Review by Chuks Iloegbunam. Emerging Perspectives On Flora Nwapa: Critical And Theoretical Essays. Edited By: Marie Umeh. Published by Africa World Press. Distributed by Turnaround, Unit 3, Olympia Trading Estate, Coburg Road, Wood Green, London N22 6TZ. Tel: 0181 829 3000. Fax: 0181 881 5088.

Although the Nigerian writer Flora Nwapa met an untimely death in 1993, aged 62, it was generally agreed by the literary world that she lived a most creative and productive life.

One of those at her funeral was the late writer and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa who paid tribute in the following words:

"Flora is gone and we all have to say adieu. But she left behind an indelible mark. No one will ever write about Nigerian literature in English without mentioning her. She will always be the departure point for female writing in Africa. And African publishing will forever owe her a debt. But above all, her contribution to the development of women in Nigeria, nay in Africa, and throughout the world is what she will be best remembered for."

The new book on her, a tome of over 700 pages containing tributes and critical/theoretical essays by some 30 writers and critics from within and outside Nigeria, is a fitting and resounding celebration of the legacy and influence of a literary trailblazer.

"Over a span of 27 years," observes Marie Umeh in the book's introduction, "she published six novels, nine children's books, three plays, two collections of short stories, a book of poems and innumerable essays."

In the process of her prolific creativity, she inspired a whole generation of Nigerian writers. One of whom is Buchi Emecheta, herself an internationally acclaimed novelist. In Nwanyi oma, biko nodunma (Igbo for Good lady, fare thee well), Emecheta acknowledges her debt to Nwapa:

"As a young girl, I virtually devoured all the books I could lay my hands on written by women, whilst nurturing the hope of writing one, one day. When I came to England, borrowed a copy of Efuru from my local library, and read and re-read it, my mind was made up. Since [Nwapa] had written this, I could start writing as well. [She] became my model... During this time, I was going through hell (In the Ditch) and came across Idu. Then I started writing in earnest. When my first book was burned by my husband, I did not give up. Flora Nwapa could do it, so could I."

Flora's first novel, Efuru, was published in 1966, making her the first African woman south of the Sahara to be published in English. A year earlier, she had been made the secretary of the Society of Nigerian Authors of which Chinua Achebe was president.

Flora admits that her association with Chinua Achebe in this organisation gave her the courage to show him her script. Achebe quickly read her first novel, liked it, put a title on it, and sent it off to Heinemann in London for publication.

The significance of this publishing landmark and her commitment to her craft is captured vividly by Professor Ernest Emenyeonu in Flora Nwapa: A Pioneer African Female Voice Is Silenced:

"By the publication of Efuru, Nigeria had produced in Flora Nwapa its first female novelist. The significance of this novel, however, was more than the ordinary historical fact of a pioneer work; for in this novel Flora Nwapa created female characters that were at once unique and unconventional. The typical female characters created by male writers before this point were docile, subservient, and mindless women who were only seen but never heard. They existed only for the services they provided inside the home for their children and husbands. They did not count in any significant matter affecting community or national development.

"Flora Nwapa's heroine, Efuru, was an uncharacteristic artistic phenomenon. She had her own mind. She had her own personality. She distinguished herself by her industrious nature. She had administrative acumen and economic prudence. Whatever the merits and demerits of Flora Nwapa's first novel, its major significance lay in its uncompromising desecration of the myth of female irrelevance in national development. Flora Nwapa's subsequent works followed this pattern of giving the African female characters voice and identity, imagination and intellect, wit and wisdom in human affairs - no matter how offensive and loathsome to the typical Nigerian [male] readers."

There was another important area of the book industry in which Flora Nwapa was also a trailblazer - publishing. "With her husband Chief Gogo Nwakuche, she founded Tana Press Limited and Flora Nwapa Books in 1997, thus becoming Africa's first woman to own and operate a publishing company", writes Marie Umeh.

Many honours came her way. In 1983, she received the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) from President Shehu Shagari. In 1989, she was appointed Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria.

On 16 October 1993, Flora Nwapa died of pneumonia at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, and was laid to rest in her home town of Ugwuta (Oguta), a town that inspired much of her writing, the setting of some of her best known novels.

An African literary icon had joined her ancestors. Which was why her fellow female Nigerian writers like Professors Ifi Amadiume, Nina Mba, Molora Ogundipe-Leslie, Osonye Tess Onwueme, and many others including non-Africans, have collaborated in this commendable enterprise of salutation.

A great compilation!