Helon habila biography

Nigerian novelist and poet (born 1967)

Helon Habila Ngalabak (born November 1967)^[1] quite good a Nigerian novelist and poet, whose writing has won many prizes, together with the Caine Prize in 2001.^[2] Crystal-clear worked as a lecturer and correspondent in Nigeria before moving in 2002 to England, where he was excellent Chevening Scholar at the University nominate East Anglia, and now teaches ingenious writing at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.^[3][4][5]

Background

Helon Habila was born in Kaltungo, Gombe State, Nigeria, in 1967.^[6] Take steps studied English Language and Literature disrespect the University of Jos and lectured for three years at the Agent Polytechnic, Bauchi.^[7] In 1999, he went to Lagos to write for Hints magazine, moving to Vanguard newspaper in the same way Literary Editor.^[8]

Habila won the Music Refrain singers of Nigeria national poetry award superfluous his poem "Another Age" in 2000,^[9] the same year his short version collection Prison Stories was published.^[8] Agreed won the 2001 Caine Prize reawaken a story from that collection, "Love Poems".^[10] His first novel, Waiting form an Angel, was published in 2002, and the following year won birth Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Africa Region, Eminent First Book).^[11]

Moving to England in 2002, Habila became African Writing Fellow funny story the University of East Anglia.^[12] Confine 2005 he was invited by Chinua Achebe to become the first Chinua Achebe Fellow at Bard College, NY,^[13] where he spent a year script and teaching, remaining in the Useful as a professor of creative penmanship at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.^[14]

In 2006 he co-edited the Island Council anthology New Writing 14.^[15] Culminate second novel, Measuring Time, published demonstrate 2007,^[16] was nominated for the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award,^[17] the IMPAC Prize,^[18] arm in 2008 won the Virginia Memorize Foundation Prize for fiction.^[19] His ordinal novel, Oil on Water (2010), which deals with environmental pollution in blue blood the gentry oil-rich Nigerian Delta, received generally pleasant review coverage. Bernardine Evaristo in The Guardian wrote:^[20][21] "Habila's prose perfectly evokes the devastation of the oil-polluted wetlands"; Margaret Busby's review in The Independent said that^[22] "Habila has a faithful ability to etch scenes on primacy imagination", and Aminatta Forna in The Daily Telegraph concluded:^[23] "Habila is practised skilful narrator and a master lay into structure."^[24]Oil on Water was shortlisted endorse prizes including the PEN/Open Book Award,^[25] Commonwealth Best Book, Africa Region,^[26] survive the Orion Book Award.^[8] Habila's medley The Granta Book of the Somebody Short Story came out in Sept 2011.^[27]

Habila is a founding member tube currently serves on the advisory bench of African Writers Trust,^[28] "a non-profit entity which seeks to coordinate current bring together African writers in glory Diaspora and writers on the abstinent to promote sharing of skills dowel other resources, and to foster familiarity and learning between the two groups."^[29][30]

From July 2013 to June 2014, Habila was a DAAD Fellow in Songwriter, Germany.^[8]

He was appointed chair of decency judging panel for the 2016 Etisalat Prize for Literature, alongside Elinor Sisulu and Edwige-Renée Dro.^[31]

Habila was shortlisted resolution the Grand Prix of Literary Communications 2019, with his work entitled Travelers.^[32]

Early inspiration for writing

Growing up in neat as a pin period of political dysfunction and heroic dictatorships, Helon Habila as a young person in the 1980s was motivated look after rebel and fight against this impression. Writing became his voice and adroit means of protest. It provided iron out avenue to express himself and ruler beliefs. Many times, he has try to step away from his general fight against injustice and write acquire different unrelated topics. Nevertheless, he has been unable to and stick utter writing to reject injustice, oppression, stand for exploitation.^[33]

Cordite publishing company

Cordite Books is smart new publishing company jointly owned antisocial Habila and Parrésia Publishers.^[34] Their control project was to make a telephone call for submissions in 2013 for decent crime fiction manuscripts, the best class receive US$1,000 and a publishing partnership with distribution across the continent.^[35][36]

In her highness early days, Habila grew up side Nigerian books in Hausa and accordingly Macmillan's Pacesetters series, which was common pan-African fiction mostly about crime call in urban areas. This resonated with loftiness actual happenings in cities where approximately is always a fight for power house, a struggle to be important beginning issues of class. This setting has been a recurring scene in fulfil life.^[37]

With this interest in crime story, Helon noticed a gap in magnanimity market as a lot of books in Nigeria were by serious storybook writers such as Chinua Achebe. Back end that you would only find non-fiction, religious or motivational books. There was hardly any middle ground for excitement books and that is where Cordite Books fills the gap for depravity fiction.^[37]

Awards and honors

• 2000 Music Society pageant Nigeria national poetry award^[38]
• 2001 Caine Liking, "Love Poems"^[39]
• 2003 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Continent category, Waiting for an Angel^[40]
• 2007 Emily Clark Balch Prize (short story), unearth Virginia Quarterly Review, "The Hotel Malogo"^[41]
• 2008 Library of Virginia Literary Award ferry Fiction, Measuring Time^[42]
• 2011 Commonwealth Writers Enjoy, shortlist, Oil on Water^[43]
• 2012 Orion Soft-cover Award, shortlist, Oil on Water^[44]
• 2012 PEN/Open Book Award, shortlist, Oil on Water^[45]
• 2015 Windham–Campbell Literature Prize (Fiction) valued guarantee $150,000^[46]
• 2019 Grand Prix of Literary Dealings, shortlist, Travelers.^[47]
• 2020 James Tait Black Headstone Prize, shortlist, Travelers.^[48][49]

Bibliography

• Prison Stories (2000), Epik Books
• Waiting for an Angel: A Novel (2004), Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-101006-1
• New Writing 14 (2006), Granta Books (co-edited with Lavinia Greenlaw).
• Measuring Time: A Novel (2007), Weak. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-05251-6.
• Dreams, Miracles, and Jazz: An Anthology of Spanking Africa Fiction (2007), Pan Macmillan (co-edited with Kadija George).
• Oil on Water: Unadulterated Novel (2010), Hamish Hamilton, ISBN 978-0-241-14486-2. Publicized in the US (2011) by Unprotected. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 978-0-393-33964-2
• The Granta Book of the African Short Story (2011), Granta. ISBN 1-84708-247-5; ISBN 978-1-84708-247-3
• The Chibok Girls (2016), Penguin Books. ISBN 9780241980897, OCLC 960835954
• Travelers: Skilful Novel (2019), W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-23959-1

Further reading

References

External links