Between Achebe & Soyinka

Posted by Maxim Uzoatu

Sun Feb 17, 2013

From the evidence of the esteemed BOOKS ABROAD, Vol. 48, No. 1, Winter 1974, Chinua Achebe, as a Juror, nominated Wole Soyinka as his Candidate to be awarded the coveted Nobel Prize for Literature in 1974.

http://www.jstor. org/discover/ 10.2307/40127820 ?uid=3739696&uid =2129&uid= 2&uid=70&uid= 4&uid=3739256&s

'Tigress at Full Moon' Reading Schedule: Friday, September 14, 2012

Poetry Reading to Senior World Literature Class, Bellbrook High School, Bellbrook, Ohio.

The Dallas Jamboree

Daily Times, blog | April 17, 2012 - 7:48am | By Obiwu
http://dailytimes.com.ng/opinion/dallas-jamboree

Almost everyone had flown into Dallas, Texas, ahead of my arrival late on Thursday night, April the twelfth. The clock was striking twelve. The event was the 38th Annual Conference of the African Literature Association (April 11-15), a jamboree of sorts because of its strong Nigerian contingent of literary scholars and creative writers. Though the Southern Methodist University, its Dedman College, and its programmes hosted the ALA 2012 conference, most of the presentations and other schedules were held at The Adolphus, a hundred-year old hotel that is reportedly famed for being haunted.

My publishers called during my layover at the Charlotte Airport, North Carolina, to report that Okey Ndibe asked for me. "Your friends are here," they said. "Many people want you to sign their copies of Tigress." The official book signing for Tigress at Full Moon would not be until Friday afternoon. I should have anticipated that some early birds would want to have their copies of the book signed a full day in advance. Competing schedules had necessitated my travel itinerary to be planned according to the two events in which I was involved at the conference. The plane landed at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport at 10:40 pm. Determined not to make a straight drive to my hotel, the shuttle van took us on a maze ride round all the hotels in downtown Dallas to drop off other passengers before taking me to The Adolphus. I checked into my room on the fourth floor, trudged around the lobby and bar, and then headed back upstairs to sleep off with the television watching over me.

My publishers' phone woke me at 11:00 am on Friday to announce that Professor Zaynab Alkali, the groundbreaking Nigerian female novelist, was waiting for me to sign Tigress for her. I hadn't seen her since she co-hosted (with Al Imfeld) the creative writing workshop at the University of Maiduguri and the subsequent Vultures in the Air anthology tours in 1995. It was wonderful to meet up with her again in Dallas. Old-time friends and fresh-new faces came to my book signing, including Chielo Eze (from his sabbatical leave in Germany), Chimdi Maduagwu (from Lagos), Oby Okolocha (from Benin, Nigeria), Jude Okpala (from San Antonio), Camillus Ukah (from Owerri) - all of whom I was meeting for the first time. Then there was the contingent of scholars and friends whose presence made the occasion more fulfilling: Helen Chukwuma, Ogaga Ifowodo, Anthonia Kalu, Okey Ndibe, Maik Nwosu, Elizabeth Nyager, and Irene Salami- Agunloye.

My publishers, the African Heritage Press (New York), had planned a multi-pronged celebration of their 2012 successes with food, drinks, posters, and related expositions. I, therefore, shared the signing event for Tigress at Full Moon (2012) with Professor Ernest Emenyonu's biographical narrative, Uzoechi: A Story of African Childhood (2012), and Dr. Safoura Salami-Boukari's critical study, African Literature: Gender Discourses, Religious Values, and the African Worldview (2012). Basil Njoku, lead spokesman for AHP, informed the gathering that his company was working hard to put out other ambitious titles before the year's end.

As a side attraction to the simultaneous book exhibitions at the venue, Dr. Otrude Nontobeko Moyo (from Wisconsin-Eau Claire) introduced me to the poetry collection of the South African youth music star, Ntsiki Mazwai's Wena (2010). I also acquired Dr. Chinyere Nwahunanya's massive, six hundred-page volume, From Boom to Doom: Protest and Conflict Resolution in the Literature of the Niger Delta (2011). I couldn't resist acquiring two autographed copies of Zaynab Alkali's fiction, Cobwebs & Other Stories (1997) and The Initiates (2007).

Ogaga Ifowodo led a reading of three Nigerian writers on Saturday morning, which was dubbed "Holding the Center with Words." I opened the room-packed session  with readings from Tigress at Full Moon. Maik Nwosu read a poem and a short story, and Ogaga read a short story.

But ALA 2012 wasn't all about books and dogon turenchi. The presence of Louisa Uchum Egbunike (from London), Shalini Nadaswaran (from Australia), Kevin (from Albany), Iwuagwu (from New York), Okey Ndibe, and Chielo Eze added color to the Friday night dinner that AHP organised for its authors and friends at The Adolphus restaurant. Maik, Chielo, and I struck out on Saturday afternoon to stakeout a steakhouse at the pulsating downtown Dallas, where we dealt with smoking dishes of sirloin, tilapia, chicken, and fried mushrooms over wine and dark Texas beer. Okey Duru, my childhood friend and Dallas businessman, compounded my Saturday afternoon consumerism by taking me home where his wife and daughters thoroughly spoiled me with a largesse of African salad (abacha,  oil-bean, and stockfish) downed with Hennessey, which preceded a course of pounded yam, Ofe Owerri, stockfish, and more Hennessey.

I arrived late to The Adolphus, too heavy to sway the ballroom floor where Professors Helen Chukwuma, Maureen Eke, and Abiola Irele were holding court. "Do you dance, Obiwu?" Ogaga asked, scoping the floor for the missing Maik. "The big masquerade does not dance without libation," I responded.

'Tigress at Full Moon' Is a Bestseller!

My new poetry book, Tigress at Full Moon (New York, 2012), was #1 on the Amazon.com top 6 "Hot New Releases in African" (black poetry and criticism), according to the corporate giant's report of its global bestsellers in February, 2012.

The book also ranked #20 on the Amazon.com "Hot New Releases in Poetry" on February 5.

Amazon.com gives more detail on its latest rankings here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/new-releases/books/271622011

EIGHTH BLACK DIASPORA CONFERENCE (Formerly the Black Atlantic Conference): BLACK INTELLECTUALS OF THE DIASPORA

Conference Announcement & Call for Papers

EIGHTH BLACK DIASPORA CONFERENCE (Formerly the Black Atlantic Conference): BLACK INTELLECTUALS OF THE DIASPORA

Under the sponsorship of the Department of Humanities, Central State University,
Wilberforce, Ohio 45384

Venue: Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio
Conference Date: March 29-30, 2012

The Black Diaspora Conference is an annual interdisciplinary forum bringing together scholars and thinkers to reflect on issues and concerns related to people of African descent. The objective of the series is to promote and expand public awareness, scholarship and research in the area of Black Diaspora studies. Themes and discussions at the annual conference will focus on achieving a qualitative and quantitative impact on the various Black Diaspora micro-communities in the Diaspora as well as on the African continent.

The theme for the 8th Black Diaspora Conference is “Intellectuals of the Diaspora.” We invite submissions for papers and panels from scholars, faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students. While papers on any aspect of the theme are welcome, the organizers are particularly interested in papers that explore the experience of Black people as they have and continue to navigate the spatial world within the world of Black and pan-African reality in the following areas: history, culture, literature, religion, politics, social organization, race relations, gender, internet networking, psychology, performing arts, etc. Contributions may be historical, theoretical, empirical, or comparative. Innovative approaches are especially welcome.

Paper contributions should be for a 20-minute presentation. Acceptance of a submission implies a commitment to register for and attend the Conference. (Registration Fee: $100; $15 for students and retired scholars).

Extended Deadline for Submission of Abstract and/or Papers: February 15, 2012
Extended Date for Notification of Acceptance: February 22, 2012

Please mail or send via email your proposals for panels and papers (with abstracts of about 150 words) as well as a brief c.v. to:

Dr. Obiwu Iwuanyanwu
Black Diaspora Conference
Department of Humanities
P.O. Box 1004
Wilberforce, Ohio 45384
Telephone (937) 376-6215; Fax (937) 376-6029
Email: oiwuanyanwu@centralstate.edu

Or

Dr. Anthony Milburn
Black Diaspora Conference
Department of Humanities
P.O. Box 1004
Wilberforce, Ohio 45384
Telephone (937) 376-6459; Fax (937)376-6029
Email: amilburn@centralstate.edu

Glen Owen: Interstices

By Conrad Zagory, Jr.

Those who have had occasion to view Glen Owen’s work will have little trouble identifying the lineage of his present sixteen-piece collection of black and white line drawings. Over the years there has been, simply put, a process of miniaturization resulting in an ever-increasing complexity: drawings become writings; scripts that organize themselves in our variously differing human minds which somehow make sense to us. It is especially so for those who can distinguish from among writing systems, past and present: Sumerian, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Chinese, Linear A & B from Crete, Runic, Japanese, Mayan, Korean, and so on. Furthermore, these varying, quasi-scripts are to be found in the interstitial tissue of these drawings: those areas which define the borders between geometric patterns, sometimes separating and other times, melding one into another, especially where we find circular as opposed to linear delineations. We have been presented with a Borgesian Library, infinite in concept and limited only by the size of the drawing.

What is of import to Glen is his long-held conviction that the sacred, the holy, resides in these interstices, the blank areas encompassed by the lines, much as the Taoist, who instructs us that it is the emptiness contained in the vessel that is the proper focus of our meditations. It is here we find the spirit of the creative force, and art as a universal language. It is why we are entranced by Indian miniatures, Korean celadon, or Japanese sumie, without belonging to any of those nationalities or traditions.

Two other themes should be noted: colorization and rebirth. Glen would describe himself as an abstract expressionist and colorist, and ultimately as sui generis. He has begun a new series: the same architecture but now colorized. But more importantly, we should realize that we almost lost this dear man to illness, had it not been for the ministrations of his cardiologist, Dr. Bob Scott of Springfield, Ohio. For seven months, Glen looked like death warmed over, so this series is also an expression of his renewed appreciation for life. Painting, drawing, in effect what we call art, is for him not a matter of choice, but a compulsion. His return from the abyss, while disappointing to those collectors who await a sudden jump in value with his demise, has allowed him to indulge that passion. And thus, it is with profound gratitude, that Glen has dedicated the first series of sixteen to Dr. Bob and his wife, Jane Scott.

Nigerian Security's Arrest of Dr. Okey Ndibe

We, Writers Without Borders, wish to express our profound dismay at the arrest and interrogation of the Nigerian academic and journalist Dr. Okey Ndibe, as well as the seizure of his passports by agents of the Nigerian State Security Services (SSS).

We consider this despotic action as an attempt to muzzle the voices of dissent to the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. We believe that such acts have no place in our democracy.

We urge President Goodluck Jonathan to quickly put an end to this shameful act by returning Prof. Ndibe’s passports forthwith. We want to believe that this was a case of overzealous agents stuck in the mindset of the past when lawlessness was the way of carrying out the business of the nation. If the goal of the security agency is to frighten writers into silence, let it be known to them that this will have an opposite effect. Nigerian writers will continue to exercise their right to free speech. They will continue to advocate for a decent life for all Nigerian citizens. They will continue to oppose the culture of impunity and lawlessness that breed corruption, injustice, and insecurity.

We consider the harassment of Okey Ndibe as a harassment of us all. We hope that the Nigerian government will pull back from this descent into the abyss. We have been there before and we all know that it did not work out well for both the oppressed and the oppressors.

Signed:

Obiwu & Rudolf Okonkwo
For: Writers Without Borders
Address: writerswithoutborders@yahoogroups.com