Welcome to The Author As A Reader where your favourite authors reveal the books that shaped them. In this series, we dive into their reading lives, from the stories that bring them comfort to the books they can’t stop recommending. They’ll share the novels they’d love to see on screen, the covers they can’t resist, and even the book that made them believe in the power of words. It’s a cozy, behind-the-scenes look at the books that have left a mark and who knows, you might just find your next memorable read.
Umar Abubakar Sidi is pilot in the Nigerian Navy and a writer whose words move seamlessly between poetry and prose. His first poetry collection, The Poet of Dust, introduced readers to his interest in the spiritual and the everyday, while Like Butterflies Scattered About by Art Rascals showed his knack for playing with language and form in surprising ways.
In 2024, he stretched the boundaries of storytelling with his debut novel, The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus. Time, genre, and reality dissolve in this radical experiment: a genre-defying fusion of prose, poetry, and essay. Wendy of @iwanderandread says reading The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus was like “stepping into a shimmering, kaleidoscopic vortex, where the boundaries of storytelling dissolve into a hallucinatory odyssey.”
Sidi’s work speaks to readers with a quiet insistence, inviting us into the sacred spaces between mind and soul. In this edition of The Author as a Reader, we’re turning the page to his bookshelf. What stories guide the author-poet-soldier?
The Author As A Reader | Umar Abubakar Sidi
My earliest reading memory: Vividly, I can remember, the moment I was able to put consonants and vowels together. I asked my father to buy me a copy of Abubakar Imam’s Magana Jari Ce. It played a critical role in laying a solid foundation upon which I built my pursuit of mystery and enchantment in literature.
A book I’d like to see adapted to the screen is: A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James.
A book that reminded me why I wanted to be a writer in the first place: There are many, let me mention a few: The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mbougar Sarr, If on Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino & The Arabian Nights.
The most recent book I’ve seen with the most gorgeous cover: When God Burns the City by Emeka Obinna.
The book I think is most underrated: Jumoke Verrisimo’s A Small Silence. It is a true work of art. A work that embodies enigma. It is a novel with an ongoing story where the reader and writer are entangled in the creative process of letting the story unfold and be. The writer ingeniously left an incomplete metaphor for the reader to process. The book interrogates instrumental aesthetics in a degenerative Nigerian society.
If my book had a soundtrack, the first song would be Soukoura by Ali Farka Toure (with Ry Cooder from the album, Talking Timbukutu)
The last book I purchased: There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak.
A book that made me recognize the power of words: The Famished Road by Ben Okri, Waiting for an Angel by Helon Habila
An author I discovered late who made me wish I’d found them sooner: Cesar Aira, Enrique Villa Matas, Alain Mabanckou.
A book with the best opening lines: Ah, there are many but let me settle on one: “You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino’s new novel, If on a winter’s night a traveler. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade. Best to close the door; the TV is always on in the next room. Tell the others right away, ‘No, I don’t want to watch TV!’ Raise your voice–they won’t hear you otherwise– ‘I’m reading! I don’t want to be disturbed!’ Maybe they haven’t heard you, with all that racket; speak louder, yell: ‘I’m beginning to read Italo Calvino’s new novel!’ Or if you prefer, don’t say anything; just hope they’ll leave you alone.” – If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino.
The book I’m most ashamed not to have read: Moby Dick by Herman Melville
A book I picked up specifically to challenge myself as a reader: Solar Bones by Mike McCormack and Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann are novels written in one sentence. And everything by Lazlo Krasznahorkai .
If I could recommend one book to my younger self, it would be: Black Book by Orhan Pamuk and Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
Something Bookish Curators are always on the lookout for the next great read to add to your #TBR. Whether it’s a backlist gem, a breakout debut, the book everyone will be talking about next, or a beloved classic, we’ve got recommendations you won’t want to miss. Join the conversation and read along with us on social!
