By the end of the month I will have earned the title "professional okada passenger". A homie from the creative writing workshop will be helping me fulfil that ambition, although she doesn't know it just yet. Teehee!
By August 31st I will also have begun work on a short story worthy of an audience, wherever/whatever that audience will be and I will have published said story on a website at the very least (obviously the latter won't have happened by the end of the month, but you know what I meeeean).
Today was the last day of the Chimamanda/Binyavanga workshop. I spent close to an hour saying goodbye to everyone in a garden filled with mosquitos, roosters and peacocks, because I didn't want to leave. I didn't want the 10 days of arguments and simply hilaaarious conversations to end.
The last 10 days have been amaaaazing! There may have been a couple of people I wanted to throttle once or twice, but I made so many friends and learned so much about direction, ambition, inspiration, craft etc, that I haven't stopped smiling since I got home!
I'm so glad I went, and that I didn't give up after the first day, which went terribly. When my turn at the 'introduce yourself and say why you're here' thing came, I blubbered a bunch of rubbish about wanting to write just one big book, wanting fame (which I don't even want, and which I would never admit to wanting even if I did want it), I forgot to say where I was from or why I had applied for the workshop, and made myself sound like a complete bimbo/brat! I was so upset by the end of the evening that I became convinced everyone would only end up hating me. I think I had one of those out-of-body-moment things. I couldn't stop jabbering, and the more I willed myself to shut up, the more I jabbered... It was dreadful!!
Chimamanda is truly amazing! As is Binyavanga. They have so many layers to them as people, they are so accommodating and so funny and so dedicated and so inspiring all at the same time, that by the 3rd or 4th day, you could've been forgiven for thinking we were a bunch of looney friends meeting up just for the hell of it. Forgive the cheese, but it's truuuue! I don't know what's going to come out of this, if in 10 years time I'll be running my own workshop after having gathered dozens of prizes and a stalker or two en route (hehe), but I can't shake the feeling that something will. Let's watch and see what happens when I wake up tomorrow morning shall we.... Xxx
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7 comments:
Aww bless your heart...... I've become addicted to your blog for some reason,....... might be because I'm the most nosy person in the world ...... so you see, you already have a stalker...he hee.... Anyway, You know one of my sis, whose an aspiring writer herself, met chimamanda, soyinka and a whole bunch of other african writers .....and a few non africans, also said that Chimamanda was really lovely/inspiring. You should meet up or something, 'cause she's obsessed with books and reading and writing...
Anyways bitchy, when is your tiny little butt coming back to London town? xx
lol at how ur 1st day went!good thing udidnt give-up.
glad to know ur having fun....
Of course am green with envy. i wld have loved to be there... well here are my excuses
i really dont know lagos... ok i ve been at the international airport like 2wice... and yes, i ve live in naija all my life...
I m in port Harcourt. I could hop on a plane thouh, to lagos, if you bid me come.
when u back in London?
I am so so jealous after reading this post. You got to spend so many days in the presence of inspiring writers like that...
I can imagine why you wouldn't want that time to end. I had to laugh at your description of yourself on the first day though. LOL!
Wow - how exciting. Glad it went well - cant wait to read your book! (or whatever else you publish)
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