VS Naipaul, Nobel Prize and Booker Prize-winning novelist and nonfiction writer, passed on days ago at 85 years of age. As is the norm, countless think pieces have appeared on his life. While Naipaul’s genius talent and his standing as a literary great aren’t in doubt, it is his legacy that stutters. Born in Trinidad […]
Tag Archives: Binyavanga Wainaina
Binyavanga Wainaina Is in Love, Getting Married Next Year
Binyavanga Wainaina is in love. He began posting a series of announcements on social media two weeks ago. “I am in love,” he wrote on Facebook. Then last week: “Am getting married next year.” And then a more detailed post: I asked my love for his hand in marriage two weeks ago. He said yes, […]
Binyavanga Wainaina, Chigozie Obioma, Hawa J Golakai, Megan Ross: 15 Writers and Editors Tell Us What They Are Reading for Christmas
For the Christmas season, we asked 15 writers and editors to tell us what they would be reading. Binyavanga Wainaina, Chigozie Obioma, Hawa Jande Golakai, Gaamangwe Joy Mogami, Megan Ross, Gbenga Adesina, Efemia Chela, Nancy Adimora, Leila Chatti, Koleka Putuma, TJ Benson, Sibongile Fisher, Linda Musita, Yalie Kamara, and Chibuihe Obi. Their lists are towering […]
A Letter to All Kenyans from Binyavanga Wainaina or Binyavanga wa Muigai
OVER THE PAST few years, I have come to believe in honoring my ancestors. This has become a very deep part of my spirituality. I discovered this in South Africa, where I spent six months this year while still recovering from a stroke that nearly killed me two years ago. I was not ready to come […]
The Brittle Paper Award for Creative Nonfiction/Memoir: Meet the Nominees
To mark our seventh anniversary on August 1, 2017, we announced the inaugural Brittle Paper Literary Awards, to recognize the finest, original pieces of African writing published online. The awards come in five categories: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction/Memoir, Essays/Think Pieces, and the Anniversary Award for works published on our blog. The winners in the fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction/memoir and essays/think […]
I hold a doctorate in English from Duke University and recently joined the Marquette University English faculty as an Assistant Professor. I love teaching African fiction and contemporary British novels. Brittle Paper is the virtual space/station where I play and experiment with ideas on how to reinvent African fiction and literary culture.
