Five stories have been shortlisted for the 2013 Caine Prize – four by Nigerian authors, and one by a Sierra Leonean based in the US.
Copies of the story are available to read here.
Should be enjoyable!
Cassava Republic books in Ghana! at Yari Yari Ntoaso
I won’t talk about Yari Yari Ntoaso (an international conference on literature by women of African ancestry) in this post, but if you want to know more see http://kinnareads.wordpress.com/ who is posting the schedule, and photos, or follow the #YariYari hashtag on Twitter.
What I wanted to comment about was the fact that the well known Nigerian publisher, Cassava Republic, had a stand among the tables of vendors! How pleased I was to see them, and of course I couldn’t resist buying something on Day 1 – and who knows what will happen on Days 2-4?
The comment I made to their representative was to ask why they didn’t sell any of their 
books here in Ghana? I would much rather support either a Ghanaian or other West African business if this is possible. I know the market might not be huge, but still I do believe there is a market for Nigerian literature here. Certainly I saw at least six other books that I would have bought from them if I hadn’t either read or bought them already!
I wonder what other readers think?
April 2013 bookish activities
Looking back on April 2013 books, information and library activities
To begin with as usual, a small review of my April completed reads: I read six books (listed below), ironically more non-fiction than fiction, and also more male writers than female. There was one Ghanaian author, two non-Ghanaian African authors, and three non-Africans.
- This child will be great, by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf [I found the first part much more interesting than the second, which was more political]
- The library at night, by Alberto Manguel [And of course, I dipped in and out of this book just before going to sleep!]
- Cod, by Mark Kurlansky [interesting, but not as fascinating as some of his other books]
- The 100 year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson [one of the books suggested for Accra Book Club. Very funny. And one keeps wondering what the main character will get up to next!]
- Mr Happy and the hammer of God and other stories, by Martin Egblewogbe [some very intriguing stories in this collection, which is focussed more on the thoughts of the characters, rather than the external African/Ghanaian environments]
- Of Africa, by Wole Soyinka [one of the recommendations for Accra Book Club, which I did not finish before the discussion. Very, very dense.]
Book buying was definitely on the meager side (which means I definitely have to make up in subsequent months): I only bought two books – one at a local bookshop (Sytris) and the other from a colleague who got it from the author.
Activities were as usual fairly varied:
- Accra Book Club had one of its gatherings – with a discussion of Dune, by Frank Herbert (see post). As I may have mentioned, I really enjoyed re-reading this classic science fiction novel.
- I joined a group of colleagues for a presentation on eLibraryUSA at the US Embassy Information Resource Center. I enjoyed it, and appreciated using some of the new resources later in the month.
- Writers Project of Ghana held its March Ghana Voices programme, with Martin Egblewogbe reading some of his poetry, and excerpts from his book, Mr Happy and the hammer of God and other stories, mentioned above.
- And finally, just before listening to various cultural gurus hosted by Adventurers in the Diaspora , I spoke to a visiting Danish postgraduate student studying literacy/books/reading/libraries in Ghana. I hope he got something out of the interview.
So what about May? lots coming up, including Yari Yari Ntoaso which I am really looking forward to!
Yari Yari Ntoaso: an international conference of African women’s literature coming up!
As readers/followers of this blog will know, I am always on the lookout for interesting literary/library/information events taking place here in Accra. And May definitely looks like a month to look forward to.
Recently I received a press release about the forthcoming Yari Yari Ntoaso African women’s literature conference.
An excerpt follows:
The Organization of Women Writers of Africa (OWWA) and New York University (NYU), in collaboration with Ghana-based Mbaasem Foundation and the Spanish Fundación Mujeres por África (Women for Africa Foundation), will present Yari Yari Ntoaso: Continuing the Dialogue – An International Conference on Literature by Women of African Ancestry. This major conference will put writers, critics and readers from across Africa, the USA, Europe, and the Caribbean in dialogue with each other in Accra, Ghana, from May 16-19, 2013.
More than a dozen emerging and established Ghanaian writers and scholars, including Ama Ata Aidoo, Amma Darko, Ruby Goka, Mamle Kabu, Esi Sutherland-Addy and Margaret Busby will speak about their work on topics ranging from identity, to the craft of writing, to literary activism. These authors will be joined by other international writers such as: Angela Davis (USA), Tess Onwueme (Nigeria), Natalia Molebatsi (South Africa), Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro (Puerto Rico), Sapphire (USA), Veronique Tadjo (Côte d’Ivoire), Evelyne Trouillot (Haiti), and many others (a list of participants is below). Local organizations participating in this exciting gathering include the Pan-African Writers Association, the Ghana Association of Writers, and the Writers Project of Ghana.
…
Most events will be held at the facilities of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons (No. 54 Independence Avenue, near the Ridge Roundabout) in Accra. A draft program is available in the “Gallery” section of www.indiegogo.com/owwa
Ever since I heard of this event, I have been looking forward to it, and am already planning which sessions I will attend!
An older loved paperback
Usually the books I read tend to be newer – that is, bought within the last five years or so [I do have several shelves of to be 
read books!]. Or of course “bought” or is it “leased” on my Kindle?
That isn’t to say that I don’t have older books on my shelves, far from it. When I was last doing a big clean of my bookshelves – a task, but not completely a chore, usually done on long weekend holidays – I noticed that there were books bought while in college in the early 1970s, plus some bought while in Ibadan (the mid 1970s), as well as some that were my husband’s light reading, probably going back to his time in university.
Recently Accra Book Club discussed Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction story, Dune. I knew I had read it – but that was more than half a lifetime ago. So I was pleased to see that it was actually one of the books I brought with me when I first came to this part of the world. And it even had my maiden name in it! All of which date it to the early 1970s or possibly the late 1960s!
So here it is… Admittedly the pages are browner, and the cover did have to be taped back on, but it wasn’t falling apart!
And yes, I did enjoy it – probably more than I did the first time!
March bookish activities
March bookish activities
I did a fair bit of reading in March, but not much buying. Yet there were a lot of books and information related activities I was involved in.
I finished reading the following novels – no non-fiction during this month!
- The particular sadness of lemon cake, by Aimee Bender [great title, but I have to admit I didn't feel the content quite lived up to it]
- The night circus, by Erin Morgenstern [really enjoyable, even though there were lots of questions unanswered at the end]
- Skellig, by David Almond [classic teen story; a bit of a tearjerker perhaps]
- The library of shadows, by Mikkel Birkegaard [another mystery/thriller which started off better than it ended]
- Nairobi heat, by Mukoma wa Ngugi [detective story set in both the US and East Africa; not sure the ending was the right one, but well...]
- Dune, by Frank Herbert [classic science fiction story, read for Accra Book Club. Remarkably prescient? I think I first read this more than 40 years ago!]
I didn’t buy much: two books at literary events, plus one visit to Vidya Bookstore which netted three books for me, and two Accra Book Club reads on my Kindle!
As for events related to themes dear to my heart, there were quite a few:,
- A book slam, organized by AWDF (African Women’s Development Fund) and Alliance Francaise, with several well known African and Ghanaian writers reading excerpts from either their prose works or poetry. A great way to spend the evening of International Women’s Day!
- Ghanaian author, Alex Agyei-Agyiri, read excerpts from one of his novels at the March Writers Project of Ghana event at Goethe Institut. I did buy one of his books, but I have to admit that I was not impressed by his actual reading – rather sad, as many authors are pretty good at reading their own work.
- Earlier in the last week I gave a talk/presentation on “Literacy and me” for the Rotary Club of Ring Road Central. Basically I talked about reading, bookish events, and some of my work in information. There was also a brief discussion of Rotimi Babatunde’s Caine Prize winning short story “Bombay’s Republic”.
- And last but not least, there was a work related meeting of CARLIGH – a consortium of libraries here in Ghana, to which Ashesi belongs, followed at the end of the month with a gathering of academic librarians from all over Africa, brought together by the AAU to discuss progress on institutional and digital repositories.
I am not sure what April will be like… I rather tend to go with the flow…
A personal read of Chinua Achebe’s work
I think I must have been in college when I first read Things fall apart, by Chinua Achebe. Certainly I didn’t read it in high school, and I am fairly sure I read it before coming to West Africa in the mid-1970s. I can’t remember what kind of impression it made at the time, but I know that when I first came to Nigeria, I spent quite a bit of time reading African novels, which were relatively cheaply available then at the University of Ibadan bookshop. In many ways by this time, the golden era of African literature had passed, but the Heinemann African Writers Series was still very much around, so between the UI library and the bookshop it was easy to find African, and especially Nigerian writing.
Certainly I have read at one point in my life all of Achebe’s novels:
- Things fall apart – mentioned already, which was originally published in 1958
- No longer at ease – 1960
- Arrow of God – 1964; a colleague blogger, Kinnareads recommends this one especially, so I guess it is time for a re-read
- A man of the people – 1966
- Anthills of the savannah – 1987 [I read this in hardback, as it was nominated for one of the UK writing prizes, and British Council - when it had a library - was always careful to order prize-nominated books]
In 2009 I read Things fall apart again – this time for Accra Book Club – as an introduction to this very famous book for some members who had never read it. And I think we will do it again. For those who have already read it it will be a tribute to the late author; for those for whom it is totally new, I guess I hope they will find it a real eye-opener.
For me, my personal salute to Chinua Achebe, is to set a kind of mini-challenge to myself to read all of his novels again, (and 
of course since it was so long ago that I read them for the first time, I anticipate it will be a real voyage of discovery). Plus of course I do have on my TBR shelves his account of the Biafran war, There was a country, which also beckons.
I end on a Ghanaian note
Damirifa due! Chinua Achebe! Damirifa due! May you rest in peace, and your legacy will live on!
