Dr Abayomi Awelewa Brings Tradition to Life at LRF Monthly Reading

The Literary Renaissance Foundation (LRF) invited Dr Abayomi Awelewa to read at its monthly reading event held on Sunday, 2 March 2025 via Zoom.

Dr Abayomi Awelewa is a lecturer and researcher in the Department of English, University of Lagos. A publisher and communication expert, his field of research includes African and diasporic literature, gender, and trauma studies. He has a doctorate in English Literature from the University of Ibadan. The reading dialogue was attended by 22 people from all walks of life, including legal practitioners, administrators, government officials, journalists, teachers, etc.

The event was kicked off by Babatunde Oladele, the director of the LRF, who called on everyone to introduce themselves, and then invited the guest speaker to the stage. Mary, the group’s administrator, read the biography of the guest.

The Dilemma of an African Prince is centered on the story of a young prince who finds himself at a crossroads when he impregnates a white woman after being betrothed to an African lady according to the tradition of his land. The book made use of kingdoms, Obas and kings, anniversaries, festivals, dancers and maiden in cultural attire, hunters, ancestral worship, and cultural settings to bring custom and tradition to life.

According to the author, the book took 20 years to publish. It was first published in 2004 and republished in 2017, before its final publication in 2020. It has now been adopted by over 40 tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The Dilemma of an African prince lasted 21 years, undergoing many transformations through reviews. It has been adopted as a stage presentation with lots of mutations from the day it was first published in 2004 by Lincoln Balogun from the Department of Creative Arts at the University of Lagos. Directors also contributed to the transformation over the years by giving their independent interpretation after reading the play.

The novel sparked comments and criticism during the live session.

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