Does the World Really Need Nation-States?

In this week’s Global Thinkers podcast, novelists Chigozie Obioma (The Fishermen) and Taiye Selasi (Ghana Must Go) discuss how writers have an opportunity to assess and critique the world in which they live—and how they intended their own novels about complicated African identities to be understood by readers. FP story editor for print Amanda Silverman and FP staff writer Siobhán O’Grady host.

Chigozie Obioma is a 2015 Global Thinker and the author of The Fishermen. Last year, the novel was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and was the winner of the FT/Oppenheimer Emerging Voices Award for Fiction. He is currently a professor of literature and creative writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is working on his next novel, The Falconer. Follow him on Twitter at: @ChigozieObioma.

Taiye Selasi is the author of the New York Times bestseller Ghana Must Go, which was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work—Debut Author. She’s also the author of the acclaimed short story, “The Sex Lives of African Girls,” and the essay “Bye-Bye Babar (Or: What Is an Afropolitan?).” Follow her on Twitter at: @taiyeselasi.

Amanda Silverman is a story editor for print at FP. Follow her on Twitter at: @apsilverman.

Siobhán O’Grady is a staff writer at FP. Follow her on Twitter at: @siobhan_ogrady.

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