{"id":9885,"date":"2020-07-27T23:29:39","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T23:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/?p=9885"},"modified":"2020-07-28T01:37:43","modified_gmt":"2020-07-28T01:37:43","slug":"ten-questions-with-niq-mhlongo-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela","title":{"rendered":"TEN QUESTIONS With LEILA ABOULELA"},"content":{"rendered":"

What does Ake Festival 2019 theme \u2018Black Bodies, Grey Matter\u2019 mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It reminds me of Franz Fanon\u2019s seminal book \u2018Black Skins, White Masks<\/em>.\u2019 In it he argues that colonialism and exploitation has resulted in the stripping away of black people\u2019s cultures and identity. They are left with low esteem, constantly imitating their white master. Whiteness becomes their one and only goal. Fanon\u2019s caution can increase our self-awareness and sense of agency, but his argument can also provoke insularity and regressive positions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Which African or Diasporan novel do you think best explores the Black Body?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Petals of Blood\u2019<\/em> by Ngugi wa Thiong\u2019o for the connection between the body and the land.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Joys of Motherhood\u2019<\/em> by Buchi Emecheta for its focus on women\u2019s fertility.<\/p>\n

\u2018Season of Migration to the North\u2019<\/em> by Tayeb Salih for its vision of black sexuality as a distorted weapon against imperialism.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You are asked to write an African femme fatale<\/em> as an alien. What physical attributes would she have?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have never met a femme fatale African or otherwise. I think the concept is a male fantasy so there is no need to invent an alien version.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What book would you give to a dark-skinned young woman who has expressed an intent to buy bleaching cream?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Books like \u2018The Bluest Eye\u2019<\/em> by Toni Morrison will stop only a minority of women from buying bleaching cream. This is why it is the duty of governments to ban these harmful products.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Does the African writer have a specific role to play in the current world order?<\/strong><\/p>\n

He\/she is already doing so and already exceeding expectations.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Which person do you think best represents an African perspective in the ongoing discourse on gender?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You\u2019re giving a talk at a symposium on mental health, which African novels will you reference?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Mr Happy and the Hammer of God\u2019<\/em> by Martin Egblewogbe. Most fiction writers emotionalise mental health or goggle at it. Martin Egblewogbe knows better. His superb novella has intelligent things to say and says it well. More people should read it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Name a character from an African novel that you could rewrite as a different gender, and why.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would never do that. My characters are my own.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What two things should every teenager understand about mental health?<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Drugs, even the legal ones, can trigger in some people serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and psychosis.<\/p>\n

– You won\u2019t know if you\u2019re in that susceptible group until it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is your vision for the Black Body?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Respect and appreciation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What does Ake Festival 2019 theme \u2018Black Bodies, Grey Matter\u2019 mean to you? It reminds me of Franz Fanon\u2019s seminal book \u2018Black Skins, White Masks.\u2019 In it he argues that <\/p>\n

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-9885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tenquestions"],"yoast_head":"\nTEN QUESTIONS With LEILA ABOULELA - Ake Arts & 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-leila-aboulela\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TEN QUESTIONS With LEILA ABOULELA - Ake Arts & Book Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What does Ake Festival 2019 theme \u2018Black Bodies, Grey Matter\u2019 mean to you? It reminds me of Franz Fanon\u2019s seminal book \u2018Black Skins, White Masks.\u2019 In it he argues that Continue Reading\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ake Arts & Book Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-27T23:29:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-28T01:37:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blog-ake.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"webmaster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@akefestival\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@akefestival\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"webmaster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"webmaster\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/6f5dfbebbe1b6f20207b3ac1c4588080\"},\"headline\":\"TEN QUESTIONS With LEILA ABOULELA\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-27T23:29:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-28T01:37:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/\"},\"wordCount\":448,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blog-ake.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Ten Questions (Ake Review 2019)\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/\",\"name\":\"TEN QUESTIONS With LEILA ABOULELA - Ake Arts & Book Festival\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blog-ake.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-27T23:29:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-28T01:37:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/6f5dfbebbe1b6f20207b3ac1c4588080\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blog-ake.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blog-ake.jpg\",\"width\":1170,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TEN QUESTIONS With LEILA ABOULELA\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/\",\"name\":\"Ake Arts & Book Festival\",\"description\":\"Ake Arts & Book Festival\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/6f5dfbebbe1b6f20207b3ac1c4588080\",\"name\":\"webmaster\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d502908f202b3110299e2e96ebb2db5f669039a6abdbe6619b7ff6854de06ebf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d502908f202b3110299e2e96ebb2db5f669039a6abdbe6619b7ff6854de06ebf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"webmaster\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/author\/webmaster\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TEN QUESTIONS With LEILA ABOULELA - Ake Arts & Book Festival","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TEN QUESTIONS With LEILA ABOULELA - Ake Arts & Book Festival","og_description":"What does Ake Festival 2019 theme \u2018Black Bodies, Grey Matter\u2019 mean to you? It reminds me of Franz Fanon\u2019s seminal book \u2018Black Skins, White Masks.\u2019 In it he argues that Continue Reading","og_url":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/","og_site_name":"Ake Arts & Book Festival","article_published_time":"2020-07-27T23:29:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-28T01:37:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1170,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blog-ake.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"webmaster","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@akefestival","twitter_site":"@akefestival","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"webmaster","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/"},"author":{"name":"webmaster","@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/6f5dfbebbe1b6f20207b3ac1c4588080"},"headline":"TEN QUESTIONS With LEILA ABOULELA","datePublished":"2020-07-27T23:29:39+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-28T01:37:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/"},"wordCount":448,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blog-ake.jpg","articleSection":["Ten Questions (Ake Review 2019)"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/","url":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/","name":"TEN QUESTIONS With LEILA ABOULELA - Ake Arts & Book Festival","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blog-ake.jpg","datePublished":"2020-07-27T23:29:39+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-28T01:37:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/6f5dfbebbe1b6f20207b3ac1c4588080"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blog-ake.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blog-ake.jpg","width":1170,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/ten-questions-with-leila-aboulela\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TEN QUESTIONS With LEILA ABOULELA"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/#website","url":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/","name":"Ake Arts & Book Festival","description":"Ake Arts & Book Festival","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/6f5dfbebbe1b6f20207b3ac1c4588080","name":"webmaster","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d502908f202b3110299e2e96ebb2db5f669039a6abdbe6619b7ff6854de06ebf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d502908f202b3110299e2e96ebb2db5f669039a6abdbe6619b7ff6854de06ebf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"webmaster"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive"],"url":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/author\/webmaster\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}