Links re African literature and the Nobel Prize

A couple of interesting links on African literature and the Nobel Prize.

Thanks to Chris Blattman for his post, and the recent opinion by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani in the New York Times.

I admit I have not read either Dinaw Mengestu’s latest novel, How to read the air, or Petina Gappah’s An elegy for Easterly, but the latter is certainly on my wish list.

I have read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s collection of stories, The thing around your neck, which I enjoyed, though obviously some stories more than others.

And I admit I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani’s debut novel I do not come to you by chance.  Having received many 419 emails and even a couple of 419 letters (admittedly that was in the 1990s!), I wasn’t sure whether I would find it interesting, but it was fun, and seemed to reflect a lot of the issues of contemporary Nigerian/West African urban life.