"Anyone can be a member of the association. There are four levels of membership. The Associate Members are literature enthusiasts who are not necessarily writers, mostly students and writers who do not yet have a book published. Full Members are writers who have a book published in print who are registered with one of the twenty eight chapters of the Association. There are Institutional Members, such as Colleges and Departments of Literature, English etc while Honorary memberships are reserved to eminent writers like Soyinka and JP Clark, Ngugi wa Thiongo—writers who have and continue to affect the theory and practice of Africana studies as it relates to literature."
- Richard Ali
Great job, Richard and Ainehi Edoro on this wide-ranging and passionate interview. Kudos also to Professor Remi Raji on his leadership of ANA, lots of enthusiasm and good ideas. ANA is showing its age, though, as can be seen as the requirement that those who have not written a book published in print do not qualify to be full members. In the 21st century, in the age of the Internet, that mindset needs to change. The book is an inappropriate gauge of good writing. More important, ANA was formed appropriately as a networking tool when the Internet was not available. ANA would have to do some soul-searching and reflect on what should be its core mission - and focus on it. It is making strides. but reading through this interview one gets the impression of an organization that is straining to do too much - using a 20th century mindset. It is competing with the Internet for members. That is tough. In any case, read and enjoy, very engaging interview.
- Richard Ali
Great job, Richard and Ainehi Edoro on this wide-ranging and passionate interview. Kudos also to Professor Remi Raji on his leadership of ANA, lots of enthusiasm and good ideas. ANA is showing its age, though, as can be seen as the requirement that those who have not written a book published in print do not qualify to be full members. In the 21st century, in the age of the Internet, that mindset needs to change. The book is an inappropriate gauge of good writing. More important, ANA was formed appropriately as a networking tool when the Internet was not available. ANA would have to do some soul-searching and reflect on what should be its core mission - and focus on it. It is making strides. but reading through this interview one gets the impression of an organization that is straining to do too much - using a 20th century mindset. It is competing with the Internet for members. That is tough. In any case, read and enjoy, very engaging interview.
Read the rest of the interview here.
- Ikhide
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