Uwem akpan biography of mahatma

InAkpan was ordained a Jesuit priest. InAkpan left the Catholic priesthood to focus more time on his writing. Thanks for reading Ngnews The five short stories and novellas give voice to African children growing up in five different nations, in the face of incredible adversity. It won numerous awards and was nominated for others, as noted in the "Awards" section below.

It was a No. InOprah Winfrey selected Akpan's work as her 63rd book club choice. The success of his book enabled Akpan to have numerous writing fellowships in the United States. InAkpan left the Catholic priesthood to focus more time on his writing. Akpan now teaches in the University of Florida 's writing program, and lives in Gainesville, Florida.

It became a global hit. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk.

Uwem akpan biography of mahatma: Uwem Akpan's stunning stories humanize the

Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikiquote Wikidata item. Nigerian writer. Since I only realized I had the gift ten years ago, I felt I needed to develop this. I also like fiction because it is not doctrinaire. What you do after seeing is left to you. Was this explicitly the intention of your superiors when they sent you to study in the United States the first time?

It is good to expose the would-be priest. One cannot preach the Word of God without thinking seriously about culture and even seeking to use cultural elements to spread the gospel. An understanding of culture then is important. I am grateful that I have been able to live and work and study in different cultures. That awareness and interest in different cultures certainly comes through in your writing.

I also understand that Ignatian Contemplative Prayer is something that has helped guide you as both a priest and writer. Would you describe this practice? Simply put, you are encouraged to imagine the Bible passage you are praying with. For example, if it is the Sermon on the Mount, St Ignatius says it is more beneficial for you to enter into the scene of the story and pray from there rather than just thinking about it.

In this context one can now present his thanksgiving, his needs, his fears. I put some high school students through the routine the other day. At the end of the exercise, I asked them what they experienced. I was amazed. They talked about seeing Jesus. They talked about sitting on some mount overlooking the sea, the feel of the crowds, the weather.

Someone said her Jesus was short and fat and had a bald head. Others said they were afraid when Jesus spoke, and others said they went up to hug him. Jesuits have always prayed this way. The purpose is to foster a more intimate bond with the Lord. Jesus is not something that happened years ago.

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You can access him today in intimate ways. That is the purpose of this prayer form. I imagine it must have been a fairly natural transition, then, to employ this technique in your fiction. If I could imagine Jesus who existed years ago, imagine him walking the streets of the Middle East, imagine his world in very intimate details, it became clear to me I could imagine life during the Rwandan genocide or when the Muslim radicals killed Christians in Ethiopia some years back.

I like stories that help me to see. Was this process of inhabiting and imagining the lives of others what drew you to fiction initially?

Uwem akpan biography of mahatma: Bio: Uwem Akpan is

I love stories. I am always amazed at what writers do with characters. So once I discovered this, I was very excited about developing the talent. I wrote lots before I arrived at Michigan. All the time I was trying things out. I discovered I could create suspense and that is a big deal, I think. Then, of course, it was not difficult to choose my subject.

I simply wrote about things that worried or puzzled me. For example, when I read in newspapers that one million Rwandese were killed by their compatriots, it makes no sense to me. I have not seen a million people before. For me to even begin to understand, I may have to see how one person was killed and how much propaganda went into such an act.

And if I hear someone sacrificed her life for another person, I try to work out in my mind how this was possible. I first listed the issues I wanted to write about. Thank God these issues are not located in one country. It was both exciting and challenging to seek to write convincingly about these unique places and terrains. Considering how important language and culture are in your work, you must have had to do a lot of research during the process of writing this book.

For me, research is very important. But I do not begin with research. I begin with writing the story, which for me is the relationship between the characters. It is after I have written or pretty much have a sense of the story that I go and do research. I am conscious that I am writing about poor people for the most part. I want to do my best to represent that well.

I am also conscious that I am writing about other countries. I want to make sure I understand those cultures as best as possible and represent them well. My teachers at Michigan made me understand it was important to get the research right for the sake of the poor children. I started calling him Dick. He had some English, and was very respected by the others.

If I wanted to give them money, the whole bunch would ask me to give it to Dick, because they knew he would not cheat them. He would talk with me and ask me about Nigeria.

Uwem akpan biography of mahatma: He had written a book about

After the Christmas holiday ofhe disappeared. I started asking questions. Some of his friends told me that maybe he had gone to the city to become a real street kid. I really thought I would run into him someday in the city. But I never did. I kept hoping that he would keep his gentleness even in the very wild gangs of the City Centre. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Nigeria in