Chimamanda: queen in line up of literary stars
“…in case you hadn’t realised, hair is a sort of recurring motif” says Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a throwaway but revealing line delivered during her keynote speech to the RAS’s Africa Writes festival last weekend. It came immediately after the author had paused, looked up and proclaimed how many “beautiful African women with natural hair there are in the audience tonight” – which was met with a massive cheer. Chimamanda – author, academic and essayist – knows how to charm a crowd. Chimamanda Adichie is probably the pre-eminent figure in a new generation of writers from Africa – and I am deliberately avoiding the rather tiresome debate over whether such a thing as ‘African literature’ exists, for the purpose of the RAS’s first festival of African literature, it does. Who else is there to rival her? Binyavanga Wainaina? - most famous for a 1000 words telling us how not to write about Africa. Helon Habila? Teju Cole? No one really comes close in bridging the gap between writing a good story and saying something interesting and intelligent about the contemporary continent. As Chimamanda herself asserts: “…a good read is a story that keeps you turning the page without insulting your intelligence.” In person she seems to be the very embodiment of this philosophy. Having sprung to fame with her second novel Half of a Yellow Sun – a story which brought the Nigerian civil war to a new audience - Chimamanda has become one of those individuals people look for when searching for answers on almost every topic; a sort of moral and ethical guide. This seems to have surprised the author, who comments that “a strange authority is conferred on me by my writing.” On the Saturday night of Africa Writes Chimamanda, with her combination of cool intelligence and Nigerian sass, was a rockstar with a willing audience rolling to every smart comment she made. From the predominantly ‘phallic’ nature of the continent’s literature, to her self-described role as a “happy black African feminist,” she was both playful and perceptive. Despite speaking with the most modern of voices, she also recognises of her position standing on the shoulders of many African giants, notably the father of the African novel, Chinua Achebe. On the 50th anniversary of the Heineman African Writers series, which Africa Writes sought to commemorate, Achebe (who acted as Editorial Advisor to the series for its first 10 years) was a constant, almost spiritual, presence – repeatedly acknowledged by writers and publishers speaking on the panel events. James Currey, Editorial Director of the African Writers series between 1967 and 1984, described how at a gathering of Anglophone writers at Makerere University in Uganda in 1962, Achebe was presented with 2 manuscripts for novels by a young Kenya student. They turned out to be Weep not, child and The River Between – the student’s name was Ngugi wa Thiongo. Both were rapidly published as part of the series and Ngugi remains one of African literature’s most important voices. Anecdotes of this nature gave Africa Writes a necessary consciousness of its place in the continent’s literary history. Aside from Chimamanda’s headline appearance, a number of other high-profile authors figured in two days of book launches and panel events held at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Somali writer Nuruddin Farah launched his new novel Crossbones – the third in the author’s acclaimed Past Imperfect trilogy. Farah was disarming, whilst occasionally outrageous, when discussing the novel’s key theme – Somali piracy. Jack Mapanje - dissenting Malawian writer, poet and human rights activist – also launched his own memoir, And crocodiles are hungry at night, Malawi’s answer to Ngugi’s prison diaries, Detained. In discussion he touched on his hopes of a new dawn in the country following the accession to the Presidency of Joyce Banda. The Caine Prize nominees, in London for the presentation of the award, including Billy Kahora, editor of the Kenya’s acclaimed literary magazine Kwani?, and eventual winner Rotimi Babatunde, answered questions on their own work and debated, somewhat reluctantly at times, the place of ‘African literature’ on the global cultural scene. Other panels included a discussion on ‘Writing away from home’ featuring Ellen Banda-Aaku and Noo Saro Wiwa, whose recent travel book on Nigeria Looking for Transwonderland perhaps best conveys the challenges of diasporans writing about their ‘home’ countries, whilst living substantially removed lives abroad. Africa Writes was a demonstration of the growing diversity and quality of writing coming out of the continent. Several generations of writers were represented from Mapanje to Chimamanda Adichie and a number of luminaries from the publishing world, including Margaret Busby, Nana Ayebia Clarke and Ellah Allfrey made appearances. As RAS Director Richard Dowden asserted in his introduction to Chimamanda’s speech, Africa Writes is to become an annual festival showcasing both new and established African literary talent. By Magnus Taylor - RAS -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
