Rebroadcast of 2008 interview. Wainaina is, as usual, provocative and candid.

From his Granta article: How to Write About Africa:
“Always use the word ‘Africa’ or ‘Darkness’ or ‘Safari’ in your title. Subtitles may include the words ‘Zanzibar’, ‘Masai’, ‘Zulu’, ‘Zambezi’, ‘Congo’, ‘Nile’, ‘Big’, ‘Sky’, ‘Shadow’, ‘Drum’, ‘Sun’ or ‘Bygone’. Also useful are words such as ‘Guerrillas’, ‘Timeless’, ‘Primordial’ and ‘Tribal’. Note that ‘People’ means Africans who are not black, while ‘The People’ means black Africans.”

I listened to the interview after watching the troubling movie District 9, set in JHB, South Africa – an unrelenting study of colonialism, refugee-status, and class via genre film. I doubt the Nigerian tourism bureau is satisfied with the depiction of their nationals in the movie.