Mainland Book Cafe

Mainland Book Cafe often referred to as MBC is a Lagos-based community of readers, writers, and art enthusiasts. The book club founded in 2014 by Ayomidotun Fadeyi seeks to promote reading culture in Nigeria and celebrate homegrown writers and artists while also paying attention to the international literary scene. Mainland Book Cafe promote the reading of contemporary African writing and organise literary events.
Background
The book club was established in 2014 by Ayomidotun Fadeyi. It was initially called Mainland Book Club, and the first book event was held at Seven Eagles Spurs Restaurant in Ikeja, Lagos.
The literary community is fast becoming one of the leading voices in the literature scene owing to its monthly meetups held every last Sunday of the month and the lending of its voice to positive and relevant conversations in its industry. In 2017, Mainland Book Cafe was nominated as the Book Club of the Year at the inaugural edition of GARARA (Grill & Read Annual Readers’ Awards) as a result of this.
Events
The last Sunday of every month is for gatherings called MBC Meetup where members of the book club and their friends come together to discuss the book of the month over food and drinks. Within these meetings, the narrative point of view, subject matters, characters and more embedded in the book are reviewed. Opinions gathered are then recreated into MBC podcasts
Mainland Book Cafe is also known to organize literary events, creating physical and intellectual spaces for creative interactions and conversations in order to make reading fun and social.
In 2016, MBC, hosted the first ever #FarafinaReads - an interactive session with two Nigerian authors, A. Igoni Barrett and Efe Paul Azino. The event was considered one best literary event on Lagos mainland and was one of the highlights of the year.
Over the years, the book club has hosted notable authors like Toni Kan, Lola Shoneyin, Sylva Nze Ifedigbo, Seun Odukoya, Abigail Anaba, Tendai Huchu, Azeenarh Mohammed, Dami Ajayi, Bayo Olupohunda, Tunde Leye amongst others.
Writers' Support
So as to ensure all members benefit from the arts and literature community, MBC also offers writer support services which includes researching, copy-writing, editing, proof-reading, cover design, book formatting and layout design.
The Mainlander
Mainland Book Cafe published a digital collection of short stories & poetry called "Mashup" - a collection of selected creative works comprising several fiction and non-fiction titles in consideration of discovering and promoting new voices in the art and literary world.
Mashup featured writings from budding authors, and poets. This was done in an attempt to encourage young writers and also showcase them on a platform they could own.
In 2017, MBC rebranded Mashup and renamed it “The Mainlander”.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu