El-nathan John: “Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is, and will remain one of the most important writers and personalities of our generation”

In 2013, award-winning writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie(CNA) granted the Boston Review an interview where she referred to 2013 Caine Prize nominee, Elnathan John, as her boy. She made this comment when asked why she didn’t make the list for the Caine Prize, to which she said, “Elnathan was one of my boys in my workshop. But what’s all this over-privileging of the Caine Prize, anyway? I don’t want to talk about the Caine Prize, really. I suppose it’s a good thing, but for me it’s not the arbiter of the best fiction in Africa. It’s never been. I know that Chinelo is on the short list, too. But I haven’t even read the stories—I’m just not very interested. I don’t go to the Caine Prize to look for the best in African fiction.”

Addressing Chimamanda’s response, Elnathan John published on his blog an article,”The Consequences of Loving Ngozi”,where he said in parts, “Your name ends up in the Boston Review where she gives an interview about race and her new book- the first page of which you have read and like very much. She sounds irritated when they ask her about the prize you were shortlisted for, which she too was once shortlisted for. She calls the prize over-privileged. She mentions your name and says that although you are her boy, and she has not quite bothered to read your work, you have not made the shortlist of ten best African fiction writers domiciled in her mailbox.”

Since El-nathan’s article, Chimamanda hasn’t responded till her recent interview with Olisa TV. When asked about the ‘one of my boys at the workshop’ controversy, and if it’s linked to the ‘natural hair controversy, she told Olisa TV, ” Well, yes, because it was the last communication I had with this person before he turned into an attack dog. After somebody put out that headline about weaves and low self-esteem, I was told that people were tweeting this quote that I had never said, and that this person had tweeted it as well. So I wrote to him and told him I expected better from him, that I was disappointed he would join a bandwagon in repeating what I never said. I expected that somebody like him would be astute enough to go and read the actual interview.”

Reacting to Chimamanda’s comments in this new interview, Elnathan tweeted, “Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is, and will remain one of the most important writers and personalities of our generation.” For those not in the know, Elnathan is a popular writer and lawyer who lives in Nigeria. His works have appeared in Hazlitt, Per Contra, Evergreen Review, FT and the Caine Prize for African Writing anthology 2013&2014. He writes weekly for Sunday Trust and other publications. His novel will be out in Nigeria late 2015 (in the UK and the US in 2016).

LINKS:

Chimamanda’s Interview with Boston Review: http://bostonreview.net/fiction/varieties-blackness

Elnathan John’s rejoinder: http://elnathanjohn.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-consequences-of-loving-ngozi.html

Chimamanda’s interview with Olisa TV: www.olisa.tv/2015/03/12/exclusive-interviewchimamanda-ngozi-adichie-pt-1/

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About Unknown

Deji Sadiq, a.k.a DEJI OF LAGOS is a LASU trained Economist turned freelance journalist, a Blogger, an information strategist, a public affairs analyst and a committed activist with a passion for equal opportunities.