Award-winning Nigerian author on African literature, writing and adopting newer works into the school curriculum

Recently nominated as the chair of judges for the most prestigious award in Africa, Helon Habila in an interview with the Ake festival team spoke about his books, the thematic structure of African literature books, writing and adopting newer works into the school curriculum.

Helon Habila is a Nigerian novelist and poet. He worked as a lecturer and journalist in Nigeria before moving to England to become the African Writing Fellow at the University of East Anglia. In 2002 he published his first novel, Waiting for an Angel. His second novel, Measuring Time, was published in 2007 and his third novel, Oil on Water, which deals with environmental pollution in the oil-rich Nigerian Delta, was published in the US in 2011.

Habila is a founding member and currently serves on the advisory board of African Writers Trust, "a non-profit entity which seeks to coordinate and bring together African writers in the Diaspora and writers on the continent to promote sharing of skills and other resources, and to foster knowledge and learning between the two groups."

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