CHIKA UNIGWE – Afro-Belgian author of On Black Sisters’ Street at the SHFK
July 28th, 2009 | Published in Features, Storymoja Hay Festival 2009
Chika Unigwe describes herself as “an Afro-Belgian writer of Nigerian origin,” and she draws on this unique perspective in much of her critically acclaimed fiction. Unigwe, who holds a PhD in literature from the University of Leiden, was the winner of the 2003 BBC Short Fiction Competition, and in 2004, her story “The Secret” was nominated for the prestigious Caine Prize. Her most recent book, On Black Sisters’ Street, vividly describes the ordeals of four African women working as prostitutes in Antwerp’s red light district. It has been published worldwide in English, Italian, and Dutch.
Review of On Black Sisters’ Street on www.list.com
The depiction of modern prostitution is often one-dimensional, something this skilled new writer is seeking to address. Chika Unigwe is Nigerian-born but now lives in Belgium, the setting for this evocative and heartfelt novel. Four African women share a flat in Antwerp, all of them sex workers in the same establishment, having come to Europe through a mutual pimp. When one of them goes missing, then turns up dead, it forces the others to re-evaluate their reasons and motivations for being there.
We have three Nigerians – highly educated but socially disconnected Sisi, single mum Efe and abused Ama – as well as Sudanese refugee Joyce, who all possess poignant and often painful back-stories leading up to their arrivals in a strange continent. This harrowing subject matter is handled deftly by Unigwe, with lyrical insight and splashes of dark humour, in a book that is both thought-provoking and eye-opening.
Chika Unigwe will be at the Storymoja Hay Festival Sessions described below.
Friday 31st August 2009, at 12pm – 1:30pm CRIME AND PASSION IN FICTION w/ Tony Kan, Chika Unigwe, Moraa Gitaa, Onduko Bwa’Atebe and Lee Siegel, moderated by Doreen Baingana in the British Council Pavilion.
Fiction leads us into usually unfamiliar worlds that both repel and thrill us. This conversation brings together writers who explore the dangerous side of human nature: the lives of prostitutes (Nigerian award winning writer Chika Unigwe), criminals (Kenyans up-coming writers Onduko Bwa’Atebe and Moraa Gitaa), Lee Siegel and Nigerian writer Tony Kan.
Sunday 2nd August, 2009 at 12pm – 1:30pm: AFRICAN WOMEN WRITERS – A conversation with Petina Gappah and Chika Unigwe moderated by Monica Arac
What is the future of African writing? The face of it is in young writers such as Petina Gappah from Zimbabwe, Chika Unigwe from Nigeria and Monica Arac from Uganda. Is it a coincidence that they all live away from their “homelands”? Do African women writers tell differently the myriad stories to be told? Do they face similar challenges as their male counterparts? How do these writers juggle motherhood, multiple careers and writing? Come listen to three writers hash out these issues and provoke us with new ones.
Tickets are available from Storymoja as well as all leading book stores ( Booksfirst, Silverbird (formerly NuMetro), Savanis, Book Stop Yaya, Sarit Info Desk). Contact info@storymojaafrica.co.ke for more details about tickets. For information about the dates, venue and guests see here…
