May 17, 2003
new all-story
The new Zoetrope All-Story is up online and it has a story by the amazingly talented Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie. The issue has tons of good stuff, so just read it all or better yet, buy the magazine.
Thank you for pointing out this story. Amanda Adichie is amazing for someone 26 years old, and I think she really has the potential to be the next Chinua Achebe. (She can be more than that, actually; if her poetry is any guide, she won't confine herself to writing about the Igbo, especially as she gains maturity and confidence.)
The story was very compelling. I've known a few people who were personally affected by the Biafran war, and they reminded me very much of Holocaust survivors - one of them, a member of the Ijaw minority, spent the war in a concentration camp and saw many members of his family get killed. To the Igbo, the Biafran conflict was more than a war - it was a catastrophe that occupies a place in their identity similar to the place that the Holocaust occupies for many Jews. I can understand why someone of Adichie's age, who was born seven years after the end of the war, would still write about it so often, just as some 20-year-old Jews still write Holocaust poems. That's probably why I was holding back tears by the end of the story - all the emotions seemed very, very familiar.
Post a comment
About
bio articles news contact rssMy Events
04.26: LA Times Festival of Books04.30: Claremont, California
09.23-10.04: International Literature Festival Berlin
Search
My book
In hardcover
In Morocco
In Italian
In Portuguese
In french
In dutch
In spanish
Monthly Archives
April 2008March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
September 2002
August 2002
July 2002
June 2002
May 2002
April 2002
March 2002
February 2002
January 2002
December 2001
November 2001
October 2001
Comments