Monday, January 21, 2008

Reading, Writing, and Learning Curves

It seems with each passing day, God teaches me yet another new lesson. I'm getting back in the habit of reading regularly, which has always been a pleasurable escape from the sometimes harsh realities of life in New York City.

I've made a concerted effort to read African writers, and realized that while their stories and struggles are different from my own as an African American, the characters and voices are universal.

A few of the African writers on my reading list are Chinua Achebe, Ben Okri, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

One of the advantages of reading international writers is that I don't have to travel to witness the hardships of child soldiers, apartheid, war, or famine. My goal in reading a wider array of authors is to broaden my reading palette and learn from people that have experience things that I've only seen on CNN or PBS. Of course, that's not the extent of all African writers. There are allegories,magical realism, and stories of deceased children in heaven trying to be reborn to their parents.

Most important of all is that I will undoubtedly improve as a writer.

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