THE WINNER - The Brunel University African Poetry Prize

Congratulations, Warsan!
Well-deserved..


The Kenyan-born Somali poet WARSAN SHIRE has been announced as the first ever winner of the Brunel University African Poetry Prize.
The prize of £3,000 is funded by Brunel University, Commonwealth Writers and The Africa Centre.
Warsan Shire is a 24 year old Kenyan-born Somali poet and writer, based in London. Born in 1988, she has read her work all over Britain as well as in South Africa, Italy, Germany, Canada, North America and Kenya.

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Opinion: Don’t be deceived – Chimamanda Adichie is no Achebe

Has Adichie stolen Achebe's legacy? Okezie J. S. Nwoka seems to believe so. Question for Okezie J.S. Nwoka: When did Achebe patent his legacy? Well, it does appear that his arguments need some more support. Anyway, read:

"I humbly submit that Adichie has stolen the legacy of a literary giant for the sake of her own personal self-advancement.  Adichie has hijacked the literary memory of Chinua Achebe.  She has done this through the construction of a parasitic Achebe Complex that is made evident through her words and through her work.  From the onset, Adichie has claimed to have a special connection with Achebe, yet a critical analysis of her writing tells a different story.  She finds significance in the fact that she once lived in the same home that Achebe did.  However, what good is that fact when her work continually misses the mark— the mark set by Achebe’s high standards?"

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Love of a Fat Woman

Chika Unigwe has a new short story.

"When Godwin came home with his wife, his sisters hid their faces behind their hands and laughed. They said hello to their new sister-in-law and told her they were happy to meet her but he could see the laughter bubbling underneath like a boil about to burst. Godwin had told them on the phone that she was not beautiful, but he had said nothing about her corpulence or that she smoked like a man and had teeth that looked like fingernails."

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Chinua Achebe: A Writer And A Half And More

A nice one by my friend, Akin.


"A phone call from Lagos woke me to the rumor of Achebe’s death early in the morning of March 22. The caller, journalist and author Kunle Ajibade, was not sure, and he wanted me to call Nigerian friends to confirm or dismiss the news. I left several voice messages, and the one person who picked my call said something very significant, moments after we had come to terms with the news. Chika Okeke-Agulu, an artist and art historian said, after listening to my view of the writer’s personal account of the war, that Biafra, not literature, was the defining ideal for Achebe.  That is a point of supreme importance. With it as a point of reference, it would not be difficult to understand why a writer of Achebe’s status continued to use the expression, “my people the Igbo,” and why he would describe Awolowo as a politician fighting for “his Yoruba people.” It stands to reason."
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