Nigeria
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The Rumpus Interview with Chris Abani
Chris Abani sits down to talk about the dangers and seduction of fiction, literature as transformation, growing up in Nigeria, and how “our every justification is a story.”
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Teju Cole on Lagos
When I’m in the US, I argue with those who think Lagos is too dangerous a place to visit….I’m less defensive about Lagos when I’m actually there. After a few days back home, I begin to accumulate irritations and fears…The…
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Caine Prize Controversy Continues
Prominent Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie sparked outrage in the African literary community last week with comments she made about the Caine Prize, a prestigious annual award for African writers. Adichie said many things in her fascinating, no-nonsense Boston Review interview…
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Soyinka Clears the Record on Achebe
“Achebe A Celebrated Storyteller, But No Father Of African Literature, Says Soyinka.” The headline sound sensationalistic and snipey, but this interview with Wole Soyinka about the death of Chinua Achebe is nuanced and comprehensive, if more than a little prickly. Soyinka…
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“Nigeria Is Almost A Third Character In My Work”
Check out this slideshow of work by emerging artist and Studio Harlem alum Njideka Akunyili, who grew up in New Haven, Nigeria, and got her MFA at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. Packed with references to other Nigerian artists like author…
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Politics Sunday
If you haven’t yet heard about Goodluck Jonathan, the new President of Nigeria, you should read this article. Why does everyone think artists are terrible at governing? Andrew Sullivan posts the full report from the Office of Professional Responsibility on “Enhanced…
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Postcards from Lagos
The other week, Juxtapoz photographer Chris Osburn published a bunch of photos from a recent trip to Nigeria, and he’s calling the series Postcards from Lagos. He reports that Lagos is a place where you have to stay alert, lest…
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The Thing Around Your Neck
In her new short story collection, The Thing Around Your Neck, Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie moves back and forth between two continents the way she has in real life. Adichie depicts contemporary middle class Nigeria, as well as the…
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The Rumpus Interview with Uwem Akpan
“After the phone call, I walked more than a mile to church to thank God. But on getting there, I couldn’t sit or kneel or pray, out of excitement.”