tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494812361809757392.post4941079705489224724..comments2023-09-27T08:46:04.946-07:00Comments on African Literature News and Review: In Africa, the Laureate’s CurseChielozona Ezehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17531905842036366666noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494812361809757392.post-48232349153673792062010-12-14T03:40:36.701-08:002010-12-14T03:40:36.701-08:00I agree. I love Nwaubani's I Do Not Come to Yo...I agree. I love Nwaubani's I Do Not Come to You By Chance, and I started reading her NY Times op-ed expecting to enjoy it. When she started celebrating the fact that Ngugi did not get the Nobel, I thought she was going to make the point that we don't need to have a Nobel to celebrate our great writers. I also could sympathize with her on encouraging young writers step out from under the shadow of the greats to experiment with their own style--especially humourous writing. Her segue into then attacking those who write in the languages they grew up speaking confounded me.<br /><br />Perhaps the reason Nwaubani has not found funny, light-reading works of African literature is because she is too busy "shuddering" at the thought of writing in African languages. Ngugi's satirical Devil on the Cross (originally written in Gikuyu) is one of the funniest (and cutting) works of African literature I've read. Similarly, novels coming out of the booming Hausa-language literary scene have some of the best dialogue--very funny banter--that I've read in any language. (They also have a lot of good thrillers and an reading public of millions.)<br /><br />I've written an essay in response to this <br />piece, which you can see on my blog here: http://carmenmccain.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/in-response-to-adaobi-tricia-nwaubanis-in-africa-the-laureates-curse-an-op-ed-piece-in-todays-new-york-times/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com