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 promotes the reading of contemporary African writing, organises literary events and creates a physical and intellectual space for creative interactions and conversations.

Mainland Book Cafe believes in the power of people. This is why the core of the establishment is focused on bringing arts and literature lovers, writers, and readers together under one roof, to solve problems in society using books as a medium of change and a tool for recording history.

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.

Meetups

The last Sunday of every month is for gatherings called MBC Meetup where we 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.

Events

Mainland Book Cafe is also known to organize literary events, creating a physical and intellectual space for creative interactions in order to make reading fun and social.

Over the years, we have hosted notable authors like Igoni Barrett, Efe Paul, Toni Kan, Lola Shoneyin, Sylva Nze Ifedigbo, Seun Odukoya, Abigail Anaba, Tendai Huchu, Azeenarh Mohammed, Dami Ajayi, Bayo Olupohunda, Tunde Leye amongst others.

Publication: The Mainlander

We regularly published a digital anthology called “Mashup” – a collection of selected works comprising poetry, and several fiction and non-fiction titles in consideration of discovering and promoting new voices in the art and literary world.

The publication rebranded as “The Mainlander”.

Podcast: The Review

The Review is our weekly podcast where we review recent happenings in the creative space, events, books and so much more.