World Books podcast: E.C. Osondu

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Nigerian-born writer E.C. Osondu explores the tragicomedies of cultural misunderstanding in his new short story collection Voice of America. The title is playfully ironic: the tales probe, with impish humor and sardonic urgency, the pratfalls of delusion: Africans dream of an impossible American plenty, while Americans fantasize about a non-existent African reality.
Last year, Osondu won the prestigious Caine Prize for African Writing. He is the co-editor of the latest issue of Agni magazine, which features short stories from African authors. World Books editor Bill Marx spoke to the writer, who currently teaches literature at Providence College in Rhode Island, about what his short story collection says about the state of African writing today.

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• Subscribe to the World Books podcast via iTunes
• Bill Marx’s Arts Fuse magazine