Chimamanda Adichie To partcipate in ‘Festival of Faith and Writing’ 2012

Chimamanda Adichie

 

Over 100 authors and some 1,900 other lovers of literature including Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie are expected to participate in America’s Calvin College’s upcoming, biennial ‘Festival of Faith and Writing’.

According to Festival director, Shelly LeMahieu Dunn, one unique aspect of this festival is that it provides an opportunity for both established and up-and-coming writers to talk about how issues of faith play into their writing.

‘We are interested in each speaker’s take on what it means to be a writer of faith or a writer who is interested in issues of belief or spirituality‘, said LeMahieu Dunn.

‘And for many of them, they have not been asked that before. They often relish the opportunity to talk openly about something like this‘, she added.

This year’s edition of the festival, which began in 1990, will run from April 19 to April 21, 2012.

It will feature, among others, Pulitzer and Orange prize winner, Marilynne Robinson, the author of three highly regarded novels and several notable works of non-fiction.

In addition to the plenary addresses and dozens of breakout sessions, Festival attendees will also have an opportunity to view the work of graphic novelist Craig Thompson in the Calvin College Center Art Gallery, attend a concert by renowned Canadian musician Bruce Cockburn, and see Walter Wangerin Jr.’s Book of the Dun Cow brought to the stage by the Calvin Theatre Company.

Interestingly, ace Nigerian rapper and Chocolate City rapper Jude ‘M.I’ Abaga had a stint in the same institution.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s first novel, Purple Hibiscus, won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award.

She also authored ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’, which was awarded the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction.