If you followed the media you'd think that everybody in Africa was starving to death, and that's not the case; so it's important to engage with the other Africa.

Perhaps it is time to debate culture. The common story is that in "real" African culture, before it was tainted by the west, gender roles were rigid and women were contentedly oppressed.

I think human beings exist in a social world. I write realistic fiction, and so it isn't that surprising that the social realities of their existence would be part of the story.

I had consumed a lot of American culture, but I was not quite prepared for the reality of American poverty.

Is love this misguided need to have you beside me most of the time? Is love this safety I feel in our silences? Is it this belonging, this completeness?

I often make the mistake of thinking that something that is obvious to me is obvious to everyone else.

There are many different ways to be poor in the world but increasingly there seems to be one single way to be rich.