Adewale Maja-Pearce (born 1953) is an Anglo-Nigerian writer, journalist and literary critic, who is best known for his documentary essays. He is the author of several books, including the memoirs In My Father's Country (1987) and The House My Father Built (2014), several other non-fiction titles and a collection of short stories entitled Loyalties and Other Stories (1986).
Early years and education Adewale Maja-Pearce was born in London, England, to British and Yoruba parents. He grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, attending St. Gregory's College, Obalende (1965–69),Adewale Maja-Pearce at LinkedIn. and returned to Britain for further education at the University College of Wales, Swansea (BA, 1972–75), and at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University (1984–86), where he gained a Master of Arts degree in African studies.
Literary career He was employed a researcher at Index on Censorship and became the journal's Africa Editor (1986–97), as well as becoming consultant and then Series Editor of the Heinemann African Writers Series (1986–94).Adewale Maja-Pearce page, Amazon.Maja-Pearce, Adewale. "In Pursuit of Excellence: Thirty Years of the Heinemann African Writers' Series". Research in African Literatures 23, no. 4 (1992): 125–32.
Having returned to Nigeria, he lives in Surulere, Lagos, in a house inherited from his father, which he has written about in his 2014 memoir The House My Father Built."Kachifo Limited Presents 'The House My Father Built', by Adewale Maja-Pearce", Farafina Books, 13 November 2014. Maja-Pearce runs an editorial services agency called Yemaja,"Yemaja Editorial Services". as well as a small publishing company, The New Gong, founded in 2005.The New Gong | New Media Publishers website.
Writing Maja-Pearce has written in various genres, his early published work featuring short stories drawing on his Nigerian background,"Fiction by Adewale-Pearce", Wasafiri, Issue 2: Spring 1985, with his collection Loyalties and Other Stories appearing in 1986.Dr P. Manickam, "Images of Contemporary Nigeria's Moral and Spiritual Malaise in the Short Stories of Ben Okri, Adewale Maja-Pearce and Okey Chigbo", in K. Balachandran, Critical Essays on Commonwealth Literature: A Festchrift to Prof. C. V. Seshadri, New Delhi: Sarup & Sons, 2006, pp. 197–202.
Most notable, however, as an essayist, he has written several non-fiction books, including the 2005 Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa and Other Essays, which in the opinion of critic Uzor Uzoatu "affords us the opportunity of dipping into the immense world of Maja-Pearce as he, in twenty-three heartfelt essays and reviews, illuminates the benighted mores of modern Nigeria, the identity question in South Africa ... and engages with seminal minds across the world. ...This book is a treasure, a profound testament.""Events", Project on African Expressive Traditions (POAET), Indiana University, April 2008. Maja-Pearce was the editor of Christopher Okigbo's Collected Poems (1986), as well as of anthologies such as The Heinemann Book of African Poetry in English (1990) and Who's Afraid of Wole Soyinka?: Essays on Censorship (1991), and also wrote the 1998 and 1999 annual reports on human rights violations in Nigeria.
His memoirs include 1987's In My Father's Country: A Nigerian Journey and, most recently, The House My Father Built (2014), which the reviewer for the online magazine Bakwa described in the following terms: "a harrowing tale of Nigeria as it then was (1993–1999); a memoir of Adewale Maja-Pearce's quest to possess his birth right, his country and personal dignity. ...Mr Maja-Pearce presents the greatest cast of characters in the history of Nigerian literature. And nothing comes close, no cliché, except you consider Basi and Company by Ken Saro-Wiwa."
Maja-Pearce has written journalism, essays and reviews for a range of international publications, among them The New York Times,"Adewale Maja-Pearce", The New York Times. Granta,Adewale Maja-Pearce page at Granta. The London Review of Books,"Posts by Adewale Maja-Pearce", London Review of Books."Adewale Maja-Pearce" at London Review of Books. The Times Literary Supplement, The London Magazine, Prospect, The BafflerAdéwálé Májà-Pearce at The Baffler. and the New Left Review. He became a contributing opinion writer for The International New York Times in 2013."The Opinion Pages | Adewale Maja-Pearce", The New York Times.
His 2024 book, This Fiction Called Nigeria: The Struggle for Democracy (Verso Books), which was written against the background of the 2023 elections, examining Nigeria's "crisis of democracy", is characterised by Uzor Maxim Uzoatu in The Lagos Review as "hard-hitting" and "a landmark book".
Personal life Maja-Pearce is married to the artist/activist Juliet Ezenwa.
Bibliography
In My Father's Country: A Nigerian Journey (William Heinemann, 1987), CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2011, . How Many Miles to Babylon? An Essay, Heinemann, 1990, . A Mask Dancing: Nigerian Novelists of the Eighties, Hans Zell Publishers, 1992. . From Khaki to Agbada: A handbook for the February, 1999 elections in Nigeria, Civil Liberties Organisation, 1999, . Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa and Other Essays, New Gong, 2005, . A Peculiar Tragedy: J. P. Clark-Bekederemo and the Beginning of Modern Nigerian Literature in English, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013, . The House My Father Built, Kachifo Limited, 2014, . This fiction called Nigeria: The Struggle for Democracy Verso, (2024), {London} and {New York}. Shine Your Eye: In Search of West Africa C.Hurst and Co. {London} (2026) As editor Christopher Okigbo: Collected Poems, Heinemann, 1986, . The Heinemann Book of African Poetry in English, Heinemann, 1990, . Who's Afraid of Wole Soyinka?: Essays on Censorship, Heinemann, 1991, . The New Gong Book of New Nigerian Short Stories, 2007, . Dream Chasers: New Nigerian Stories, Nelson, 2013, . This Fiction Called Nigeria: The Struggle for Democracy, Verso Books, 2024, .
Short fiction Collections
Selected book reviews YearReview articleWork(s) reviewed2018
References
External links Adewale Maja-Pearce blog Olatoun Gabi-Williams, "Adewale Maja-Pearce" (interview), Borders: Literature for all Nations.