Chinweizu is a historian and anti-Continentalism Pan-Africanist. He is a co-author of Towards the Decolonization of African Literature (1980) and a contributor to Volume 8 of the Unesco General History of Africa, (1993). His volume of poetry, Invocations and Admonitions, won the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) poetry prize for 1985. His other books include, The West and the Rest of Us (1975); Decolonising the African Mind (1987); Voices from 20th-Century Africa (1988); Anatomy of Female Power (1990) and Caliphate Colonialism: The Taproot of the Trouble with Nigeria (2015). He received a 2013 Silverbird Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to African Letters and is currently writing a seven-volume book titled: A Maafa-centric History of Pan-Africanism, 1440-2015.
Author Visit to Ngleshie Amanfro Senior High School
A lively 45-minute “Read with Me” event recently with the 3000-strong student body of Ngleshie Amanfro Senior High School.
First was to read an excerpt from The Twelfth Heart. It was a delight to discover most students were familiar with the St Felice series.
My core message was next. Why do I read? And why do I ask the students of Ngleshie Amanfro SHS to “read with me”?
I could give a hundred reasons but we didn’t have the whole day so I focused on one: Encouragement.
Nothing quite lifts the spirits and empowers one to keep on keeping on than to read another earthly soul’s tale of triumph over trial.
In the world between the covers, I’ve simulated the characters’ experiences, cheered and cried with them, processed my thoughts in fertile solitude – and have stepped out encouraged and better equipped to encourage others.
Question time – and the students wanted to know –
Where I get my ideas? Ans: Everywhere, everything and everyone! Even a heap of gathered dust can seed the idea for a story
What inspired me to write? Ans: As a child I thought good books were better than ice cream.
What sacrifices do I need to make to write? Ans: My favorite pastimes – (phone conversation and whatsapp)
Finally came autograph time – the perfect opportunity to take pictures. Then it was back to class for them and off to work for me.
A great author’s visit with a great group of students! Thanks to teacher Mr Denice Pomari (a fellow writer and reader!) of Ngleshie Amanfro Senior High, to Code, Bill Burt and the Ghana Book Trust for their efforts to support reading and writing, and to my assistant Akua for these pictures.