Nigerian author, poet and filmmaker, Godspower Oshodin, has released his debut novel, “Even the Devil Wears a Pretty Smile,” and announced a book tour across selected African countries from November.
Oshodin disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
He said the novel, published by the Africa Literature Trust Fund, was available in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon.
According to him, the novel explores power, loyalty, ambition and silence, with its storyline moving from Kirikiri Prison to Abuja and other cities.
The book has a foreword by Dr Gbenga Komolafe, former Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), who described it as an engagement with difficult subjects and encouraged more African writers to explore such themes.
“This is not a comfortable book, and it is not meant to be,” Komolafe wrote in the foreword.
Oshodin said he conceived the title in 2012 and later narrated the story to his friend, Victor Jideofor, popularly known as Phlame Nations, and others in Lagos in 2013.
He said they suggested adapting the story into a film, but he decided to develop it as a novel, which was completed 14 years after the title was conceived.
“The man who finished this book has learnt a great deal and seen a great deal since,” Oshodin said.
He said his travels to 77 countries and 103 cities influenced his perspective and the development of the novel.
Oshodin said the African tour would feature readings, author conversations, media interviews and book signings, with dates and cities to be announced later.
Oshodin is also a journalist and media strategist. His film works include “The Scale (Tears for Enebi)” and “The Last Debt”, while his poetry collection, “A Poet Who Died By His Poem”, was published and launched in Dubai.
He is the founder of the Young Talents Initiative and a United Nations Volunteer.
