23 September 2008

MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant in Fiction goes to...

Chimamanda Adichie is a young writer who illuminates the complexities of human experience in works inspired by events in her native Nigeria. Adichie explores the intersection of the personal and the public by placing the intimate details of the lives of her characters within the larger social and political forces in contemporary Nigeria. Dividing her time over the last decade between the United States and Nigeria, she is widely appreciated for her stark yet balanced depiction of events in the post-colonial era. In her most recent novel, Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), Adichie unflinchingly portrays the horror and destruction of the civil war following the establishment of the Republic of Biafra. Using multiple narrative voices, a precise movement back and forth in time, and prose that is at once witty and empathetic, she immerses the reader in the psyches of her characters, whose loyalties to each other and their ideals are tested as their world gradually falls apart. In humanizing the Biafran tragedy, Adichie’s novel has enriched conversation about the war within Nigeria while also offering insight into the circumstances that lead to ethnic conflict. A writer of great promise, Adichie’s powerful rendering of the Nigerian experience is enlightening audiences both in her homeland and around the world.

11 comments:

Dr. D said...

May I be the first to say:

barfff

sonny house said...

I read her first novel and it aggressively boring and obvious- more patronizing PC nonsense

Anonymous said...

Correct me if I am wrong....but hasn't this book been written by a third world author like 10x before? And doesnt genius imply something sort of exceptional?

Hey I found a drummer. He's good and likes to drink. His name's Oliver Imkamp, went to Miramonte. Can I ask him to participate in our Oct 10 practice?

sonny house said...

she's young and attractive and African

we don't have an Oct. 10 yet (when asked why he couldn't commit to a Stones reunion, Keith said of Mick, "Ask the bitch?"- Brad?), but I love Oliver and would love to have him but am confused about bringing competence to the proceedings

I am the noble savage of rock

Anonymous said...

let me first ask this...would it be easier if we made the date later in Oct or Nov on a Friday?

I'm a rock guitarist God, Sonny. I must play the axe.

Anonymous said...

Yea, whenever on which date, but could we get something down on the calendar- otherwise it will probably just drag on- apparently the dude who put this up for auction was shrugging his shoulders at Nicole and encouraging her to encourage me to get off my ass. I'm out for the Oct. 17 & 31-

Brad, can you commit to anything- could you kindly just say what might be possible?

Tony, your need frightens me. I'm going to work on a 1973 hard rock anthem. Join me.

Dr. D said...

let me be unambiguous; October is booked. first ten days of Nov. are clear, and thereafter all is a mess.

Dr. D said...

What's wrong with this fri?

Anonymous said...

I could do this Friday but-

it's the first debate, and Nicole is going out, so you need to help me with the kiddies so I can watch.

We can practice after

Tuna will be booked.

October is booked? How can that be possible? I don't believe you. Print your blackberry

Anonymous said...

I am in LA this weekend.

October appears to be out.

All weekends in Nov EXCEPT for the first weekend (Nov. 1st and 2nd) are good for me.

I am available for acoustic guitar practice between now tand then, of course. Sonny, I am learning how to double hammer. Double hammer!

sonny house said...

I have no idea what double hammer means- it sounds like tricky porn

Do you just travel from one city to the next every weekend to get hammered with old friends? My envy is turning ugly