SEPTEMBER 29-30, the Princeton University, USA will play host to an international gathering of scholars, culture and literary activists and enthusiasts on the 40th anniversary of Chinua Achebe’s epochal book ‘The Trouble with Nigeria’, which has become the most referenced text in examining the challenges and prospects of Nigeria as a nation.
An announcement by the organisers, Princeton University’s Africa World Initiative and Programme in African Studies, says that the conference is holding on the side of The Chinua Achebe International Symposium which is commemorating the 10th-anniversary memorial celebration of the passing of Achebe, revered as the father of Nigerian contemporary novel.
The statement unveils the programme outline below:
“The symposium on September 29, with an international cast of senior and emerging scholars, marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of Achebe’s blistering political treatise The Trouble with Nigeria.
Three panels will examine new directions in Achebe studies, the politics of canonicity, and African literatures in the age of historical reckonings, while a roundtable discussion focuses on leadership and statecraft in Nigeria and Africa.
Conference participants:
- Portia Owusu – Texas A&M University
- Jeanne-Marie Jackson – Johns Hopkins University
- Kwabena Opoku-Agyemang – University of Ghana
- Sarah Duff – Colby College
- Chielozona Eze – Carleton College
- Simon Gikandi – Princeton University
- Juliana Makuchi Nfah-Abbenyi – NC State University
- Ranka Primorac – University of Southampton
- Meg Arenberg – The Africa Institute, Sharjah
- Terri Ochiagha – University of Edinburgh
- Simukai Chigudu – University of Oxford
- Ainehi Edoro – University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Mukoma wa Ngugi – Cornell University
- Maik Nwosu – University of Denver-Colorado
- Hannah Essien – Princeton University
- Chris Abani – Northwestern University
- Obi Nwakanma – University of Central Florida
- Anthonia Kalu – University of California-Riverside
- Wale Lawal – Editor, The Republic, Lagos
- Adeleke Adeeko – The Ohio University
* Symposium Advisory Committee: Christopher Okonkwo (Florida State University, Chair), Ato Quayson (Stanford University), Terri Ochiagha (University of Edinburgh), Grace Musila (University of the Witwatersrand)
The memorial celebration on September 30th will be graced by His Royal Majesty, Igwe Alex Onyido, the Monarch of Ogidi Kingdom in Nigeria, and will feature tributes by Toyin Falola, Simon Gikandi, Richard Joseph, Anthonia Kalu, Sonia Sanchez, and Obiora Udechukwu; readings by Patrice Nganang and Chika Unigwe, as well as a presentation by Dorobucci Dance Company, a solo mbira performance by Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa, and the Eme & Heteru Afro-roots Band.
Both events are open to the public. More information will follow soon.
