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Indigene: A novella and short stories
188 pages, Hardcover
Published August 5, 2025
About the author
Sefi Atta
24 books186 followersSefi Atta was born 1964 in Lagos, Nigeria. She was educated there, in England and the United States. Her father Abdul-Aziz Atta was the Secretary to Federal Government and Head of the Civil Service until his death in 1972, and she was raised by her mother Iyabo Atta.
A former chartered accountant and CPA, she is a graduate of the creative writing program at Antioch University, Los Angeles. Her short stories have appeared in journals like Los Angeles Review and Mississipi Review and have won prizes from Zoetrope and Red Hen Press. Her radio plays have been broadcast by the BBC. She is the winner of PEN International's 2004/2005 David TK Wong Prize and in 2006, her debut novel Everything Good Will Come was awarded the inaugural Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.
Her short story collection, Lawless, received the 2009 Noma Award For Publishing in Africa. Lawless is published in the US and UK as News From Home.
She lives in Mississippi with her husband Gboyega Ransome-Kuti, a medical doctor, and their daughter, Temi.
A former chartered accountant and CPA, she is a graduate of the creative writing program at Antioch University, Los Angeles. Her short stories have appeared in journals like Los Angeles Review and Mississipi Review and have won prizes from Zoetrope and Red Hen Press. Her radio plays have been broadcast by the BBC. She is the winner of PEN International's 2004/2005 David TK Wong Prize and in 2006, her debut novel Everything Good Will Come was awarded the inaugural Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.
Her short story collection, Lawless, received the 2009 Noma Award For Publishing in Africa. Lawless is published in the US and UK as News From Home.
She lives in Mississippi with her husband Gboyega Ransome-Kuti, a medical doctor, and their daughter, Temi.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 21, 2026
For a long time, Everything Good Will Come by Sefi Atta was my favourite book. It was the one book I'd recommend to anyone without hesitation. So when I picked up Indigene and read the back, I was excited to discover it was a sequel. I couldn't wait to find out what had become of Enitan and Sheri.
I was mildly disappointed. The novella didn't quite sustain that excitement or do justice to Enitan and Sheri's stories. It felt as though Atta had social commentary she wanted to explore touching on topics like class, identity, and Nigeria's political landscape and used these beloved characters as vehicles for it. I think Indigene would have worked better as a standalone piece with new characters built specifically around those themes.
That said, I enjoyed the short stories in the collection, especially Unsuitable Ties!
I was mildly disappointed. The novella didn't quite sustain that excitement or do justice to Enitan and Sheri's stories. It felt as though Atta had social commentary she wanted to explore touching on topics like class, identity, and Nigeria's political landscape and used these beloved characters as vehicles for it. I think Indigene would have worked better as a standalone piece with new characters built specifically around those themes.
That said, I enjoyed the short stories in the collection, especially Unsuitable Ties!
April 11, 2026
Something that was interesting to see is the dynamics of the conversation Enitan often have with her daughter Yimika.
Yimika being a "Gen Z" and finding ways to fault her mother for her views and opinions especially about how the society is but only joining feminist groups online and being a "hashtag warrior" when her mom had previously in the book "everything good will come" be arrested for protesting and leaving a marriage that did not serve her.
Didn't her mother do more to stick to what she wants and beliefs is right? Than Yimika??
Yimika being a "Gen Z" and finding ways to fault her mother for her views and opinions especially about how the society is but only joining feminist groups online and being a "hashtag warrior" when her mom had previously in the book "everything good will come" be arrested for protesting and leaving a marriage that did not serve her.
Didn't her mother do more to stick to what she wants and beliefs is right? Than Yimika??
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews