Prologue: Babaaláwo Of Our Times

Having recently relocated to Birmingham after completing my post graduate architecture degree at Manchester Metropolitan University, I started on a literary journey in late 2004 and finished my first novel, Jumping for Joy, about a year later.
I had no idea what I sought to create when I commenced writing Jumping for Joy, but when the novel was finished – even though I must admit I was quite proud of myself for somehow finding the time and dedication to complete the novel whilst working full time AND studying for my professional practice examinations – it wasn’t a project which I could herald as an apt depiction of what I sought to convey as an author. Whilst the general prose and character development were widely praised by several friends, who were drafted in to proof-read, what largely came across was that the novel read like an amalgamation of short stories, which didn’t quite cohere as well as they should to yield an easy enough read. 

Half a decade later, living in Lagos and undoubtedly inspired by the new environment, I decided to return to the keyboard. With the previous comments about Jumping for Joy in mind, I took to scavenging the novel. Several chapters which were extracted from Jumping for Joy have been redeveloped as independent short stories. Happily, some have been published, and some have even been shortlisted for competitions. Along the same vein, this new novel, Babaaláwo Of Our Times, was developed based on a subplot of Jumping for Joy. 

Babaaláwo Of Our Times is a novel which I thoroughly enjoyed writing. The plot is linear – a direct play against the effervescent storyline: It is the story of white British expatriate – who after escaping his relatively mundane existence in England to live in the fictional West-African country of Côte d'or noir (working as a civil servant on some days and moonlighting as a traditional priest on others) – along with a hapless band of other foreigners, finds himself embroiled in a coup plot to overthrow the country’s military junta.

Perhaps I’ve given too much away already, but I’ll simply sign off by saying I hope you have half as much fun reading this as I did writing it.

God bless 

Rotimi


p.s. Thanks to Wale.E for once again letting me jack your style; Andy.B for introducing me to Tibor Fischer; Dolly.J for being such a trooper and reading all the dross I’ve ever written; Wana.U for being such a lovely companion; and everybody else for very very encouraging words you’ve given me over the years.