Three of my books will be out this year
Ten in your reading experience?
My March Through Prison by Obafemi Awolowo; Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe; Oluremi Obasanjo’s Bittersweet: My Life with Obasanjo; BATTLELINES: Adventures in Journalism and Politics by Olusegun Osoba, The New Journalism by Tom Wolfe and E. W. Johnson.
4. What books would you return to again and again?
Disenchantment: Meaning and Morality in the Media by John Phelan, Voices Beyond the Newsroom by Richard Ikiebe; The First Casualty by Phillip Knightley.
5. Which books would you consider essential or critical in your profession or line of business?
Walking a Tightrope: Power Play in Daily Times by Is’mail Babatunde Jose; Media Debates by Everette E. Dennis and John C. Merrill; Watchdogs or Captured Media: A Study of the role of the media in Nigeria’s emergent Democracy 1999-2016, edited by Ayo Olukotun; ‘Rite it Right: Analysis of Writing Errors in Nigeria’s Mass Media by Adidi Uyo; and Adigun Agbaje’s The Nigerian Press, Hegemony, and the Social Construction of Legitimacy 1960-1983.
6. Please suggest five essential books in your field and five general interest books that are must-reads for young people.
First, the five essential books in my field of journalism:
The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E. B. White; Voices from Within edited by Lanre Idowu; Watching the Watchdogs: Media Review at 20 edited by Lanre Idowu; Voices Beyond the Newsroom by Richard Ikiebe; Press and Politics in Nigeria 1880-1937 by Fred Omu.
Then the general books:
How to be a Nigerian by Peter Enahoro, Be(com)ing Nigerian by Elnathan John, Wole Soyinka’s You Must s+set Forth at Dawn, Chinua Achebe’s The Trouble with Nigeria, Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Adichie.
7. Do you prefer hard copy or digital texts?
Hardcopy choice. is my first
8. What are the significant differences and appeal of each in your view?
There’s no better reading experience than cuddling a book. It’s also easier to annotate. Digital text is okay, but prolonged exposure to its lights is not suitable for my eyes.
9. Any preference between fiction and nonfiction?
I read anything that catches my fancy, but these days I tend to emphasise nonfiction.
10. Who are your all-time favourite authors?
James Hadley Chase was the first author to make a strong impression on me in high school. I loved his breezy style of presentation. I love the accessibility of Chinua Achebe’s prose, the drama of Wole Soyinka and the poetry of John Pepper Clark. I enjoy Jeffrey Archer for his sense of history and his dramatic twist of events.
11. Do you do audiobooks? What are your thoughts on audiobooks?
I’m just getting into the audiobook. It’s another way of making the book appealing.
12. Any preference between Nigerian or foreign authors in your choice of books? Which ones predominate in your library and why?
No preference. Good literature is not the exclusive preserve of any race or nationality. I have a good blend of books written by Nigerian and foreign authors.
13. Do you share the notion that Nigerians do not read? What informs your response either way?
Nigerians read. The quality of what they read and affordability to buy books may be concerning.
14. Any thoughts on reading generally and what it contributes to readers?
Reading provides access to the thoughts and ideas of writers. It encourages reflection and propels development in society. It is the vehicle to connect the past, the present and the future. Reading people are thinking people. A thinking people are a living people. To stop reading is to stop thinking and living. And what a dreary world that would be!
15. Do you plan to transit from a reader to a writer? When should we expect to read your works?
I am already a writer. I have written five books, three of which will be out this year. They are Media on My Mind: Ethics, Governance and Other Matters; Uneven Steps: The Story of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and Songs of Childhood. I have edited eleven books and co-edited five. As long as I continue to enjoy good health, I pray to write more, so help me, God.
Lanre Idowu is CEO of Diamond Publications Limited and Trustee of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence that organises the DAME Awards.
He is a respected writer, author, trainer, editor and publisher as well as winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Journalistic Excellence by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, 2011.