By Damiete Braide
With the publication of Adventures Round the Shining Egg by Red Phoenix Publishers, Lagos, a 42-page collection of thirteen stories written by Master Kamsiyochukwu Anusi, 8, a pupil of Maryville Pearl Academy, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the author has become the second youngest author in Nigeria.
Anusi also becomes the third youngest author in Africa after the Cameroonian-South African, Miss Michelle Nkamankeng and Haphezezat Adegoke, both females, who published at seven.
However, Anusi is the only male author among the youngest authors in Africa who are girls. He is also the youngest male author, too, as records have shown. The young author hails from Mbaitolu in Imo State.
Adventures Round the Shining Egg sheds light on education, relationship, governance, family, banking, environment, and oil exploration.
In an interview with Daily Sun, the whizkid said: “I started writing at the age of 7. My love for writing and also the story books my father bought for me inspired me to write. My book is also a product of my imagination.”
Adventures Round the Shining Egg is a collection of interesting short stories teeming with morals. One of the morals in the collection is: Be Brave Even in Difficult Situation, from the story, “The Brave Little Chicken.”
He said: “Writing is attractive to me because it makes me share my knowledge with other children. It helps me understand things very well.”
His schoolmates are excited about the budding literary star.
Anusi added: “They felt happy and excited and wanted to emulate me. My teachers are also very proud of me.”
Writing at a very young age makes him special. “I am the second youngest author in Nigeria, after Hafeezat. I am third in Africa and is listed among the sixth youngest authors in the world.”
While some stories in the collection took him one week to write, others took two weeks or more. It wouldn’t have been possible to be a writer without the support of his parents.
“They supported me by encouraging me to do more and not give up even when I am tired,” Anusi stated.
Obviously a multi-talented kid, he is also good at football. No wonder, he would like to combine writing and football in the future: “I also want to be a footballer in the future,” he said.
The Basic 4 pupil is currently working on a new story.