Mr. Goop well recieved
Well, so far Mr. Goop seems to have been well received in general, and even sparked some blog-ranging discussions:
A post by Lauri Kubuitsile (one of my fellow Baobab Prize winners) at Thoughts From Botswana about African Fiction and Mr. Goop. Thanks Lauri!
I am one of the people who shouts the most about the heavy burden African writers have had to carry. They are only expected to put pen to paper if the result is literary, political and serious. So African Sue Townsends had to move on and become accountants or garbage collectors. African Barbara Cartlands became doctors or house maids. Popular fiction just wasn't for Africa- they said. Writers here needed to address African conditions and to the international world Africans don't laugh... Full Post
A post by Emmanuel Sigauke at Wealth of Ideas, which starts where Lauri Kubuitsile left off (in a way) about African Genre Fiction. I say bring on the Horror Emmanuel :) and thanks for the mention.
In July, 2008, I blogged about the importance of genre expansion in African Fiction, branching off into sci-fi/fantasy, romance, horror, and other neglected genres. Around the same time I discovered there were African writers doing this already,from the detective fiction guru Alexander McCall Smith of the now popularised The Number 1 Lady Detective series on HBO... Full Post
Also had my first Official press release as a writer from The Zimbabwean, which is a great article by Beaven Tapureta, despite the title, about The Baoabab Prize, Mr. Goop and I. Thanks Beaven!
Like many other Zimbabwean writers living abroad, economically exiled despite the love of their home country, Ivor W. Hartmann made Zimbabwe proud when he won the prestigious, inaugural 2008 Baobab Prize. In his acceptance letter, writer Hartmann said, “It is with profound sense of great honour that I accept The Baobab Prize and my proud privilege as a Zimbabwean writer to have entered and participated in this much needed stimulus to African writing.”... Full Post
