PALAVER TREE COMMENTARY - The writer, The Reader and Society

On Saturday, August 16, 2014, a new writer, Seigha Lin Onwuteaka emerged on the Nigerian literary scene with her debut novel, LOST IN THE CITY. Our Creative Director and one of the writers in the NaijaGRAPHITTI stables was present at the occasion and gave this speech:

The writer, The Reader and Society

By Kenneth Nwabudike Okafor

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

The Writer

"If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."
― Stephen King

The Writer’s Motive and Motivation

I wish to preface my presentation with a reference to George Orwell. Of course, George Orwell was not his real name, but rather a pen name. Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. His work is marked by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and commitment to democratic socialism. Commonly ranked as one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century, and as one of the most important chroniclers of English culture of his generation, Orwell wrote literary criticism, poetry, fiction, and polemical journalism.

 

FULL SPEECH IS IN PALAVER TREE COMMENTARY SECTION