'Master of Disguises' disguising as a Novelist: Anticipating Sidi's The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus

—Sirajo Abdulazeez Illo

Literature possesses the ability to transport readers to uncharted territories of the mind, where mystical realms intertwine with the fabric of reality. Umar Abubakar Sidi, a renowned poet and a helicopter pilot with the Nigerian Navy, has firmly established his presence in the African literary landscape through his work in which we find him seamlessly merging elements of sufism and surrealism together. With two critically acclaimed poetry volumes, The Poet of Dust and Like Butterflies Scattered About By Art Rascals, Sidi has captivated readers with his evocative metaphors, concise imagery, and insightful explorations of the enigmatic. Now, with the impending release of his debut novel, The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus, by Masobe Books, Sidi is adopting the guise of a novelist to take readers on another journey delving into mystery.

We do not have to read excerpts from The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus before we, readers of Umar Abubakar Sidi, know that the book will be beckoning us to traverse the mountainous path where the line between dreams and reality becomes indistinct, revealing the mysterious essence of existence. Sidi's prose is a vessel through which the peculiar and subconscious facets of human experience are scrutinized. In The Schemes of Audu Baduku The Schemes of Audu Baduku, Sidi adeptly weaves a narrative that challenges conventional perceptions of reality, encouraging readers to question the boundaries of their consciousness. 

In his writing, we are exposed to an unapologetic knitting of the patterns of thought and creativity peculiar to the Sufi and the surrealist. His two poetry collections still carry on their foreheads questions that defy answers. Like "Who is Al-Arshad, and who is the "Master of Disguises?" To prepare our minds for what The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus holds, do we have to return to our study of Sufism, surrealism, mystery and the hallucinatory subconsciousness of the intercourse between reason and the mundane in Sidi's work?

Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam, constitutes a thematic preoccupation of Sidi's work. The teachings of Sufism accentuate the pursuit of divine love, self-discovery, and spiritual enlightenment. If Sidi infuses Sufism into The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus, imparting a sense of otherworldliness and spiritual profundity to the narrative, readers, once again, will be introduced to the transcendent dimensions of Sufism, where the mundane transforms into the extraordinary, and individuals seek unity with the divine. This time around, it's in an entirely different dimension—prose. But how far is the reader going to journey into the badlands of Sidi's spiritual writing in this novel? 

Furthermore, surrealism, an avant-garde artistic movement, champions the liberation of the unconscious mind and celebrates the illogical and fantastical. Sidi's exploration of surrealism in his poetry has established him as a champion of surrealist writing in Africa today. With The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus, is Sidi delving deeper into this unconventional art philosophy where boundaries of reality dissolve, and the surreal takes centre stage? 

The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus is described as "a metaphysical murder mystery about the hunt for a book with supernatural abilities; a novel that has been praised as a masterpiece of experimental fiction, a wondrous cross between the surreal and the spiritual."

The publisher further states:

"Umar Abubakar Sidi's debut novel, 'The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus,' is a philosophical quest through time in search of a book with obscure origins that might offer the reader a divine glimpse behind the veil shrouding our plane of existence. Critics have likened it to the brilliance of Italo Calvino."

Drawing inspiration from Italo Calvino, Sidi, in a WhatsApp conversation about his novel, disclosed, "I commenced writing the book in Italy after reading Calvino. At times, I feel as though I were possessed by Calvino's spirit..."

In an essay about Italo Calvino, Salman Rushdie noted: "It is entirely possible that Calvino is not a human being at all, but a planet, something akin to the planet Solaris in Stanislaw Lem's great novel. Like Calvino, Solaris possesses the ability to peer into the deepest recesses of human minds and then bring their dreams to life. Reading Calvino, you're constantly assailed by the notion that he is writing down what you have always known, except that you've never thought of it before. This is deeply unsettling; fortunately, you're usually too engrossed in laughter to go insane." Is this the experience Sidi is introducing to his readers with "The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus?"

News of a novel by Umar Abubakar Sidi keeps generating considerable anticipation and excitement among readers and literary enthusiasts. Sidi's existing body of work has earned critical acclaim, and his debut novel is poised to have a profound impact on the literary world. With its fusion of mystery, sufism, and surrealism, we anticipate a novel that'd transport readers to extraordinary realms of the mind, challenging their perceptions and leaving an indelible impression. 

The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus, as Masobe announced, is scheduled for release in the second/third quarters of 2024.