A few months ago I mentioned that Sierra Leone writer Aminatta Forna was one of the recipients of this years Windham Campbell Prize. The prize comes with a handy US$150,000 that allows you to do your work without worrying about bills for a little bit.
Well our Aminatta officially received her prize at the Yale University in the United States at the Windham Campbell Festival last week. The festival was a celebration of the arts and apart from the handing over of the prize had several other activities. The best of the lot as far as I am concerned was the keynote address given by much loved novelist, essayist, and short story writer from the UK Zadie Smith. The address was described by the official Yale website as being an answer as to why people write. I am jealous of the guys in that audience.
There were other activities there but for some of us the big story is that our girl got hers. Congratulations Aminatta!
