Circumspecte

Today was a blog waiting to happen. Only, it’s not going to be about the Ghanaian and African Embassies in the West as I’d intended – don’t worry, it will have its time too – but rather about contemporary books, libraries and reading in major African cities like Accra, Lusaka, Jo-burg, Lagos, Dakar. It features some   great insights from people on Facebook   and Twitter on   Africa’s reading culture   and access to contemporary books. Yesterday I participated in a very fruitful Virtual Americanah Book Club meeting with two of my friends – one in Accra, Ghana and the other in Maputo, Mozambique – and we had a swell time reflecting on Chimamanda Adichie’s latest, how it resonates with us, the different themes and so on. I posted some of my thoughts and a tweep asked where they could get the book. I have gotten this question so many times this year – especially after   my “summer reads” blog   - and so I automatically responded “Amazon” and sent a link. T...

Dear Prospective Graduate Student, After "officially" completing my first semester at JHU SAIS in Bologna, Italy, I figured it might be helpful to share some of my insights with you, especially since quite a number of your counterparts have already approached me in that regard. So, what are the bolts and nuts of opting for graduate school? Well, I don't have all the answers, and I'm certain responses differ with each person but here are some of the main things I have to say. 1. Know Your Status By your status I'm not talking "HIV/AIDS". I'm talking know your legal status in the country you'll be studying in and the corresponding do's and don'ts. Knowing your status should also make it easier to figure out what financial options you have, whether you qualify for certain scholarships, if you can undertake an internship or do some work while studying, all of that. The ideal case would be to know your status before you apply to a gi...

It's my great honor to introduce this young lady to those of you who might not have heard of her, and for those of you who have, to hopefully share one or two things that you probably didn't know about Deborah Ahenkorah and her journey so far. The Visionnaire Series begins. -- Privilege Vs Responsibility At 24 years, Deborah Ahenkorah is living proof of the heights a person can reach just by trying. A native of the Eastern Region, Deborah grew up with her parents in Ghana’s capital Accra. She attended North Ridge Lyceum, and later enrolled at Wesley Girls’ High School in Cape Coast. Consequently, she proceeded on scholarship to Bryn Mawr College in the USA, for her university degree. “I had no reason to want to come back to Ghana. I’m going to America, why would I want to come back to Ghana? But in the four years that I was in school various experiences, you know, switched my mind 180 degrees,” Deborah recounted. According to the self-proclaimed adventur...

Finally, the first interview of the Visionnaire Series with Deborah Ahenkorah of the Golden Baobab Prize is all set! Stay tuned for the full showcase right here on Circumspect! In the meantime, here's a small teaser/preview, what I call the "Visionnaire Development Minute", on Debbie's thoughts on, well, development in Africa. Agree, disagree, have something to add? Please do share! Enjoy! Circumspect: How do you think the advent of e-reading will influence Africa’s literary landscape? Deborah Ahenkorah: I think the discourse around e-reading everywhere in the world is so fascinating, because without a doubt, e-reading is the future. No matter how you spin it, it is the future. But what’s interesting about it is how is it going to become the future? What is the process and what path is it going to take for it to get to the future? The western world is far, far ahead of us in that discourse, or in that journey of e-reading from a concept to the reality, like the ...

Yesterday, the Library of Congress hosted the annual National Book Festival at the National Mall here in D.C. After finding out about it in the weekend newspaper, I knew I definitely had to be there. So even though it was pouring outside, I grabbed my trusty umbrella, plugged myself in (to my ipod lol) and trekked over to the National Mall. It was spectacular! It had been quite a while since I felt extremely giddy with excitement, and that's exactly how I felt once I stepped onto the program grounds. There were pavilions/ tents set up everywhere, with notices indicating what genre of books were housed there: Poetry and Prose, Teens & Children, History & Biography, Mystery & Thrillers etc etc. There were authors who gave speeches and had book signing periods, and even though I didn't get to see John Grisham (his talk was scheduled for 10am), I got to listen to some spectacular authors! Unfortunately (and quite mysteriously), some of the pictures and videos I took dis...

Okay, here we go with module 1. If you wanna develop your writing skills, there's another skill that you should probably think about developing at the same time: reading skills. You don't have to love reading, and you're not even expected to read an entire novel or two a day, but you do need to cultivate this habit. Why? For a number of reasons, including: - It helps you develop your grammar - You pick up on new vocabulary AND you get exposed to the various *contexts* in which they can be used - It helps you identify what style of writing you like to read...which could also be helpful in figuring out what kind of writing you might be inclined to -You become more adept at sieving through data and retrieving relevant information: which will help you prevent long-winded explanations etc in your own writing - It offers you a chance to identify with the characters (if its a novel) or the author - Great source of inspiration and creative ideas -It's a great hobby Personal sto...