Monday 31 March 2014

FWD: The Chinua Achebe Colloquium 2014


THE CHINUA ACHEBE COLLOQUIUM 2014
African Literature as Restoration: Chinua Achebe as Teacher
Thursday May 1, 2014 – Sunday May 4, 2014
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Mistress of Ceremony: Professor Abena P. A. Busia
                                                                 abenapabusia@gmail.com



Thursday evening May 1, 2014

5:30pm – 6:00 pm

Opening Address: TBA


6:30 -8:30pm

Nigeria at 100: Hopes and Impediments

A perspective of past Heads of State of Nigeria: TBA

Moderator Consular General of Nigeria to the USA Honourable Habib Baba Habu, OON


8:30pm - 10:30pm

   There Was A Country: Nigeria, Biafra, and the Unfulfilled Promise

Chair: Professor Obiora Udechukwu, Dana Professor of the Arts, St Lawrence University, New York

Professor Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe, Universidade de Fortaleza, Brazil, hekweekwe@hotmail.com

Professor Apollos Nwauwa, Bowling Green University, nwauwa@bgsu.edu

Professor E.C. Ejiogu, University of the Free State, South Africa, e.c.ejiogu@gmail.com

Professor Chukwuemeka Callistus Akanno, cakanno@gmail.com,

Mohammed Haruna, eminent Nigerian journalist and public commentator ndajika@yahoo.com
           
Ikhide R. Ikheloa, Writer, literary critic and commentator Maryland, USAxokigbo@yahoo.com


Friday May 2, 2014

9          9: 30 a.m.

Wel      Welcome, President Christina Hull Paxson

9           9:35 a.m. –9:50 a.m.
Op        Openining Conference Address:  Nelson Mandela on Achebe (video tape- available)

10:      10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
K          Keynote Speaker: Professor Lynn Innes

10:      10:30 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.
Th       Things Fall Apart: The Writer “Who Brought Africa to the World”—Achebe’s Impact on the World of Letters

Chair: Dr. Thomas J. Lynn, Pennsylvania State University, Berks TJL7@psu.edu 

Professor Ipshita Chanda, Georgetown University, Washington, pixybee@gmail.com,

Dr. Nair Anaya Ferreira, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, manausmex@yahoo.com

Professor Jesse Weaver Shipley, Haverford College, Pennsylvania jshipley@haverford.edu

Professor Maduabuchi Samuel Onuigbo, PhD, Professor of English and Literary Studies, Director, Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka Enugu State Nigeria Email: onuigbosamlizzy@yahoo.com

Professor Inocência Mata  Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa Alameda da Universidade LISBOA, Portugal


12       12:00p.m. -1:00 p.m.
             LUNCH

Po       Power Poetry: Ikeogu Oke with instrumentalist Osuji Ngozi Michael, ikeogu.oke@gmail.com

1:1       1:100 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Th       Novelist as Teacher: Achebe and the Re-education of the African and Western Psyche

Chair: Professor Annie Gagiano, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, ahg@sun.ac.za

Professor Ato Quayson,University of Toronto, Canada, a.quayson@utoronto.ca 

Professor Itala Vivan, Italy. Itala.vivan@unimi.it

Professor Raoul Grangvist, Umea University, Sweden, raoul.granqvist@gmail.com

Professor Chimalum Nwankwo, Abuja, Nigeria, ndimuo@hotmail.com,

Professor Don Burness, Franklin Pierce University, Rindge, NH,burness.don@gmail.com


2:       2:35p.m.–3:05 p.m.
Ke        Keynote Speaker: Molefi Kete Asante

3:1     3:10 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
No      No Longer at Ease: The Uneasy Relationship Between the Poet and Emperor

Chair: Darrel Alejandro Holnes, Writers House, Rutgers University Email:  darrelholnes@gmail.com, 

Professor Obioma Nnaemeka University of Indianapolis, nnaemeka@iupui.edu

Professor Bhekizizwe Peterson, Wits University, South Africa, Bhekizizwe.Peterson@wits.ac.za,

Professor Raisa Simola University of Eastern Finland, Raisa.Simola@uef.fi

Professor T. Vijay Kumar Osmania University, India, tvk2k4@gmail.com

Professor Mercedes Bengoechea Universidad de Alcalá, Spain, Mercedes.bengoechea@uah.es



4:       4:35 p.m.–5:55 p.m.
Th      The Direction of African Writing and Publishing Since the African Writers Series

Moderator: Brown University Professor TBD

Mr. Kassahun Checole, Publisher, African World Press and Red Sea Press

Mr. James Currey, Publisher, James Currey Press

Ms. Dee Mortensen, Senior Sponsoring Editor, Indiana University Press

Ms. Gillian Berchowitz, Director, Ohio University Press

Mr. Gabe Dotto, Director, Michigan State University Press
            dotto@msu.edu

8         8:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
K         Keynote Dramatic Performance: Professor Tess Onwueme,  tess.onwueme@gmail.com or

En      Entertainment: TBA

8:        8:30 p.m.–10:30 p.m.



Sat     Saturday May 3, 2014

9:        9:05 a.m.
We      Welcome, President Christina Hull Paxson


9:1       9:10 a.m.–9:20 a.m.
Ac        Achebe and the Founding of Modern African Literature
N          Nadine Gordimer (taped video)

9:          9:25 a.m.–9:55 a.m.
Ke        Keynote Speaker: Professor Simon Gikandi, Princeton University

10:        10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
A          Another Africa: Achebe and the Image of Africa

  Chair: Professor Olakunle George, Brown University Olakunle_George@Brown.EDU

  Dr. Kabir Ahmed, National Institute for Legislative Studies, Abuja, Nigeria


David Palumbo-Liu, Stanford University, palumbo-liu@stanford.edu

Professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Columbia University, New York, gcspiv@gmail.com

Tsitsi Dangaremba, Writer; Institute of Creative Arts for Progress in Africa (ICAPA), Harare, Zimbabwe, tsitsi@nyeraifilms.com

Professor Michael Thelwell, Umass Amherst, emthelwell@gmail.com, thelwell@afroam.umass.edu 

Professor Paget Henry, Head of Africana Studies, Brown University


11        11:30 a.m.-12 noon
Ke       Keynote Poetry Performance:  South Africa’s National Poet Laureate and Special Advisor to the Minister of Arts & Culture, Prof Keorapetse Kgositsile

12       12 noon–1 p.m.
LU      LUNCH

1:1      1:10 p.m.-2:40 p.m.
Chi     Chinua Achebe and the Hip Hop Generation

Moderator: De Juana Thompson, Founder and managing partner of Promoting Excellence, LLC

            The Roots
Wale
Obi Asika Chairman of OutSource Media, Founder of Dragon Africa, West Africa Partner and Co-Founder of AMPN West Africa. Email: china.asika@gmail.com,
Marcus Glover, Founder of Gluagency and TEdxHarlem Email:marcus@gluagency.com;
Rob Marriot Writer, Editor, Dj, former editor at Vibe, XXL Magazines
Email: rkmarriott@gmail.com
Efe Omoregbe, producer, writer, manager
Email: nowmuzik@yahoo.com



2:       2:45 p.m.–3:15 p.m.
Ke        Keynote Speaker: Bernth Lindfors, bernthlindfors@yahoo.com

3:       3:20 p.m.-4:40 p.m.
A          Man of the People: Achebe and the Crusade for Social Justice

Chair: Dr Terri Ochiagha, University of Sussex, England, T.Ochiagha@sussex.ac.uk
Dr. Paula García Ramírez, Departamento de Filología Inglesa/ Dept. of English Studies; Universidad de Jaén/University of Jaén, España/Spain Email:pagarcia@ujaen.es
Professor Ayo A. Coly, Dartmouth College, Ayo.Coly@Dartmouth.edu

Dr. Ide Corley, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Republic of Ireland.

Dr Kwadwo Osei-Nyame, Jnr, University of London, ko9@soas.ac.uk

Mr. Morakabe Raks Seakhoa, wRite associates, South Africa, raks@writeassociates.co.za

Professor Donna V. Jones, University of California, Berkeley, dvjones@berkeley.edu



4:        4:45p.m. - 6:05 p.m.

Ar       Arrow of God: New Insights into Achebe’s Magnum Opus

Chair: Professor Ernest Emenyonu, University of Michigan, Flint, eernest@umflint.edu

Dr. Mark Mathuray, University College, London, Mark.Mathuray@rhul.ac.uk

Dr. Jon Millington, Institute of English Studies, London, Jon.Millington@sas.ac.uk,

Dr. Ranka Primorac, University of Southampton, United Kingdom, R.Primorac@soton.ac.uk

Dr. Wale Okediran, Association of Nigerian Authors, waleokediran@yahoo.co.uk,







6:          6:05p.m - 6:35 p.m

CL        CLOSING KEYNOTE ADDRESS

  His Excellency, Alhaji Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso,
  Executive Governor of Kano State, NIGERIA




8:          8:30 p.m. -10:30 p.m.

E            ENTERTAINMENT TBD

          
            Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe










269th birthday of Olaudah Equiano

(Born c1745, Essaka, Igboland; dies 31 March 1797, London, England)
One of the African World’s most celebrated intellectuals – sailor, explorer, expeditionist, entrepreneur, orator, versatile campaigner and activist abolitionist (during the 1780s in Britain) of African enslavement by pan-Europe begun in the 15th century, visionary of eventual African freedom, author of the classic, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African (1789)

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

Saturday 29 March 2014

FWD: Chuck Steward on A Love Supreme

John Coltrane – another note of reflection? In the studio to record A Love Supreme
In his recent discovery of photographs he shot during the recording of the John Coltrane Quartet’s (personnel: Coltrane, tenor saxophone; McCoy Tyner, piano; Jimmy Garrison, bass; Elvin Jones, drums) masterpiece, A Love Supreme, 49 years ago (Van Geldar Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, US, 9 December 1964), Chuck Steward reminds the world of some of the memorable scenes in the studio during the course of this historic day:

Friday 28 March 2014

102nd birthday of Léon-Gontram Damas

(Born 28 March 1912, Cayenne, French-occupied Guiana)
Poet, editor, philosopher, academic, co-founder, with Léopold Sédar Senghor and Aimé Césaire, of the 1930s-1940s “negritude” intellectual movement of African affirmation in Paris, France, and whose demonstrable volume of poetry, Pigments (1937), gives notice of the engaging trajectory of the movement:
… my hatred thrived on the margins of culture
the margin of theories the margin of idle talk
with which they stuffed me since birth
even though all in me aspired to be [African]
while they ransacked my Africa

 Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe


Tuesday 25 March 2014

Family and friends reading alphabetically, Tuesday 25 March 2014

This morning, my family and some friends embarked on a most exciting project: to read each and every chosen Amazon 100 books of a life time, released earlier on in the year. Some in the group have read a number of these books several times as part of work or leisure while others have read fewer and younger ones less…The intention now is to read and discuss and enjoy each of the 100 within the family (mama, papa, children [10/11+? – families, please make this age choice!]), couple, friend, and individual contexts. There are only 2 rules in this enterprise:
(a) No skipping! The titles have to be read alphabetically– starting from George Orwell’s 1984 and ending with Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are
 (b) The group only moves to the next text on the list when every member of the circle has completed their reading
Not-club
This is not a reading competition. It is not a club. Please start the exercise whenever you choose. There is no prize outcome except of course the priceless joy of reading and discussing great books in fellowship with loved ones. There is, therefore, no timeframe in completing this journey. If someone wants to share any updates on progress, say, at the end of the year or indeed whenever, it is all left to them. This is completely voluntary. No one is expecting updates from anyone else! Please extend this venture to other families and friends if you could.

Amazon 100 books – 2014

1. 1984 by George Orwell

2. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

        3. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

4. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

5. A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning: The Short-Lived Edition by Lemony Snicket
6. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

7. Alice Munro: Selected Stories by Alice Munro

8. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

        9. All the President’s Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein

10. Angela's Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt

11. Are You There, God? It’s me, Margaret by Judy Blume

12. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

13. Beloved by Toni Morrison

14. Born To Run - A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
15. Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat

16. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

17. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

18.Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

19. Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese

 20. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown

21. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 1 by Jeff Kinney

22. Dune by Frank Herbert

23. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury


24. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson

25. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

26. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

27. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

28. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared M. Diamond

29. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

30. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

31. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

32. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

33. Jimmy Corrigan: Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware

34. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

35. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

36. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

37. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

38. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

39. Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

40. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

41. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

42. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

43. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

44. Moneyball by Michael Lewis

45. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

46. On the Road by Jack Kerouac

47. Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen

48. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

49. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth

50. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

51. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

52. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

53. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

54. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

   55. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

     56. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley

57. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

58. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

59. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

60. The Color of Water by James McBride

61. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

             62. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

63. The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank

64. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

65. The Giver by Lois Lowry

         66. The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

67. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

68. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

69. The House At Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne

70. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

71. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

72. The Liars’ Club: A Memoir by Mary Karr

              73. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1) by Rick Riordan

74. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

75. The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

76. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright

77. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

            78. The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks

         79. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan

80. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

81. The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel by Barbara Kingsolver

                 82. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro

83. The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe

84. The Road by Cormac McCarthy

85. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

86. The Shining by Stephen King

87. The Stranger by Albert Camus

88. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

89. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

90. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

91. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

                  92. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel by Haruki Murakami

93. The World According to Garp by John Irving

94. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

95. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

96. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

                 97. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

98. Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

99. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

100. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe