Chigozie Obioma, a Nigerian writer and the Helen S. Lanier Distinguished Professor at the University of Georgia whose first two novels were shortlisted for the Booker Prize, will spend a week (April 8-12) at Mississippi State University as the Writer in Residence, engaging with students and faculty as well as the wider community of the Golden Triangle area. He will give a reading of his work that is free and open to the public.
The centerpiece of his visit—the public reading—will take place on Thursday, April 10 at 7:30 pm to allow working members of the community to attend. It will be free and open to the public and will be held in the Old Main academic building on Mississippi State’s campus, which is on a bus line, has parking, and is handicap accessible, ensuring that the reading will be approachable to a public audience.
For the public reading, Obioma will read some of his writing. He is a gifted public speaker, and he will engage the audience, not only because his language is so vivid, but because his focus on family dynamics and the unique struggles of Nigeria, the country in which he grew up. All of these themes have a great potential to connect with a large audience.
Through this reading, Obioma will prompt the audience to engage with their own histories and heritages so that they may more profoundly make sense of their lives and the human condition.
The public reading will end with a Q&A between Obioma and the audience, and, afterwards, attendants can buy signed copies of his novels.
Obioma’s visit will also include a free virtual workshop (April 9 at 5:30 pm) open to the public. He will speak about “the fiction condition,” focusing on how character-driven fiction can uncover truths about human nature. By doing so, Obioma will highlight the guidance in empathy and self-reflection that literature can afford its readers. He will discuss these themes during the workshop, providing the audience with the tools they need to better understand themselves and those around them.
