Monday, September 5, 2011

Nigerian Literature Challenge

Amy over at Amy Reads was nominated for a Book Blogger Appreciation Week Award, for Best Cultural Blog. She's proposed a Nigerian Literature Celebration for October 1st. I was originally going to read Chinua Achebe's The Education of a British-Protected Child, but then I saw this awesome TED talk by Chris Abani, and got super excited to read something by him.

I encourage you to join the challenge. Amy's got a list of book suggestions if you need any ideas. Time to get reading!


 

6 comments:

Ali Watts said...

Isn't Abani's TED Talk incredible? His ability to laugh and love after going through so much hardship is really inspiring. If you're looking to read his work I would highly recommend GraceLand or Song For Night(novella).
Chimimanda Ngozie Adichie is another up-and-coming Nigerian writer who would be great for this challenge. Her first book, Purple Hibiscus, is a phenomenal read and her new collection of short stories, The Thing Around Your Neck, is a great way to explore a whole spectrum of Nigerian/Nigerian-American experience.

MJ said...

@Ali Watts The TED talk totally sold me on Abani. Thanks for the specific book suggestions. I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to read, so I will check those out.

I read Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun a year or two ago for my book club. It was pretty good, and I'm sure I'll read more by her in the future. I'm definitely interested in her short story collection.

ImageNations said...

I watched this presentation some time ago and I was impressed. Chris Abani is definitely a read and more so for October 1 - Nigeria's independence Day - for he has also suffered some political misapplication.

MJ said...

@Nana Fredua-Agyeman I had never heard of him, so I'm looking forward to reading his work.

Eva said...

I read Song for the Night, one of Abani's novellas, and was just blown away!

MJ said...

@Eva That's two votes for Song of the Night! I'm going to be near my favorite bookstore today...maybe they'll have a copy :-)