[osakweParticipant]

The commonwealth winning stories are being published online this week on granta magazine.
The African winning short story in the style of Osondu’s “Letter from home” is funny(not roll on the floor or laugh out loud funny) but I had a number of issues with it
1.Who carries dollars in a coffin in clear view past customs?
2 Which titled Igbo man who obviously is very much in sync with the ways of his people buries his brother in a cemetery.
That’s just to mention a few
The theme from what I surmised was differing cultural values.
So could we read the winning entries and say what we think about them

[sambrightParticipant]

Thanks for the information,will read up on that…

[lactooParticipant]

Me too

[osakweParticipant]

I’ve read three stories now and I find the theme of homosexuality running in two of them. I suppose it’s because it is one of the “in” topical issues globally right now.

[MyneParticipant]

I read the first one, Two Girls in a Boat, which I just received an email is the overall winner. Let me go and catch-up

[osakweParticipant]

Are you serious?

[Ife WatsonParticipant]

Well, I read all the stories in the shortlist. I also noticed some of the cultural conflicts in Jekwu Anyaegbuna’s story but it did not remove the total beauty of the story. I think we should not always adhere to stereotypes in our writing – even when they are cultural stereotypes like the ones @Osakwe pointed out. I enjoyed Jekwu’s witty and picturesque writing style. The winning story “Two Girls in a Boat” is a nice story but I don’t agree that it’s the best – there seems to be a growing (maybe partial) interest in stories that investigate issues of homosexuality these days that I’m beginning to think the revolution of sexuality and freedom is making its presence felt strongly in virtually all spheres of life including the literary world. I also read the Caine shortlist and encountered the ‘gay issue’ in Kenani’s Love on Trial. For me, I would have chosen Anushka Jasraj’s Radio Story as the best.

[Seun-OdukoyaParticipant]

Y’all gotta know – it’s only a matter of time.

Gay people are human beings too; and in some case, extremely talented just as everybody else. And if they can use a very exciting and creative way to sell their ‘orientation’ to you/us/the world, why not?

It’s just a matter of time…

[osakweParticipant]

@seun-odukoya we all know they are human beings. Sometimes these writings are not even by gay people. What we are saying is that a lot of stories about gays are winnning quite a number of competitions and it seems to be because it is a topical issue right now. It doesn’t take away the beauty of the writing of the winning stories in this particular competition though.
Personally I think it’s a matter of time too.

[AfronutsParticipant]

@Seun-Odukoya

I’d love to understand what you mean by its only a matter of time…
because if it has to do with successfully selling their sexual ‘orientation’, I don’t think everyone will buy that no matter how much they color it

[Seun-OdukoyaParticipant]

@Afronuts…

It’s that way because of where we are. But I’ll tell you something for free – sooner than later, even churches (which is already happening anyway) will endorse same-sex marriages because people in power endorse it; because of ‘political correctness’. And if you dare speak out against it, you have a problem. They’ll smack you and put labels like ‘terroist’ and so on on you.

Jay Z said ‘hating on gay marriages is the same as being a racist’. So, that view will be accepted by EVERYONE.

That’s what I mean by ‘a matter of time’.
Of course; then still NOT EVERYONE will accept it, but they will be a dwindling minority…and keep dwindling.

Remember – in the bible Christ said to his disciples ‘soon people will kill you and think they’re doing God a favor’.
That’s what I mean. You get?

[ostarParticipant]

“Just a matter of time?” A good title for a good story, “Once upon a time, all men became gay and talented, and soon no man comes after them; for the women had no one to inflate them. So the earth deflated of humans and beasts occupied the place of men.”

NS stories & writers are the best. Let’s see….

[Author]

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