Paperworth Books set to release Michael Afenfia’s ‘Leave My Bones in Saskatoon’

By Editor

Paperworth Books has set Friday, July 14, 2023 as Nigeria release date for Canada-based Nigerian writer Michael Afenfia’s sixth novel, titled Leave My Bones in Saskatoon. It tells a well-timed story of Nigerian emigration to Canada and all the possibilities that it entails. Commenting on the book, the author Afenfia, said, “Leave My Bones in Saskatoon is a love letter to the power of resilience and the complexities we must navigate when diverse cultures intersect. The book explores the intricate dance between identity and belonging, capturing the yearning for place, home and family. You think you are running away from your country, and then you arrive here, and news about home suddenly becomes your oxygen.”

Canada-based Nigerian writer, Michael Afenfia

Through the eyes of Owoicho, a television presenter seeking a better life for himself and his family, Leave My Bones in Saskatoon spans two cultures and continents. It is honest, heartfelt and enlightening. The story begins with Owoicho’s good news. He can’t wait to tell his family that their permanent residency application to Canada was successful. But while in Abuja, happy about this breakthrough, somewhere on the outskirts of Makurdi, a dark and troubling event threatens to torpedo all the plans he and his wife, Ene, have of moving their family to Saskatoon. The 275-page novel opens a new vista of ‘japa’ phenomenon and offers readers rare insights into that plunge into the unknown and its many possibilities and challenges.

Afenfia is a thoroughbred storyteller who has produced bestsellers fiction such as The Mechanics of Yenagoa and Rain Can Never Know, which was shortlisted for the ANA Prize for Prose in 2022. A lawyer with an MBA, Afenfia is the Executive Director of Saskatchewan Association of Immigrant Settlement and Integration Agencies (SAISIA). Before then, he worked as a Cultural Bridging Facilitator with the Saskatoon Open Door Society.

Leave My Bones in Saskatoon will available for online and offline sales from July 14, 2013.

Ibiso Graham-Douglas-led Paperworth Books is a fast-rising publishing firm known for its quality books that deal with contemporary issues of local and global concern. She also published Afenfia’s Rain Can Never Know, a novel of immense social significance, as it deals with the question of wealth acquisition in Nigeria’s modern era where everything goes and which has become a subject of intense moral debate.