{"id":9871,"date":"2020-07-27T23:10:06","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T23:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/?p=9871"},"modified":"2020-07-28T01:38:14","modified_gmt":"2020-07-28T01:38:14","slug":"ten-questions-with-niq-mhlongo-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-chika-unigwe\/","title":{"rendered":"TEN QUESTIONS With CHIKA UNIGWE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>What does Ake Festival 2019 theme \u2018Black Bodies, Grey Matter\u2019 mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Focus on the totality of blackness (body and mind); black excellence.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Which African or Diasporan novel do you think best explores the Black Body?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tsitsi Dangarembga\u2019s <em>Nervous Conditions <\/em>in the way it explores the black female body and notions of identity.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>You are asked to write an African <em>femme fatale<\/em> as an alien. What physical attributes would she have?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Antennae to detect bullshit, fire-breathing tongue that burns misogynists to cinders, wings with which to fly (above the fray).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What book would you give to a dark-skinned young woman who has expressed an intent to buy bleaching cream?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings<\/em> by Maya Angelou, because in it she celebrates the freedom that comes from confronting oneself, and loving oneself.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Does the African writer have a specific role to play in the current world order?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes. Everybody has a role to play, and writers more than most.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Which person do you think best represents an African perspective in the ongoing discourse on gender?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Chimamanda Adichie comes to mind because she&#8217;s the most visible (and therefore most heard) representative of (African) feminism.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019re giving a talk at a symposium on mental health, which African novels will you reference?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Harare North<\/em> by Brian Chikwava.<\/p>\n<p><em>Nervous Conditions<\/em> by Tsitsi Dangarembga<\/p>\n<p><em>Things Fall Apart<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Name a character from an African novel that you could rewrite as a different gender, and why.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Okonkwo, from Achebe&#8217;s <em>Things Fall Apart<\/em>. It would be insightful to place a strong woman at the centre of a novel that examines pre-colonial Igbo society and the influence of colonisation on it. It might remind us that the idea of women as frail was more Victorian England than African.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What two things should every teenager understand about mental health?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That mental health is important.<\/p>\n<p>That when we do suffer from mental health challenges, it is important (and not shameful) to seek help.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is your vision for the Black Body?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Joyous, glorious, freedom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does Ake Festival 2019 theme \u2018Black Bodies, Grey Matter\u2019 mean to you? Focus on the totality of blackness (body and mind); black excellence. &nbsp; Which African or Diasporan novel&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-style\" href=\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-chika-unigwe\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10918,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tenquestions"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>TEN QUESTIONS With CHIKA UNIGWE - Ake Arts &amp; Book Festival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-chika-unigwe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TEN QUESTIONS With CHIKA UNIGWE - Ake Arts &amp; Book Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What does Ake Festival 2019 theme \u2018Black Bodies, Grey Matter\u2019 mean to you? 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