Bruce Peel Special Collections

Onitsha, a large city on the eastern shore of the Niger River, has long been the hub of the popular publishing industry in Nigeria. Onitsha publications have traditionally been written and published locally, in English, in an inexpensive booklet format of about fifty pages. These popular publications have a strong moral tone and address a range of subject areas from romantic fiction to current events to do-it-yourself advice. Bruce Peel Special Collections houses seventy-five titles, a representative sampling of Onitsha Market Literature (mostly) from the 1960s, that was donated by Library Science professor Andre Nitecki in 1982 to mark both the seventy-fifth anniversary of the University of Alberta and the retirement of U of A's renowned Chief Librarian Bruce Peel. One of the items of special interest is The Sacrificial Egg and Other Stories (1962) by Nigerian literary icon Chinua Achebe (1930–2013). 

Getting started: Most student researchers will want to employ a series of keyword searches in the University of Alberta Library catalogue in order to find relevant print and digital materials in all U of A library locations and collections, including the Peel library. For more information about research in the Peel library, see Finding and Requesting Peel Library Materials.

Collection Formats: 20th Century, Ephemera -- click to see other collections with this format