Moonbeam: An Anthology of Short Stories by Nigeria’s Foremost Culture Journalists has officially hit bookshelves across Nigeria. Published by innovative independent publisher Narrative Landscape Press, now also operating in Kenya, the collection showcases the creative range of 15 culture journalists who prove that their storytelling extends far beyond the newsroom. The anthology is edited by Mr Anote Ajeluorou, a former Arts Editor at The Guardian and publisher of TheArtHubNg.
Arguably the first anthology by such a group anywhere in the world by 15 seasoned culture journalists, it made its first panel session conversation outing on October 4 at Quramo Festival of Words (QFest) 2025 held at Eko Hotel and Suites. Contributors to Moonbeam include the likes of the Chairman, Editorial Board Chairman of The Nation newspaper, Mr. Sam Omatseye, Senior Broadcast Journalist and Trainer at Lagos Talk FM 91.3, Mr. Adeniyi Kunu, Deputy Editor of ThisDay newspaper, Mr. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke, Editor of thisislagos.ng and thelagosreview.ng, Mr. Terh Agbedeh and Deputy Editor of The Sun newspaper, Mr. Henry Akubuiro.
Others are the former Editor of The Guardian on Sunday, Mr. Jahman Anikulapo, Mr. Toni Kan, formerly with The Guardian and defunct Next234.com, Molara Wood, formerly Arts Editor of Daily Trust, Mr. Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Editor of TheNews and PMNews, Mr. Nehru Odeh, Evelyn Osagie (rest her soul) of The Nation, former Arts Editor of Blueprint newspaper, Mr. Sumaila Isa Umaisha, Deputy Editor of The Guardian, Mr. Greg Nwakunor and former Arts Editor of The Punch, publisher of online platform, Phenomenon and oral performance poet, Mr. Akeem Lasisi. Interestingly, these 15 culture journalists are united in their singular passion for curating stories in over 40 years of culture journalism in Nigeria, contributing to enriching this culturally defining work.
Moonbeam has been hailed as a bold cultural offering by a significant segment of Nigeria’s culture community. Even before the book arrived bookshelves, it had a powerful presence at the Quramo Festival of Words (QFest 2025) early October with a panel on the “Place of Anthologies in a Book Ecosystem,” with contributors like Mr. Akubuiro, Mr. Agbedeh, Mr. Uwaezuoke and Mr. Omatseye, with the editor, Mr. Ajeluorou moderating. This month at Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF) 2025 on Friday November 14 at 4pm at Freedom Park and “Moonbeam: Interrogating the Intersection of Journalism and Creative Storytelling” as the interesting theme some of the anthology’s contributors will be speaking to at Lagos Fringe Festival on November 19, 2025 by 11am—1pm at Esther’s Revenge Lounge.
Prospectively, Alliance Francaise and Goethe Institut are other venues Moonbeam will enjoy a presence in book chat sessions. Copies will also be available for purchase at these festivals and prime venues, just as readers can now walk into a major bookshop in Nigeria and purchase copies and also from Narrative Landscape Press office at 1B Olatunde Ayoola Avenue, Behind Mobile Filling Station, Obanikoro, near Anthony Village, Lagos.
According to the editor, Mr. Ajeluorou, “Moonbeam is a victory for culture reporting in Nigeria, and hopefully, elsewhere, too. Of course, culture reporters are also published novelists, playwrights and poets world wide like those we have here in our midst like Mr. Lasisi (Night of My Flight, among others), Mr. Kan (The Carnivorous City, among others), Mr. Ibrahim (When We Were Fireflies, among others), Mr. Omatseye (Juju Eyes, among others), Wood (Indigo), Mr. Akubuiro (Yamtarawala: The Warrior King, among others), Mr. Ajeluorou (Igho Goes to Farm, among others), and so on. So, there’s nothing new about culture reporters publishing creative works. But to do so in an anthology is new and different. It’s innovative.
“And this is where we owe a debt of immense gratitude to our dear Evelyn Osagie, who gave birth to this noble idea, but who didn’t live to see a copy of it before she joined the stars in heaven. But we’re comforted that through Moonbeam we will continue to celebrate her fervent imagination. Moonbeam is therefore dedicated to Osagie and all those who dream new things into being!”
