Uzodinma Iweala
Author
Uzodinma (Uzo) Iweala is the author of Beasts of No Nation. The novel, his debut, came out of his undergraduate thesis work at Harvard and was conducted under the supervision of writer Jamaica Kincaid. Iweala, born in 1982, hails from Washington, D.C. and Nigeria. Beasts of No Nation, which depicts a child soldier in an unnamed African country,was published in 2005 to considerable critical acclaim. In 2007, Iweala was named one of Granta magazine's 20 best young American novelists. Iweala's mother, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is the former Finance Minister and Foreign Minister of Nigeria. Iweala is now a medical student at Columbia University.
When you looked at advertisements for campaigns or projects, you would think that almost every African on the continent has HIV/AIDS, that as soon as you stepped foot there you were at risk.
There are multiple levels of “we” and multiple groups that can constitute this idea of who we are. We need to be aware of who we are including and excluding.
As people in different countries are able to tell their own stories they are responding to the idea of Africa as a place of permanent suffering.
Uzodinma Iweala describes how affected people have come to understand HIV/AIDS as something that is “livable, tangible and real.”
▸
26 min
—
with
Iweala would like to hear more African voices, not reporters, talking about the good that is happening in Africa.
▸
3 min
—
with
Iweala wonders why we turn to violence as the arbiter of our disputes.
▸
2 min
—
with
Iweala talks about why this issue may be misunderstood, as well as the dangers China presents.
▸
3 min
—
with
Iweala talks about the complexity of Nigeria’s oil wealth.
▸
3 min
—
with
Iweala would rather see as many parties as possible come to the table to look at Africa’s problems.
▸
2 min
—
with
Iweala hopes that more new voices are added to the list of those working on development in Africa.
▸
2 min
—
with
South Africa’s constitution, Botswana’s economy and Nigeria’s role in Africa all make Uzodinma Iweala’s list.
▸
5 min
—
with
Iweala would like people to realize that Africa is everyone’s problem.
▸
3 min
—
with
Iweala believes that celebrities can help but that a deeper understanding is needed.
▸
3 min
—
with
Iweala talks about how Africans are portrayed in media and the lack of acknowledgement that nations are responsible for many of the problems in Africa.
▸
5 min
—
with
Iweala talks about the legacy of colonialism, US foreign policy and how westerners view other societies.
▸
4 min
—
with
Iweala talks about living by the principles of equality and striving to be the best.
▸
4 min
—
with
Iweala talks about Beckket, Malloy, Morrison and Achebe and how our culture is too saturated with information to engage with their works.
▸
2 min
—
with
Iweala talks about how his interactions with people inspire him and why he thought he could write in the voice of a child soldier.
▸
5 min
—
with
Iweala talks about the struggle to get published, his advice to other young authors and the impact of his work.
▸
4 min
—
with
Iweala describes why pigeon-holing identity can be dangerous.
▸
3 min
—
with
Just as Africa is often looked at a homogenous whole, Black America is too often described as a uniform identity.
▸
2 min
—
with
Iweala talks about the perspective his parents gave him as well as the duality of being a Nigerian American and a black American.
▸
3 min
—
with