A debut work of fiction titled ‘Beautiful Nothing’ by award-winning journalist and writer, Oladimeji Ramon, is due for release in October.
The author said the book helped him to shed the burden of stories he had carried within him for many years.
Published by TBLNG Press under its Vepo imprint, the collection of short stories explores the thin or blurred line between the physical and spiritual realms.
Ramon said the stories were shaped by his childhood memories, and, quoting the late famous American writer Maya Angelou, he added that finally publishing them would help relieve him of the burden of bearing those stories through the years.
‘I found the quote by Maya Angelou very profound, that there is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. It is quite relatable. Finally publishing Beautiful Nothing helps to relieve me of that burden that many writers are familiar with,’ he said.
Ramon explained that the stories, some of which were written over a decade ago, were inspired by his early exposure to Yoruba traditional beliefs and how they sometimes clash with Western or scientific worldviews.
‘While some of these beliefs are difficult to prove or impossible to verify empirically, they cannot also be dismissed as unreal,’ he said. ‘This is the sort of concept that continues to agitate my mind and has become the background for a lot of my fictional works.’
But some of the stories were also shaped by his journalistic instinct to seek the truth, he said.
Originally trained as a veterinary doctor, Ramon switched careers in 2014 to pursue journalism, building on his earlier experience as a campus journalist and his longstanding passion for writing.
He spent more than a decade with The PUNCH, where he rose through the ranks to become News Editor before moving to The Africa Report, headquartered in Paris, France.
His journalistic works have attracted recognition in Nigeria and internationally, including a 2023 True Story Award nomination in Bern, Switzerland.