Notices by Nnedi Okorafor (nnedi@mas.to)

The literary giant Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (and one of my favorite authors) has passed. 😔

Wizard of the Crow is a masterpiece. He has many greats.

I'm glad I got to meet him a few times (I always encouraged him to write a science fiction novel...he said he'd consider it).

This man did SO much for African literature and literature as whole.

I think often about the fact that he wrote WIZARD OF THE CROW first in Gikuyu (and had it serial-published in a Kenyan newspaper and adapted into miniature plays so a wider Kenyan audience could enjoy it) and THEN translated it into English and had it published overseas.

Epic.

I'm glad I got to tell him these things while he was alive.

He put in the WORK.
He took The Risks.
He stood strong.
And he told great tales.
His were straightforward & they wouldn't allow you to look away.

I discovered his work in the library at Michigan State University. I can rattle off so many facts about him. He is one of the "Great Masquerades" to me.

A link, if you need one (if you don’t know his work, you really should, if you are into great literature. It’s like not knowing who Chinua Achebe is, man): https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce999kwxn1ro

I am on the cover of Publishers Weekly! I’VE NEVER BEEN FEATURED ON A MAGAZINE COVER BEFORE. 🤯🫨 Oh my goodness!! 🥹

Blah. Long aggravating day.

Here’s a kakapo, they make everything better.

The glory that is the polyphemus moth. 🦋

A lovely bird grasshopper I caught and released in the Al Wasi Desert in the United Arab Emirates. Pure joy.

I really enjoy my phone's attempts at figuring out what the animals who live with me actually are, 😆

The current state on the left side of my desk from two angles.

No, I am not that type of wierdo. Yes, I find this hilarious, 🤣.

Now a framed photo of a *living* stag beetle flying off with a flaming hot Cheeto? That would be an epic gift!

Finally. 🥰⛈️

Got my author copies of LIKE THUNDER and have finally held this book in my hands. This novel has had such a looooong journey, omg. Due out November 28. nnedi.com/books/

Dear wh*te people, please do not go up to black people and tell them, “You matter”. You may think it’s being an ally but you sound condescending as f*ck.

i feel like deleting this whole post. too many of the responses are NOT helping. many are just highlighting the problem further.

like, i know this is social media, but it really is ok to just read something and sit with it instead of responding. listening is important and responding often prevents one from listening.

It’s been said to me more than a few times and each time I’ve had to control myself from being super sarcastic. “Oh thank you for telling ME that I matter. I did not think I mattered, oh no. I’m just some sad sack dragging myself around with hunched shoulders, scared of the world. I cannot imagine such thing. Thank you soooo much for telling me that I exist.”

😑 Mscheeeeeeew. You clearly don’t know me or the family I come from.

Pardon my smudgy phone, but I wanted to show you them doing this and there was no time to do a quick wipe of the lenses, lol. This is them every morning, catwheeling, 😆.

This article in Rolling Stone is a hell of a read.

“I saw who was building the AI systems and their points of view. I saw what they were being used for, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, we have a problem.’ ”

— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru)

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/women-warnings-ai-danger-risk-before-chatgpt-1234804367/