Writers on Social Media: Vol. 1 | Feat. Nnedi Okorafor, Chimamanda, Shailja Patel, Teju Cole, Tomi Adeyemi, Momtaza Mehri, Joy Mogami, & More

What did your favourite literary person do on Twitter or Facebook recently? We went through some timelines to bring you what Nnedi Okorafor, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Shailja Patel, Teju Cole, Tomi Adeyemi, Momtaza Mehri, and Joy Mogami were up to.

Nnedi Okorafor

The beauty of following Nnedi Okorafor on social media is that you get an insight into her inspirations in their rawest forms. We are fascinated by what gets her fascinated and how she responds to her fascinations. As if we have a choice when those fascinations lead to bestselling, multi-awarded books. On Twitter, the novelist shared this photo of something she called Godzilla Iguana.

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Stop everything. Godzilla iguana is swimming through your timeline. pic.twitter.com/bzWfYFJE9X

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) September 4, 2018

And then this cute thing about her kitten and owl.

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I’m perplexed. My kitten knocks down and beats up this decorative owl daily and nightly. This morning, however, I not only find the owl upright in its corner, but my kitten’s two favorite “toys” are at the owl’s feet.

🤔 🐱🦉 Is this an apology to the owl??? pic.twitter.com/WutpMJt8Fz

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) September 4, 2018

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The genius novelist and feminist icon, whose team is looking for two interns, shared news of her being on the cover of ELLE India.

Shailja Patel

Shailja Patel, ever the force on Twitter, weighed in on the Aretha Franklin Funeral Controversy, in which the officiating bishop, Charles Ellis III, inappropriately held pop star Ariana Grande. Bishop Ellis has apologized following criticism on social media but it hasn’t stopped viewers and some media people from thinking Grande was dressed inappropriately—as though her dressing was an invitation for male “friendliness.” And it hasn’t stopped Shailja’s critique-poem from getting 39K loves and 15K retweets at the time of writing.

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Rape culture
is when the
bishop

officiating the
funeral

of a global superstar

sexually assaults a young woman while verbally insulting her
on live TV
before tens of millions of viewers

and media
attack the

young woman

for
“lack of respect”#ArethaFranklinHomegoing

— Shailja Patel (@shailjapatel) September 1, 2018

Tomi Adeyemi

The Nigerian author of Children of Blood and Bone, which just clocked 25 weeks on The New York Times Young Adult fiction bestseller list, is a compelling persona on Facebook, what with those locks and those eyes. Here, her Monday Mood is basically her being a ninja from the Mortal Kombat films—a female Noob-Saibot or Scorpion or Sub-Zero or Rain.

Plus she did consider removing the grey dye of her hair locks. We absolutely think she should keep it!

And while she’s writing the second book in her trilogy, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, her fans decided to be, well, fans.

Momtaza Mehri

Brunel Prize 2018 co-winner and Young People’s Laureate of London Momtaza Mehri decided to burst the “nuance” bubble. The Somali poet called out a few intellectual hypocrisies.

much of what passes for “nuance” is a calculated effort to mystify already crystal clear power dynamics. “nuance” is often just another way of avoiding self implication.

— momtaza mehri 🤳🏾 (@RuffneckRefugee) August 29, 2018

there is nothing on this earth that isn’t “nuanced”. yet power is demarcated & reproduced along the same painfully obvious dividing lines. let us say what we mean & mean what we say.

— momtaza mehri 🤳🏾 (@RuffneckRefugee) August 29, 2018

other uses of “nuance” include:

• academese for rallying around predatory friends & colleagues.

• intellectual padding for think pieces that rely on anecdotes & personal traumas dressed up as social critique.

• a way of signaling knowledge without having any.

— momtaza mehri 🤳🏾 (@RuffneckRefugee) August 29, 2018

Gaamangwe Mogami 

The founder of the fantastic interview magazine Africa in Dialogue launched a show on Facebook. “The Joy Mogami Show” will feature one-hour live streams of conversations on creativity, healing and self-care, with invited personalities.

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INTRODUCING THE JOY MOGAMI SHOW.

I am so excited to share that I will be launching my show ‘The Joy Mogami Show’ right here on Facebook.

This show is something I have been dreaming of since forever, and since I am all about following my highest bliss and just doing it, I am taking the leap and doing it!