L-R: Molara Wood, Michael Archer, Victor Ehikhamenor

 By Nehru Odeh

Michael Archer, publisher of Guernica, defies description. Not only does he wear many distinguished hats, his platform has also given a voice to many writers across the globe. And he has done so much not only for writers and artists, but also for himself by virtue of his strength of character, courage of conviction and sheer hard work. And his reputation precedes him.

It was for these and many other reasons that when this multiple award-winning writer, academic and publisher visited Lagos recently, he was given a rousing reception by the literary and art community.

One of such literary parties that was held in his honour and which will linger in the minds of many for a long time took place on Sunday, 22 July 2025,  at Angels and Muse in Ikoyi, Lagos. Angels and Muse partnered with Guernica magazine to host the event.

It was an evening of readings, poetry performance and conversations. It was also an evening of reunion, fun and laughter as many used that occasion to meet and bond with old friends.

L-R:  Michael Archer, Molara Wood, Victor Ehikhamenor

However, the high point of the evening was the conversation between Molara Wood, Michael Archer and Victor Ehikhamenor, themed “Building Bridges: The Journey of Guernica magazine.” Molara did a good job engaging Michael and Victor in that intellectual discourse, which was enlivening and informative.

Still, it was fun galore. And the atmosphere was convivial. Evelyn Osagie, who was the guest poet, regaled the audience with two poetry performances titled “Eko Dance” and “Life is a Dance”. Toni Kan and Som Adebayo read excerpts from their works. Elohor Egbordi read “Okey Ndibe’s Testament, while Roli O’tsemayo read Chika Unigwe’s story, “The Transformation of Mama Paulina”, as her favourite Guernica piece. And Jahman Anikulapo gave a brief speech about the making of the movie, The Man Died.

Tade Ipadeola, award-winning poet and lawyer, who was also the Master of Ceremonies, set the ball rolling when he welcomed everyone and introduced Archer, whom he described as the big masquerade.

“Michael is many things in one. He is a publisher. He is a writer. He’s taught writing for decades and, by reputation, is one of the most impactful. He is the big masquerade who has brought this portal to our midst. We are lucky to have him in our midst in person, in flesh today,” Ipadeola enthused.

Michael Archer and Victor Ehikhamenor

Archer, for his part, introduced Nigerian writer and academic, Okey Ndibe, the first Nigerian writer to be published in Guernica, whom he said came into the magazine’s orbit in 2005, a year after it was founded.

He also told a funny anecdote about Ndibe ‘s first time in the United States, and the hall erupted with laughter. “Meeting Okey and getting him into our orbit sort of got this connection and synergy rolling,” Archer said.

Archer also recalled the day Ndibe saved him and his colleagues from embarrassment at an event in Nigeria he and his colleagues were asked by the United Nations to organise at the University of Manhattan. The guest who was invited, for some reason, didn’t show up.

“So we were panicking. ‘What are we gonna do?’ Okey, just stood up and said ‘I got this, I’m Nigerian. He walked to the front of the room, in front of everybody and started telling this story about his first time coming to America. He had all these people rolling on the floor and sort of saved the evening for us,” Archer recalled.

During the conversation, Archer spoke about Guernica’s modest beginning, how it started as a small group, before growing into a monthly, then twice a month and then daily.

Victor Ehikhamenor

“Our first issue took us quite a while to put together because we decided if we were going to do this, we were going to make a very good first impression. And so we edited like crazy…if you had told me that 21 years later we would still be going, I would have laughed hysterically,” Archer reminisced.

Victor Ehikhamenor, for his part, spoke about how he got to hear about Guernica magazine, the literary frenzy of the early 2000s and how everybody wanted to get published in one literary magazine or the other. And how he finally got published in Guernica after close to 20 years of trying.

“So a lot of my friends had published there, and we took a look at them. I was also doing my MFA back then as well.  So I think I may have sent a few that got rejected, and I switched to non-fiction, and that got accepted in 2020, so it took me close to 20 years of trying. But it was something that spoke to me as an artist and writer, ” Ehikhamenor said.

Archer also said Molara had introduced him to so many interesting people, such as Kunle Ajibade, Toyin Akinosho, Jahman Anikulapo and had had a lot of interesting conversations. “Nigerians are deeply passionate about art. They are political. So there have been a lot of those great conversations that are vast and too wide to mention,” Archer remarked.

Then Molara now chipped in. “Victor was talking about trying many times before getting into Guernica. And I think he’s a fine company. I think we’ll have those little stories about sending something to that submission pile and eventually getting  rejection, and he kept trying.”

However, the hall roared with laughter when Archer said “It wasn’t me” while responding to Ehikhamenor’s speech about his earlier futile attempts at getting published in Guernica.

Tade Ipadeola

Ehikhamenor also cracked the audience up when he said it was important to show up for Guernica magazine because it (the magazine) had also shown up for Nigerian writers.

“There is a saying in my place.  ‘If you give me snuff to smoke, I will give you snuff to smoke too. So you do for me, I do for you. And I just felt that it’s good for us to make it possible for him to see where those stories are coming from…

“But it is also good to have people come and see. It is not always good to yearn to go out there. That has always been my dream, to make sure that we bring people. So the goal is that we bring them here. We shouldn’t always be yearning to go. Let them come and see what we can put together here,” Ehikhamenor submitted.

Speaking about his experience of getting one of his pieces published in Guernica, Ehikhamenor said he is always thrilled whenever his story is published.

“I always tell my friends that the thrill I get from accepting my story to be published is way higher than probably having a work of mine sold. There is a certain thrill that comes with being able to move an editor with your works and probably accept your work to be published,” he noted.

Molara also shared the same feeling.  “I always say when I get an acceptance, I feel a pride and a sense of accomplishment I cannot describe. And I always say that when someone, sometimes across the ocean, who doesn’t know me, doesn’t owe me anything and doesn’t owe me any favour, reads this piece and says we would like to publish it, it’s such validity that is priceless, you can’t buy it. And it also gives the affirmation that maybe you are on the right path on this writing journey,” she opined..

Jahman Anikulapo

Asked what the highlights of heading Guernica all those years were and what the challenges were, Archer said being hosted at the moment in Lagos was one of the highlights.

“This is one of the highlights. Honestly, we’ve received a lot of awards. We’ve got American best this American best that. Obviously, EC Osondu winning the Caine Prize was amazing. Those things were great because they were raising our profile, not because we were getting a lot of money or any other stuff,” Archer maintained.

When Molara asked Ehikhamenor to share how he navigates and balances all the platforms in which he practices – Angels and Muse, painting –  and still finds time to write, he said, with a sense of humour: “My grandfather was a polygamist. So, I chose a different kind of polygamy, the arts. It’s fun for me. I think a lot of people do what works for them. I don’t take myself too seriously. I am having fun, to be totally honest with you.

“Friends that are very close to me know it’s fun for me when I am working. I’m super grateful that I’m able to do what I have always set out to do as a kid. I told myself I wanted to be an artist at the age of maybe nine or thereabout. To be able to do that, and also to be able to write and have fun with it and to be with the people I admire and love is fun.

“Having said that, it’s not the easiest way to juggle these multiple things. Otherwise, one particular form of art tends to be very jealous and take over.  So, to go back to the other one is a struggle. Otherwise, I would have been able to get more books published, more stories published, but art has become the one that has taken both. But luckily, I’m still able to find time to write.”

Evelyn Osagie performing

In his speech about the movie, “The Man Died”, which was adapted from Professor Wole Soyinka’s prison notes with the same title, Jahman Anikulapo said the movie was necessary to bring some of Soyinka’s works to the screen so that the youths can be abreast with Soyinka’s story and what he has done.

“What we did with ‘The Man Died’ is try to bring this man’s story back. There were not many materials on screen on the Nigerian civil war, which was where most of our problems started, apart from the creation of Nigeria. So, we thought we should bring some of those works to the screen.

“Because if there is any writer who has documented himself, it’s Wole Soyinka. He has written about six memoirs. He is writing the seventh one about his life. Those books are available. Extracts from these books are already out there.

“We can’t blame these people. We need to meet them where they are, which is the media. So, we said let’s begin to bring some of these old works from text to screen. Maybe it will give a story that young Nigerians can relate to.”

Jahman also used the opportunity to decry the impatience of the youths, their seeming tendency not to look beyond their immediate environment and time and to assume everything begins and ends with them.

“Many of us young people are so impatient about knowing what is happening. It seems that they don’t care about what happened before they were born. And it’s very frustrating for me because I sit down, I hear people say ‘I’m the first to.'”

Jahman cited the case of a young lady who said there were no materials on June 12. “We had a press conference on June 12. And a young girl came. She kept on saying there is no material on June 12. Everybody was screaming. She kept on insisting there was no material on June 12. Google would bring you hundreds of videos and write-ups about June 12. I can count ten books as I’m sitting down here,” Jahman notes.

Though Okey Ndibe was not present at the event, he sent a piece,  highlighting some of his fond memories of writing for Guernica Magazine, which was read by Elohor Egbordi.

In that piece, entitled “Okey Ndibe ‘s Testament”, the writer said he was proud that Archer was in Nigeria, having important conversations about literary arts and, particularly, the vital role that Guernica magazine has come to play in the contemporary artistic landscape.

“His (Michael Archer’s)  publication of my essay, titled ‘My Father’s English Friend’, had such exhilarating impact that I sought out other Nigerian—and African—writers and encouraged them to submit their fiction and nonfiction,” Ndibe wrote.

“Today, that exquisite and culturally stalwart publication has exploded on the literary scene, fervently read by the literati in the US and across the globe, including Africa. Indeed, it has helped to project the talent of some of Nigeria’s writers.”

The Q&A session, which was equally rich and exciting as well as Ehikhamenor’s vote of thanks, signalled the end of a robust evening of fun, intellectual discourse and laughter.