Aminatta Forna receives her prize at Windham Campbell Festival

A few months ago I mentioned that Sierra Leone writer Aminatta Forna was one of the recipients of this year’s Windham Campbell Prize. The prize comes with a handy US$150,000 that allows you to do your work without worrying about bills for a little bit.
Well, our Aminatta officially received her prize at Yale University in the United States at the Windham Campbell Festival last week. The festival was a celebration of the arts and apart from the handing over of the prize had several other activities. The best of the lot as far as I am concerned was the keynote address given by much-loved novelist, essayist, and short story writer from the UK Zadie Smith. The address was described by the official Yale website as being an answer as to why people write. I am jealous of the guys in that audience.
There were other activities there but for some of us, the big story is that our girl got hers. Congratulations Aminatta!