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Travel writer and author of Black Ghosts: A Journey into the Lives of Africans in China, Noo Saro-Wiwa, travelled to Guangzhou after reading about the African community in China: ‘I was intrigued by the fact that people were prepared to live in a country that is far less culturally accessible than Europe or the Americas.’
I travelled to Guangzhou in China after reading some newspaper articles, books and academic papers. I interviewed people, noted down the discussions, then selected the conversations and incidents I want to write about.
I was intrigued by the fact that people were prepared to live in a country that’s far less culturally accessible than Europe or the Americas.
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About the Author
is the author of Black Ghosts: A Journey Into the Lives of Africans in China and Looking For Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria.
Nigerian novelist, poet and author of Graceland, Chris Abani, does not believe ‘Nigerian literature’ exists as a category: ‘It is a common misconception that there is a fixed category that can be read as essentially “Nigerian literature”. Nigeria has 500 nations, 500 languages and about 2,000 dialects. While culture and language can overlap, the level of diversity is such that Nigerian literature cannot be easily narrowed down.’
For the co-founder and publishing director, of Cassava Republic Press, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, it is telling that African literature is often pronounced dead in recent years, when more women and queer voices are becoming more prominent: ‘The loudest obituary writers about African literature tend to be men. These elegies seem to come from a tacit sense of personal or generational displacement rather than from the actual state of the field.’
Nigerian poet, novelist and author of Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Broken-Hearted, Ben Okri, argues that Nigerian literature doesn’t always have to be about Nigeria: ‘Nigerian literature limits itself to Nigeria and then limits even the ways in which the country can be written about. What we want is a vast literature, a great literature…that speaks to all humanity.’
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