RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Eghosa Imasuen: Fine Boys and Yellow Girls

May I add to Ikhide's comments that, thanks to Funmi Tofowomo - Okelola and her wonderful sites (www.cafeafricana.com<http://www.cafeafricana.com/>)
(www.indigokafe.com<http://www.indigokafe.com/>) we also have excerpts and visuals from many of these emerging writers, too.





Dr. Gloria Emeagwali
www.africahistory.net<http://www.africahistory.net/>

________________________________
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Ikhide [xokigbo@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2012 12:31 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Eghosa Imasuen: Fine Boys and Yellow Girls

Yes, yes, yes, we are reading truly exciting works by female writers. They have been extremely competitive - not only within Africa but in literature as a whole. The writing is in my view more progressive and relevant because they tend to be more honest about issues that men have shied away from - like sexuality. The prose is muscular also. Read La Salle de Départ By Melissa Tandiwe Myambo http://www.caineprize.com/pdf/2012_Myambo.pdf and you are blown away by its sheer muscle and prose poetry.

There were however Virginia Woolfs before them (Buchi Emecheta, Flora Nwapa, nee Nwakuche) who blazed the path before them. But I am in awe of the writing of the young women of Africa, definitely.

In terms of differences, I would still say that there are many more female writers where Adichie, Oyeyemi, Atta, Gappah, Shoneyin, etc come from. I have had issues with the overrepresentation of poverty or "poverty porn" in the works of many writers in the Diaspora. The female writers have been just as guilty. The good news again is that it is becoming fairly easy to access works by writers like Jumoke Verrissimo, Adunni Abimbola Adelakun (who just moved to the US) etc. The orientation is different. Those at home like have conversations about social/political issues also but you get a sense that they are not contrived. But all in all, give me the ladies anytime, I am good ;-)

- Ikhide

Stalk my blog at http://www.xokigbo.com/
Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide<http://www.facebook.com/ikhide>



From: kenneth harrow <harrow@msu.edu>
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2012 9:40 AM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Eghosa Imasuen: Fine Boys and Yellow Girls

this is very helpful, ikhide. thanks a lot.
maybe another question for you: at least with nigerian authors, and some east african i can think of, there is quite a bit coming out now that is authored by women. young women, i might say. and they are very successful, a lot of recognition, in the foreground of current writers.
do you see any difference between the adichies and oyeyemis and attas, and those women publishing in africa. do you think the emphasis has switched there as well, are they well received?
ken

On 7/23/12 1:50 PM, Ikhide wrote:
" i had the impression that within the continent realism is favored; outside, more avant-garde or experimental fiction is likely to be found. inside the focus tends to be on representation--representing issues or problems, or the lives of certain individuals or communities; outside there is greater concern over the literariness of the text, something that might reflect the kinds of training writers get in university creative writing courses."

Ken, I would agree although when you remove literary outliers like Chris Abani and of course Ben Okri, the differences become barely statistically significant ;-) African writers are still mostly preoccupied with certain social, political and cultural conditions, and I have often observed that their novels are personal opinions wrapped in the toga of fiction. I think that Diaspora writing benefits (and suffers) from more access to refined publishing resources, and as you mention formal training as in the flood of MFA programs that hit Western classrooms in the '90s.

Lately, I have been making a special effort to read writing by Africans living inside Africa. It is a labor of love for a number of reasons. Many of the publishers are publishers in name only, lacking the resources to do a good job of distribution once the books are published. Also, the books suffer from bad, little or no editing, so you don't get the refined works that you find in the West, perhaps from a luckier less-endowed writer. There is however some pretty good experimentation going on by those who are not too self-conscious about mass-appeal. The other danger from my observation is to judge African writing wholly through books by established writers. It is understandable but then it distorts the real story on the ground. Scholars should venture out of the true and tried and tired and come see some of the great stuff on the Internet. So, my point is you are right, there is not much experimentation going on in the books especially in those written in Africa. However, the story is much different on the Internet.

By the way, if you want to see the face of the new literature, you should take time out of your busy schedule to read the five short-listed stories in the just concluded Caine Prize (see link here<http://www.caineprize.com/news.php>). The writers manage to break out of that narrowness of range that defines African writing, that which you allude to. Be well. I would say more, but my job at McDonald's calls ;-)

- Ikhide

Stalk my blog at http://www.xokigbo.com/
Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide<http://www.facebook.com/ikhide>



From: kenneth harrow mailto:harrow@msu.edu
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2012 5:02 AM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Eghosa Imasuen: Fine Boys and Yellow Girls

dear ikhide
could you comment on an impression i have that the styles and genres of literary works published and distributed inside africa are different from those published and distributed in the west.
i had the impression that within the continent realism is favored; outside, more avant-garde or experimental fiction is likely to be found. inside the focus tends to be on representation--representing issues or problems, or the lives of certain individuals or communities; outside there is greater concern over the literariness of the text, something that might reflect the kinds of training writers get in university creative writing courses.
i am asking not about an absolute difference, but one of degree.
and i am not asking about publications that might differ according to the language of publication; just a question as to whether you perceive a difference, any difference at all, the comes out in what publishers are publishing in africa as opposed to outside of africa.
thanks
ken

On 7/23/12 6:43 AM, Ikhide wrote:
"Digital technology is poised to save Africa's stories from the comatose printing presses of Africa's "publishers." Good writers still languish in Africa, staring at lovely stories trapped in the mediocrity of imitation books but all that is changing. E-books are here for African writers who are savvy enough to port their books to the Kindle or the Nook and share with the world. It is a good thing. I have been buying and downloading books by writers living the living in Nigeria, warts and all. I am happy because now I can read many more of our stories than ever before. The Internet has been a boon to our literature. Why do I like reading books by writers "on the ground" in Nigeria as they say? I pine for the stories of our people unvarnished."

Read the rest of my review of Eghosa Imasuen's Fine Boys here<http://xokigbo.wordpress.com/2012/07/23/eghosa-imasuen-on-fine-boys-and-yellow-girls/>.

- Ikhide

Stalk my blog at http://www.xokigbo.com/
Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide<http://www.facebook.com/ikhide>


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kenneth w. harrow
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department of english
east lansing, mi 48824-1036
ph. 517 803 8839
harrow@msu.edu<mailto:harrow@msu.edu>

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