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, organise literary events and create a physical and intellectual spaces 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, also writers and readers together under one roof, to solve problems in the 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 physical and intellectual spaces for creative interactions and conversations in order to make reading fun and social.

In 2016, we hosted the first ever #FarafinaReads – an interactive session with two foremost Nigerian authors, A. Igoni Barrett and Efe Paul Azino. The event was considered one the highlights of the year.

Over the years, we 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.

Publication: 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.

This was to encourage young writers and also showcase their works on our platform.

In 2017, the digital collection was rebranded and renamed it “The Mainlander”, in line with the new vision.

Podcast: The Review

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