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Oprah Winfrey picks book by Nigerian author

Posted by NollywoodMohits on September 22, 2009 at 7:36pm
SPECIAL 9jabook.com BLOGGERSFEATURED BLOGS..NOLLYWOOD BLOGS..NETCHURCH BLOGS..GHANA BLOGS..LAGOS BLOGSPOLITICSDuring last Friday’s airing of the ‘Oprah Winfrey Show’, Nigerian author, Uwem Akpan’s debut collection, ‘Say You’re One of Them’, became the first collection of short stories selected by the talk show hostess as the next choice for her widely-followed book club.It was not too much of a surprise as news from the grapevine had hinted at the selection some considered unlikely and unexpected.Describing the book on her show as “incredible,” Oprah said the stories in the collection had left her “gasping.” She said the book got the nod as her first short story pick because it was different from others she had read.In what has been known as the “Oprah Effect”, demand for previous selections have been sent skyrocketing, most times beyond even the authors’ expectations. Akpan’s case with ‘Say You’re One of Them’ has not been different with reports already shooting the book into Amazon’s Top 5 from an unattractive position at no. 165,769.For the Jesuit priest, who grew up in a storytelling environment here in Nigeria and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan, a trail of recognition for the book has preceded Oprah’s selection.A story from the collection, ‘My Parents’ Bedroom’, was a finalist in the 2007 Caine Prize for Africa, while the selection itself was a finalist at the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction.The book won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book (Africa region) in 2009 and the PEN/Beyond Margins Award in the same year. Some of the stories in this collection have also featured in The New Yorker Magazine.Certain critics of Oprah’s selection of ‘Say You’re One of Them” say the book’s focus is stereotypical of Western beliefs about Africa as a bed of conflict and child soldiering amongst other evils: themes that seem to have been over-flogged by many African writers or writers about Africa.Uwem Akpan’s ‘Say You’re One of Them’ is a collection of five short stories based on the plight of African children with a focus on war, religious conflict, and human trafficking.The Oprah Book Club started in 1996, with 63 books selected so far, and a bundle of controversy in its wake. This selection is the first for a book by a Nigerian author.
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