Sefi Atta Returns with ‘The Gèlè Gang’, a New Novel About Love, Marriage & Motherhood

AWARD-WINNING Nigerian author Sefi Atta is set to return with a new novel, The Gèlè Gang, scheduled for release in February 2027.

After more than two decades of exploring Nigerian women, family relationships and social expectations, Atta is taking readers into the lives of Nigerian-American women in Atlanta, United States.

The novel follows a group of friends in their fifties who decide to find husbands for their daughters in their twenties. However, their matchmaking plans take unexpected turns, creating room for humour and reflections on family relationships.

Through this storyline, Atta examines marriage, motherhood, friendship and identity. She also explores the cultural expectations Nigerian women carry across generations and geographical boundaries.

Inspired by Nigerian weddings she attended, the forthcoming novel promises a lighter but equally thoughtful approach to familiar social experiences. This time, the women wearing gèlè take centre stage.

Born in Lagos in 1964, Atta trained as a chartered accountant before pursuing writing more seriously. Her literary breakthrough came with Everything Good Will Come, published in 2005. The novel earned her the inaugural Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa in 2006.

Her other publications include Swallow, A Bit of Difference, The Bead Collector and the short-story collection Lawless. The latter won the 2009 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa.

With The Gèlè Gang, Atta continues her exploration of Nigerian society through the experiences of women. However, the new novel introduces a fresh setting and a humorous premise that brings questions of love, marriage and cultural identity into focus.