Events:

Reading
Date: 17 December 2011, 20.00-22.00
Venue: Atlas, Antwerp, Belgium

Reading
Date: 14 December 2011
Venue: Biblotheek Ieper, Belgium

Reading
Date: 6 November 2011
Venue: KGB, New York, USA

Reading
Event: Reading Worlds
Date: 25 October 2011
Venue: University of Rochester, USA

 

Latest News:

A review of Chika's novel On Black Sisters' Street has been published in the Los Angeles Times. You can read the text here.

 

Other News:

Chika's latest novel, On Black Sisters' Street, has been selected as an editor's choice in the New York Times, in which it also received a glowing review:

"Despite the horrors it depicts, On Black Sisters' Street is also boiling with a sly, generous humor. Unigwe is as adept at conveying the cacophony of a Nigerian bus as she is at suggesting the larger historical events that propel her characters. On Black Sisters' Street marks the arrival of a latter-day Thackeray, an Afro-Belgian writer who probes with passion, grace and comic verve the underbelly of our globalized new world economy."

You can read the full review on the New York Times website. For links to online stores selling the novel, click here.

The US edition of Chika's novel On Black Sisters' Street has received glowing reviews in the American press:

In her U.S. debut, Nigerian immigrant Unigwe sets a melancholy tale in her adopted home of Belgium. When "Sisi" receives an offer from a questionable businessman to work in Belgium she accepts, agreeing to repay expenses as she works. She leaves the depressed, jobless Lagos only to find herself employed as a prostitute on Antwerp's Zwartezusterstraat (literally "Black Sisters Street") along with fellow Africans Ama, Joyce, and Efe. Despite her dire circumstance, Sisi falls in love with a native Belgian who encourages her to break free from her madam and the Lagos businessman. Freedom, however, remains elusive for Sisi, whose pitiful life is cut short with the swing of a hammer, prompting her Zwartezusterstraat sisters to share their own stories of fear, abuse, and violence, and allowing Unigwe to give powerful voice to women of the African Diaspora who are forced to use sex to survive. The author's raw voice, unflinching eye for detail, facility for creating a complex narrative, and affection for her characters make this a must read.
Publishers Weekly

[T]he Nigerian-born Unigwe convincingly exposes an unfamiliar world without sentimentality. [On Black Sisters' Street is a] [c]apable drama that puts a human face on the scourge of human trafficking. Kirkus Reviews

Chika's third novel, Sin Eater, will be published by Jonathan Cape in 2012. The Dutch version of the book, Nachtdanser, will be out in January 2011.

On Black Sisters' Street has been longlisted for the 2011 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

The Vintage edition of Chika's novel On Black Sisters' Street has just been released in the UK. The book can, for instance, be bought on Amazon. The US edition of the novel will be published in April 2011, and the German translation on 25 August 2011.

In other news, Chika's novel was recently recommended by Tony Blair's former director of communications and strategy, Alastair Campbell. He wrote on Twitter: "Best novel so far read this summer - Black Sisters Street by Chika Unigwe. story of African sex workers in Antwerp. Strongly recommend".

The Hungarian rights to Fata Morgana / On Black Sisters' Street have been sold.

Chika's new short story, "Going Home", is available here.

On Black Sisters' Street has now been released in the UK:

• Links to several reviews can be found here;
• A short text about Chika (by Bernardine Evaristo) is available here;
• You can also listen to different BBC interviews with Chika about the book here and here.

Chika recently recorded an interview about her new novel, On Black Sisters' Street, in Milan (Italian title of the book: Le Nigeriane). The video is available here.

Diep in Uw Schoot: Nieuwkomers in Turnhout, a book of non-fiction containing a contribution by Chika, has now been released and is available at the two Turnhout bookshops and at the local Warande.

Belgian writer Tom Lanoye's interview with Chika (aired on the Belgian TV channel Canvas) is available here.