Before Tope Folarin won the 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing, it might not have been completely clear that he was an African writer. His parents are Nigerian, of course,…
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Contemporaries Essays
Interview: Miral al-Tahawy
It’s hard to talk about a writer like Miral al-Tahawy without falling into stale clichés. To “read” an Arab writer through how she does or does not cover, to “discover”…

Peer Reviewed Articles

Contemporaries Essays
Interview: Laila Lalami
When I interviewed Laila Lalami a few weeks ago, we talked quite a lot about critics and readers. This was probably my fault. Her new novel, The Moor’s Account, is…

Contemporaries Essays, Interviews

Contemporaries Essays
Interview: Maaza Mengiste
In the first interview for this series, the novelist Maaza Mengiste spoke with me from New York City, on the thirteenth anniversary of 9/11. We discussed her acclaimed first novel, Beneath…

Contemporaries Essays