moment when a new
cultural consciousness began to emerge out of changing social
conditions."--Abiola Irele, scholar of African literature
"Among the Africans who deserve some kind of secular sainthood is
Wole Soyinka."--"The New York Times"
"Mr. Onobrakpeya . . . is one of the best known and most prolific
African printmakers."--"The New York Times"
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