Author of The Fishermen strikes back at Brittle paper

Chigozie Obioma, author of the Man Booker Prize longlist 'The Fishermen', has told fans who objected to his refusal on tagging him in conversations regarding his book that "It’s sad; truly sad. Since my book was published, I have been appalled by interactions with Africans."

And added "I have received so many nasty mails, some so ridiculous that I had to disable the direct author contact link on my website. Various other 'African writers' have engaged me in ways that approximate to hatred, some form of angst about what they believe is an unfair auspicious reception of my book. This has come from Africans—the very people I call my own."

Read Chapter One of 'The Fishermen' the only Nigerian book selected for Man Booker prize long list

The argument actually started when Percy Zvomuya reviewed the 'The Fishermen' for The Sunday Times. In the review Percy claims 'Obioma’s inclusion in the Booker dozen, is more about geography—meeting their African quota— than about literary merit.'

However, Obinna Udenwe, a Nigerian erotic fiction writer strikes back at Percy Zvomuya by saying 'Obioma had indeed written a work worthy of being on the prestigious longlist'.

In response Obioma tweeted:

Udenwe replied:

Brittle paper made a big issue out of it

In response to Brittle Paper's "Quit the noise, I like to revel in my work. Silently.", Obioma hit back by saying "My conclusion is this: Those folks will not be writing anything based on the normal sense of offering unbiased thought or “review”, but they will be offering thoughts based on their different agendas or ego."

He added "What I offered to one of those folks was the gift of thanks for choosing to read my book when there are millions out there. And that’s all I can offer. I cannot engage with them on it. Which is why Ms. Uche, it’s a big shame that this is your interpretation of that move: “Quit the noise, I like to revel in my work. Silently.” How unfair, how biased, how mean, how unjust that conclusion is. And it sums it all up—the reason why I chose not to engage with these guys, and justifiably so."

And so begins an interesting discussion on whether author's should be tagged/mentioned on social media when their books are reviewed.