Teaching "Americanah" This Semester

This week, in my Post-colonial Literature class, we have been discussing Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah. Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus, won the Commonwealth Writers Prize, among other awards. Since then, she has continued to write and to win award after award.

In September 2006, she attended the Twin Cities Book Festival in Minneapolis, as one of the invited authors, to launch Half of a Yellow Sun. I attended her book reading and signing, and had the opportunity to have my copy signed, chat with her, and take a photo.

Having taught Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun, I decided to include Americanah in my Post-colonial Literature course this semester.

Although we are not yet half-way into this novel, we can see that it is a moving tale of the lives of Nigerian characters at home and abroad, mainly in the USA. With a keen insight and enjoyable writing style, Adichie explores themes such as relationships between men and women and between races, cultural differences, and the mystique of America.

Africans who have lived in America can relate to the situations and experiences described in Americanah. I can guarantee this, having written Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences.

My "Africans and Americans" Book in the Kindle Store

A few weeks ago, I reported on this blog that I had just created a Kindle version of my book, Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences. I did not say how and why I decided to produce the book in that format.

However, I did state the reasons on my Swahili blog. I wrote that I wanted to keep up with changes in technology. I also said that I was basically forced to go the Kindle way by an experience I had had at a Twin Cities Book Festival.

At that Festival, a gentleman stopped by my vendor table and started checking my books. Holding the Africans and Americans book, which he apparently liked, he asked whether it was available on Kindle. I replied, with some embarrassment, that it wasn't. He told me plainly that he flies regularly, and he doesn't want to carry around a load of books. He prefers e-books.

That conversation weighed upon my heart for months and forced me to think seriously about making my book available on Kindle. Consequently, as I noted on this blog, I succeeded, after some attempts, and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.

The book is now available in the Kindle store. It is also available as a printed book at Amazon, as well in my online store, where it first appeared.

Twin Cities Book Festival, October 12

The Twin Cities Book Festival, the biggest book festival in the upper Midwest, USA, is here already. It will be held tomorrow, October 12, at the State Fairgrounds in St. Paul. An annual event, this Festival brings together thousands of book lovers, writers, editors, publishers, booksellers, illustrators and critics.

I have participated in a number of these festivals, and I am ready for tomorrow. I look forward to talking with many people, sharing ideas and experiences about writing, publishing, and related subjects. As usual, I will be exhibiting my books. In the video below, you can hear me talking briefly about my most popular book: Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences



 

The Twin Cities Book Festival, October 16

Yesterday I attended the Twin Cities Book Festival in Minneapolis, an annual event organized by Rain Taxi. It was another memorable day of meeting people, talking about books, writing, publishing and many other things, as I wrote on my Swahili blog. Here are photos from the event, the two at the top showing my book display.

The Twin Cities Book Festival Approaches

The Twin Cities Book Festival is just around the corner, October 16. I look forward to being there, as usual, meeting writers, publishers, editors, and book lovers. It has always been a treat.

As an exhibitor, using the Africonexion label, I have all my books ready. I look forward to talking with people about my experiences as an educator, writer, and cultural consultant. I will write about it all on this blog, as I have always done. For more information about the Festival, read here.