A Blogging Resolution

When I think about how I have neglected my blog, I become wracked with guilt. Well, not always. Most times I am. I used to be such a dedicated blogger, sometimes blogging several times in 1 day.

Many people I know have moved on from their blogs - sometimes to other social networking tools and sometimes offline.

However, I still spend a lot of time online, though most of that time is dedicated to work. And of course, I have my daily blog reads. I just don't dedicate that much time to my own blog.

Reading Ree's post on Ten Important Things She's Learnt about Blogging, I am struck that I hardly do any one of them consistently - be it writing often, being myself or pushing through my writer's block.

A few moments later, I stumbled upon 101 Cookbooks (I love food blogs, though I don't cook all that often) and discovered that Heidi Swanson, the creator of 101 Cookbooks, was the co-founder of ChickClicks an early online community targeted at young women, which among many things encouraged an interest in technology. The fact that I used to visit this site in 2000 (10 whole years ago) blew me away that I've been hanging out online for so long.

I am really going to try to post more frequently. I really will try...

Charles Pick Fellowship - For New Writers

Learnt about this opportunity for budding writers:

The Charles Pick Fellowship is dedicated to the memory of the distinguished publisher and literary agent, Charles Pick, whose career began in 1933 and continued until shortly before his death in January 2000. He encouraged young writers at the start of their careers with introductions to other writers and practical and financial help.

The Fellowship seeks to continue this spirit of encouragement by giving support to the work of a new and, as yet, unpublished writer of fictional or non-fictional prose. Its purpose is to give promising writers time to devote to the development of his/her talents.

The Fellowship will be for six months, starting on 1 September, 2010. The award is £10,000.

For more information, visit: www.uea.ac.uk/lit/awards/pick.

This & That. Plus Chimamanda Adichie Events

I have woefully neglected this blog. I really cannot believe that it's been close to a month since I last posted. And I am not really sure that I could tell you what I was doing in that time that prevented me from blogging. Well, I can, but it just doesn't sound very impressive to tell it.

There were countless arts events that I wanted to announce and blog about, but many have passed. Alas!
So, looking forward....

This Saturday (July 11) at 4PM, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie will be reading from her latest book the Thing Around Your Neck at the Silverbird Galleria, Victoria Island, Lagos. I read it a few months ago and it was a tight collection of stories, which deftly wove the immigrant experience with tales of being on the outside. I have also attended a book reading with Ms. Adichie in January 2007 when Half of a Yellow Sun came out and it was a rich and enlightening afternoon for me.

If you are a budding writer, then perhaps you will want to apply for the Farafina Trust Creative Writing Workshop to be held in September 17 - 16, 2009. The workshop will feature Chimamanda along with fellow writers Binyananga Wainaina, Nathan Englander, Jackie Kay and Zoe Heller.

To apply, send an e-mail to udonandu2009@gmail.com (subject should read 'workshop Application'). The body of the e-mail should contain:
- Applicant's Name
- Applicant's Address
- A few sentences about applicant
- A writing sample of between 200 to 800 words (fiction or non-fiction)

Deadline: July 30, 2009

See nbplc.com/newsdetails3.php?action=viewnews&n=35 for more info.

Tolu Ogunlesi wins Guardian Orange First Words Competition

Congrats to writer Tolu Ogunlesi for winning the Guardian Orange First Words Compeition.

Read more about the award from the Guardian website and learn what judge Kate Mosse had to say about his piece.

Great job, Tolu!

My Love for Judy B.

Growing up, I loved reading books by Judy Blume and listening to her talk about her books brought back sweet memories of lying curled up on my bed reading the days away.

She's probably best known for Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret., which I still remember for Margaret and her friend's chest-increasing exercises and the chant that went along with it; "I must, I must, I must increase my bust." ROFL!

However, my favourite book of her's, by far and away, was Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself. I loved Sally's vivid imagination, which saw her making-up stories about the people around her; imagining their lives to be something very different from what it was. That's something I did too, so I really identified with her. It's a really long time since I read the book and I've long lost my copy of it, so I'm fuzzy on much of the story now.

As an aside, I've found that sometimes when I'm not reading as much as I would like, listening to interviews of the authors can leave me feeling almost as satisfied as if I had just read their books. Almost, kind of, though not quite. Especially when you come across nuggets of wisdom from the author that so powerfully speaks to something in your life (this could be writing related or not).

Judy Blume mentioned that "Sometimes, the more you know, the more you feel the critic on your shoulder, or the censor on your shoulder, the less well you are going to be able to get inside and write what matters...... It's better when you don't know anything. It's better when you are fresh and spontaneous and don't know ..."

I think how true this is in so many situations in life. Preparedness is key, but frequently when we know so much about a project we're planning on embarking upon - especially about the challenges involved - we tend to limit our belief in what we can do and chastise ourselves to "be realistic." And when you really think about it, many of the exciting and innovative things in this world have come out of minds that were being totally 'unrealistic' and perhaps 'naive' according to the standards and expectations of the world.

Creative Writing Workshop with Chimamanda Adichie, Binyavanga Wainaina, Dave Eggers and Marie Elena John

I was recently telling a budding writer about this program and now can't remember who.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie will be organizing a creative writing workshop in Lagos from August 19 to August 29 2008. The workshop is sponsored by Fidelity Bank.

Guest writers who will co-teach the workshop alongside Adichie are the Caine Prize Winning Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina (author of Discovering Home), the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award nominated Caribbean writer Marie-Elena John (author of Unburnable) and the Pulitzer Prize nominated American writer Dave Eggers (author of A Hearbreaking Work of Staggering Genius).

Workshop participants will be expected to read and discuss a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, as well as complete short writing exercises. The aim of the workshop is to encourage published and unpublished Nigerian writers by bringing different perspectives to the art of storytelling.

Participation is limited to those who apply and are accepted. A symposium open to the public will be held at the end of the workshop.

Application
To apply, send an e-mail to Udonandu2008@gmail.com
Your e-mail subject should read ‘Workshop Application.’

The body of the e-mail should contain the following:
1. Your Name
2. Your address
3. A few sentences about yourself
4. A writing sample of between 200 and 800 words. Please indicate whether your sample is fiction or nonfiction. Acceptances will be based on the quality of the writing sample.

All writing material must be pasted or written in the body of the e-mail. Do NOT send any attachments. Applications with attachments will be automatically disqualified. Deadline for submissions is July 12 2008. If accepted, you will be notified by August 5, 2008.

Thanks Musing Naijaman for the link.

Chinua Achebe Wins the Man Booker Prize

Thank you, Obyno, for letting me know about this. I had blogged about the nominations a couple of months ago.

The Man Booker Prize is a biennial event awarded to a write for a body of work. Achebe is the second winner of the prize.

This is the second win of a prominent literary award by a Nigerian writer in as many weeks. The Nigerian literary scene is seeing such a revival at the moment and wins like this will hopefully serve to encourage aspiring writers (and I know more than a handful myself).

Read:
BBC: Nigerian author wins Booker honour
Man Booker: Press Release

What To Write and What Not to Write

I was reading one of the articles about Chimamanda Adichie's Orange Prize win last week and a section caught my eye caught my eye.

Literary editor of Nigeria's Weekly Trust, Odoh Okonyedo:

"As the new leading light in this Biafra renaissance, the task on the table of Adichie is to clarify what Biafra is about, rather than her newest nostalgic and superficial romance," Mr Okonyedo told the BBC News website.

While Ms Adichie says she wanted to write a story about love during the war, Mr Okonyedo feels she should have tackled the subject more seriously.

And I ask Why? Why should she not tell the story that she wants to? I feel that I can understand the thinking that certain people, by virtue of their education, position, wealth, connections or plain good fortune, should contribute positively to society. However, sometimes so many expectations are placed at the feet of some that it is tantamount to a shifting of responsibility. In many cases, it is simply placing burdens that the person in question simply is not interested in shouldering.

In this particular case, I don't see why Ms. Adichie shouldn't write about whatever she damn well pleases. Writing is hard enough without having to take into consideration what other people expect to read from you.