Representation – Our Duty as Writers
Osemome Ndebbio, a Nigerian author of children texts and stories, living in Alabama, United States writes about the duty of writers in portraying the black identity right.
Osemome Ndebbio, a Nigerian author of children texts and stories, living in Alabama, United States writes about the duty of writers in portraying the black identity right.
On the 1st of November 2019, at the Enugu Sports Club, the Centre for Memories — an organisation working to serve as the repository of the history and culture of Ndigbo — hosted Chika Unigwe, Nigeria’s multiple award winning author of On Black Sisters’ Street and a Professor at Brown University in the United States, for their monthly distinguished speaker series, Nkata Umuibe. Chika gave a resounding speech on the need for Igbos around the world to unite and…
In this engaging essay, Kenyan scholar Carolyne Njihia writes on electoral violence in Kenya and what the triggers are. Conflicts observed in East Africa are not just about power and resources, but are rooted in the denial of human needs such as identity, security, respect, and recognition. Exclusionary governance systems, which deny ‘others’ equal rights and opportunities, have triggered many of the conflicts in the region. This article looks at Kenya as a case study, linking electoral violence to…
In this essay, our Founding Editor, Obinna Udenwe critically analyzes his understanding of the term, African literary tradition, and takes on the older generation of African literary scholars who denigrate contemporary authors and their works What is African literary tradition? This question was posed to a panel of distinguished academics at a 2018 joint conference organised by the Association of Nigerian Authors in conjunction with the Alex Ekwueme-Federal University Ndufu Alike Ikwo in Ebonyi State on…
With development interventions’ increasing focus on utilizing a given community’s strengths in order to lead to desired outcomes, the field narrative detailed in this piece by the researcher Malvya Chintakindi sheds light on Sehgal Foundation’s (SF) work in Sadai village which serves as a case of successful utilization of positive deviance and appreciate inquiry. Positive deviance is an approach to behavioral and social change based on the observation that in any community, there are people whose…
In collaboration with Trish Nicholson, the New Zealander author of A Biography of Story, A Brief History of Humanity, we are publishing a three-part coaching series on “the use of voice in storytelling” – which is intended to help writers of fiction navigate and master how voice and dialogue are used to capture the attention of readers. As a prelude to this coaching series we had published a flash story, Runnin’ the River referenced in this series. We…
In collaboration with Trish Nicholson, the New Zealander author of A Biography of Story, A Brief History of Humanity, we are publishing a three-part coaching series on “the use of voice in storytelling” – which is intended to help writers of fiction navigate and master how voice and dialogue are used to capture the attention of readers. As a prelude to this coaching series we had published a flash story, Runnin’ the River referenced in this series. We…
In collaboration with Trish Nicholson, the New Zealander author of A Biography of Story, A Brief History of Humanity, we are publishing a three-part coaching series on “the use of voice in storytelling” – which is intended to help writers of fiction navigate and master how voice and dialogue is used to capture the attention of their readers. As a prelude to this coaching series we had published a flash story, Runnin’ the River referenced in this…
It is sixty years since 1958, when Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was first published. The Village Square Journal will be joining the rest of the world to mark the novel’s anniversary. We are seeking to publish six outstanding and brilliantly articulated essays, one every week for six weeks, starting in May 2018, that border on or/and address the following issues as well as related themes, as we countdown to the actual date of publication. The…
“…until you’ve been beaten up and called every racist name under the sun by the very people who are supposedly there to protect you, until you’ve experienced firsthand what it’s like to live in a community where there are police cars and vans on practically every street corner and where young black males are several times more likely to be arrested and imprisoned than their white counterparts, then it’s hard…