Chike Frankie Edozien - Lives of Great Men

LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD WINNER 2018 - Best Gay Memoir

PUBLISHING TRIANGLE AWARD nominated - RANDY SHILTZ AWARD FOR NON-FICTION

From Victoria Island, Lagos to Brooklyn, U.S.A. to Accra, Ghana to Paris, France; from across the Diaspora to the heart of the African continent, in this memoir Nigerian journalist Chike Frankie Edozien offers a highly personal series of contemporary snapshots of same gender loving Africans, unsung Great Men living their lives, triumphing and finding joy in the face of great adversity.On his travels and sojourns Edozien explores the worsening legal climate for gay men and women on the Continent; the impact homophobic American evangelical pastors are having in many countries, and its toxic intersection with political populism; and experiences the pressures on those living under harshly oppressive laws that are themselves the legacy of colonial rule - pressures that sometimes lead to seeking asylum in the West. Yet he remains hopeful, and this memoir, which is pacy, romantic and funny by turns, is also a love-letter to Africa, above all to Nigeria and the megalopolis that is Lagos.

'...an intense page turner of a memoir that is also laced with ache and longing, optimism and defiance in the face of injustice... this is a hopeful narrative, crammed with incident and telling details, and it’s a story that deserves to be savoured again and again. One of the most triumphant and joy-inducing books of the year.'

DIRIYE OSMAN, The Huffington Post (read the whole review here)

'[A] humane, sobering, yet gorgeous memoir... [Edozien] has succeeded here in reclaiming his own narrative and that of the wider gay community from the muffling jaws of discrimination with a sense of humour, guts and elegance... Where so many memoirs are being published now that have little of real substance in their pages, this is one that is both substantial and called for.'

DIANA EVANS, The Financial Times (read the whole review here)

'Frankie Edozien's The Lives of Great Men is an incredibly powerful portrayal of what it means to be a gay Nigerian man. But what makes this book so outstanding is its tender and insightful exploration of all the complicated, unspoken bonds in our most intimate relationships. In prose that is at once engaging and inquisitive, Edozien holds the human heart to light and finds the ways it manages to survive despite it all.'

MAAZA MENGISTE, author of Beneath the Lion’s Gaze

“Frankie Edozien writes with an urgency that is compelling, with a vulnerable honesty that is disarming and impressive, and with elegance about his life and a subject so risky and yet necessary. This is not a memoir of coming out gay in Nigeria as much as it is a call to step into our humanity. A necessary and courageous book.”

CHRIS ABANI, author of GraceLand and The Secret History of Las Vegas

Read a gorgeous profile of Chiké in The New York Times here.

Read a great review in Brittle Paper here - and a lovely piece on Chike winning the Lambda Best Gay Memoir/Non-fiction Award here.

Read a great Huffington Post interview, 'Chike Frankie Edozien Represents a New Era in Nigerian Non-fiction', here.

Here's a great feature on the piece, in Salon, here.

And here's a great longer interview in Medium.

Here's a lovely piece in Gyara magazine: 'And He Walked With a Pep in His Step'.

Another great piece in Brittle Paper here.

Read about Chike in the New Indian Express, the Times of India and the Johannesburg Review of Books (includes podcast).

Watch a short video about 'Lives of Great Men' by JENNIFER MAKUMBI of Manchester Metropolitan University here.

Here's a charming 2021 interview with Chike about teaching journalism in Accra, writing and life.

Chike chats with blackgayblog here.

You can buy this text from the following outlets:

UK: Waterstones / Amazon

US: Barnes & Noble / Amazon

You can watch this fascinating interview with Chike by Marc Lamont Hill:

READER REVIEWS

★★★★★

'Great book. Raw and unflinchingly truthful. Not for the queasy. Not for the faint-hearted. If you are a prude or a bigot you will lose out on these great stories. Stories about communities supporting and nurturing each other. Stories about the consequences when communities turn on their own, Salem witch-hunt style. Stories of perseverance and persecution. Stories about humans dehumanising humans. Stories of love and loss. Stories of triumph and defeat. Stories of victory.'

★★★★★

'This is a really important book. Africans - particularly heterosexual Africans - who can access and read it need to do so expeditiously. Page by page we will inch closer to realising human rights for all the citizens of this continent and the world.'

★★★★★

'Edozien is a powerful voice for change and against hatred. His is a beautiful perspective. I highly recommend this book. I learned so much about Nigeria, Ghana, New York City, journalism, being a proud and successful person of color, immigrant, gay man, and writer.'

★★★★★

'An important, groundbreaking memoir. A must read.'

★★★★★

'Conversational and easily read in bites or big gulps. There needs to be a movie version!!! If they can make movies out of boring books like Moneyball and Call Me By Your Name, this book's plot would be instantly do-able -- it's like a series of cinematic scenes.'

★★★★★

'As a fellow wanderer, I found Lives of Great Men a compelling read. The people, places, and events were all very familiar to me. This honest, enlightening and thought-provoking memoir travels across cultures and continents and only reinforces that at the end of the day it is the people in our lives which really make for a fruitful life. The author presents his story with a keen eye for detail that is at times humorous, disheartening and inspiring.'

★★★★★

'Edozien has a host of people to introduce us to--men in love, living out and proud, living in fear, denial, flux, and hope--and through their stories and his, he's written an entertaining, frank, and eye-opening account of the lives of gay men in Africa and the diaspora.'

★★★★★

'Thoroughly enjoyed this work by Edozian on several levels. First, it was a story of a man and his journey with all the richness that life brings in a variety of ways over time. Second, the story provides a truthful conversation about the expanse of human relationships that exist everywhere on this earth (without exception) including families, lovers, friends, etc. Third, Lives of Great Men shares insights on relationships based on experience in Africa (particularly in the LGBT sphere) that require an open and honest reality check now more than ever. Very important work. Highly recommend.'

★★★★★

'A beautiful, poignant, and inspiring memoir about growing up Nigerian and cosmopolitan, about being gay and deeply human...This is a book that will inspire readers to chart their own path without resentment or rage, and to become true or to themselves. If you liked Everything Belongs to the Thief by Teju Cole, or Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, you will enjoy this nuanced, wise, and compelling story.'

★★★★★

'The fabulous title of Chike Frankie Edozien’s memoir Lives of Great Men is taken from Longfellow’s poem “A Psalm of Life”, which Chike had to learn, by heart, at school. The title is both gently ironic, and also perfectly serious. Edozien's memoir introduces us to the “great” men - friends, brothers and lovers - who have influenced his life, and also explores what is it to be “great”. Is it to be great in bed? (Yes! Of course!) Is it to be a great friend? (That too!) But above all, as Chike shows us, to be "great" is to live actively, honestly and courageously. That's how we get to leave our footprints on the sands of time.'

SOCIAL MEDIA IMAGES