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Afabwaje Kurian Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Afabwaje Kurian
Photo credit: Jaimy Ellis

Afabwaje Kurian

How to pronounce Afabwaje Kurian: ah-fah-bwah-jay CURE-ee-an

Afabwaje Kurian Biography

Afabwaje Kurian received her MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her short fiction has appeared in McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Callaloo, Crazyhorse, The Bare Life Review, and Joyland Magazine. She has taught creative writing at the University of Iowa, for the International Writing Program, and for The Writer's Center. Born in Jos, Nigeria, and raised in Prince George's County, Maryland, and in Ohio, Afabwaje now divides her time between Washington, DC, and the Midwest.

Afabwaje Kurian's website

This bio was last updated on 11/07/2024. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.

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Interview

Author Afabwaje Kurian talks to Paul Harding about her novel Before the Mango Ripens.

Paul Harding is the author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Tinkers and This Other Eden. He is a Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at Emerson College.

Paul Harding: From the very opening, I love the complexity of the characters and of the setting in which they are placed, that of (at least) two different worlds or cultures. How did the idea for this novel come to you?

I visited Nigeria in 2015 and conducted interviews with my relatives. My paternal uncle told me a story about a relative of mine in the 1920s, who—out of compassion—carried a missionary on his back when they walked long distances together and the missionary got tired. My uncle was nonplussed as he recounted this story, stating it in a matter-of-fact voice. It was what it was. But for me, it sparked many things—curiosity at what was behind the story, disbelief, a sense of injustice at the thought that the missionary may have used my relative in this way. I mean, was this a mutual exchange? Was my relative's charity reciprocated? Did the missionary carry my relative on his back? So I wrote into this image, turning it on its head in the process. In my version, Zanya carries Reverend Jim to save his life, and in that ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Afabwaje Kurian at BookBrowse
Before the Mango Ripens jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Afabwaje Kurian but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Uche Okonkwo

    Uche Okonkwo

    Uche Okonkwo's stories have been published in A Public Space, One Story, Kenyon Review, Ploughshares,The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2019, and Lagos Noir, among others. A former Bernard O'Keefe Scholar at Bread Loaf ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Before the Mango Ripens

    Try:
    A Kind of Madness
    by Uche Okonkwo

  • Chinelo Okparanta

    Chinelo Okparanta

    One of Granta's six New Voices for 2012, Chinelo Okparanta grew up a Jehovah's Witness. She lived in Nigeria until the age of ten, when her family came to the United States. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Before the Mango Ripens

    Try:
    Under the Udala Trees
    by Chinelo Okparanta

We recommend 4 similar authors

View all 4 Read-Alikes

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