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Chimamanda & I

This is not Christmas, but my heart is leaping for joy. I have yet another chance to get a second autograph from a writer I love and respect so much – Chimamanda Adichie.

I saw her physically for the first time last year at a book reading/signing event at the Silverbird Lifestyle Bookshop on Victoria Island. She had drawn a lot more crowd than had been present in previous editions of the event. All I could do was just listen and look on in awe as she read a short story from one of her participants and shared a few jokes. She left before the actual end of the programme and when I had another opportunity to learn up close, the following day, during a 90-minute interactive session with her courtesy The Future Project Creative Writing Workshop, all I did was do a video recording, get an autograph on my copy of “The thing around your neck”, and pose for a quick shot. Perhaps, I was just too shy.

This weekend, Chimamanda is coming to town again and I’m going to get my new copy of “Half of a Yellow Sun” signed whilst offering a prayer (in my mind) that I make the cut for this year’s edition of the Farafina Trust Creative Writing Workshop, which she will be coordinating alongside Kenyan author and Caine Prize Winner, Binyavanga Wainaina. Here are the event details, for those who will be in Lagos this weekend:

Date: Saturday 19 March 2011
Time: 3PM
Venue: Debonair Bookstore, 294, Herbert Macaulay Way, Sabo, Yaba, Lagos
See you there!