Helon HABILA

Helon HABILA
  • Africa
  • Western Africa
  • Nigeria
English

Helon HABILA began his career in journalism, a s the literary editor for the Lagos-based Vanguard Newspaper. In 2000, he won two of the country's major literary awards for his poem, "Another Age,"and for his short story, "The Butterfly and the Artist." In 2001, his short story, "Love Poems," won him the coveted Caine Prize for African Writing. Then his debut novel, Waiting for an Angel (2003), which follows the difficulties faced by a young journalist writing under military rule in a country like Nigeria, won the Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book, African Region. He is currently the African Writing Fellow at the University of East Anglia in the UK and has a new novel, Measuring Time, due out in 2005. Mr. Habila is participating courtesy of the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation and the William B. Quarton International Writing Program Scholarship.

Happening Now

  • Najwan Darwish’s “A Violet Darkness” in Kareem James Abu-Zeid’s translation from the Arabic, is the  Poem-a Day for 9/19/24.

  • Among the 2024 recipients of the Premio Argentores, given for “the best of the previous year’s authorial production” is Cynthia Edul, for her documentary play “El punto de costura.”

  • In a recent Haaretz piece, Odeh Bisharat describes the efforts of the Arab-Jewish solidarity movement Standing Together to collect food for needy Gazans as well as build a long-term political coalition.

  • Among the upcoming titles at the lively regional CEEOL Press is 1945 and Other Stories., an English translation of Gábor Szántó’s Hungarian original.

  • An excerpt from Lidija Dimkovska’s most recent novel [Personal Identity Number] appears in the July 2024 issue of World Literature Today.

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