V104.
Bury Me in the Motherland; Rituals of Death, Burial, and Repatriation in African Literature
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
This panel will consist of African writers discussing the concerns, challenges, and rewards of writing about death and burial rites. What rituals show up on the page? How do effects colonization / postcolonization of African societies show up in death and burial rites. Particular focus will be given to the practice of repatriation of remains whether within countries or internationally. What is the importance of writing the desire to be buried at ‘home’?
This event has been prerecorded, and will be available to watch on-demand online from March 8, 2023 to April 8, 2023.
Participants
Tola Abraham is a fiction and nonfiction writer. Originally from Lagos, Nigeria, she lives in Missouri where she teaches creative writing at the University of Missouri at Saint Louis. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, her debut novel Black Sunday is available now.
Olufunke Ogundimu is a PhD student in English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and assistant fiction editor at Prairie Schooner. She is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas MFA program. A 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing finalist, and a Pushcart Prize winner.
Saddiq Dzukogi is the author of Your Crib, My Qibla, winner of the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry, and a finalist for the Nigeria Prize for Literature, and Julie Suk Award. He is an assistant professor of English and affiliate faculty of African American studies at Mississippi State University.
