Friday, December 09, 2005

Reading Aboulela, going back in Time and Alamsco nabbed

I have just finished Coloured Lights, a collection of short stories by the Sudanese writer Leila Aboulela. Her description of life in Khartoum as a university student and subsequent immigrant life in the UK certainly struck chords with me. I will be looking forward to reading her recently published novel, Minaret if I can find it in the library this weekend. As I understand from reviews it's about a relatively privileged educated Sudanese woman who comes to live in the UK and finds herself at the very bottom of society, worlds away from her previous existence.....

A friend sent me a link to the story Time magazine published on Nigeria's independence in October 1960 and it made fascinating, if sombering reading. It was also interesting to look at all the stories that they have done on Nigeria on the same page and to read about events that I had lived through viewed by an outsider.....fascinating. http://www.time.com/time/europe/timetrails/nigeria/ngr601010.html

On a cheerier note, the BBC announces the impeachment and arrest of the tummy-tucking thieving Governor of Bayelsa state, now universally dubbed Alamsco......maybe he shouldn't have got rid of all that tummy fat....with extradition to a cold winter in London looming....he'll need all the insulation he can get

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

love your blog. i'm amking a list of african writing based on your posts, so don't stop reading LOL

Anonymous said...

Naijaman,

Thanks for your comment on my blog. Can you please email them to me as proper contribution to the 'Readers' Best'? My email is included in the original post on the matter, on my blog. I will also need your comments on why you've chosen these books.

Ta much,
mw