On Black Sisters’ Street
Released on August 25, 2009
We’re proud today to feature Litopia colonist Chika Unigwe’s new book – On Black Sisters’ Street. Chika herself is appearing today at the Edinburgh International Book Festival – the event is sold out! – so if you don’t get to hear her there… you can hear her here!
An award-winning short story writer, Chika was born in Enugu, Nigeria, and now lives in Belgium with her husband and four children. On Black Sisters’ Street is her second novel, but the first to be published internationally in English. Her publisher Jonathan Cape describes it as ‘a moving story of the illusion of the West through African eyes, and its annihilation’ but calls it ‘a story of courage, of unity and of hope’. American rights have been sold to Random House, and it’s already been published in Italian and Dutch.
Chika used Litopia as a sounding board for the first draft of the novel. ‘I received some constructive criticism from members which was a big help when it came to revising the manuscript,’ explained Chika. ‘Now it’s finally about to be published, it feels a little like childbirth; the baby I’ve been carrying is about to see the light of day and I can show it off!’
[audio:ld/ld_280.mp3] Download the show as mp3 file
