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The Nation - Talent is important, but hard work is better - Helon Habila

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The Nation - Talent is important, but hard work is better - Helon Habila Talent is important, but hard work is better - Helon Habila By  Edozie Udeze and Joe Agbro Jr   05/08/2012 00:00:00 Font size:    Helon Habila, winner of both Caine and commonwealth prizes in literature 2000 and 2003 respectively, has written three world acclaimed novels, namely, Waiting for An Angel, Measuring Time and Oil on water. In this interview with Edozie Udeze and Joe Agbro Jr. he talks about his writing career and how he has fared in the world of literature and more TELL us a little about yourself and how you got to the level you are now? My name is Helon Habila. I just came for the Fidelity Workshop which I’ve been teaching every June/July (Summer) for the past three years. It has been running for the past five years but I started three years ago. And this is the first time we’re doing it in Lagos. I really fought to have it brought to Lagos. Last year, we did it in Nsukka; the year before, we did it

‘It’s Painful We Are Producing Children Without Roots’

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‘It’s Painful We Are Producing Children Without Roots’ At the flag off ceremony of the 2012 edition of ‘Read Africa’ project, an initiative stemming from the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), UBA Foundation, held at the bank’s headquarters in Lagos, the renowned Kenyan writer, Prof. Ngugi wa Thiong’o, who was the guest speaker at the event lamented the total neglect of African languages in affairs of Africans and African states. He frowned at the preference among Africans for European languages and culture. Flaying what he referred to as the enslavement of Africa by Africans, the literary icon expressed the view that Africa will not be free through the mechanical development of material forces, but it is the hand of African and his brain that will set into motion and implement the dialectics of liberation of the continent from self-imposed mental slavery. Ngugi, who flew into Nigeria from California, United States of America, spoke wit

Olympics 2012 Culture Splash: Meet Nigeria Authors At Royal Theatre, Stratford East, London

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• Culled from The Guardian, Sunday July 29, 2012 THE   three-part Literature Showcase curated by the Committee for Relevant Art, CORA as part of showcase of Nigerian Arts, Culture and Lifestyle in the course of the Olympics kicked off on Thursday at the Theatre Royale, Stratford East. On stage to share precious moments with the audience were UK-based Nigerian novelist Diran Adebayo, playwright Ade Solanke and poet Nnorom Azuonye.    Aside fielding questions from the moderator, Lookman Sanusi (artiste and CEO of BubblesFM), and members of the audience, the writers also read from their works as well as engaged in discussing the state of Nigerian literature vis-a-vis the notion of multiculturalism under the theme ‘Imagine Nigeria’.    Titled Nigeria House Literature Showcase, the event is designed to exhibit the best of Nigerian Literature through book readings, conversations on literature and a display of a wide range of books by Nigerian authors at home and