AfricanLiteratureAssociation,Spring2009

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Spring2009

AfricanLiteratureHeadquartersatHobartandWilliamSmithCollegesInthecomingmonths,theAfricanLitera‐ture Association (ALA), an internationalorganizationofhundredsofAfricanwrit‐ers, scholars and artists whose primarygoal is disseminating African literatureand art all over the world, will have itsnewdirectorandheadquartersatHWS.

ALArecentlyelectedProfessorofFrenchand Francophone Studies George Josephas itsnewdirector.During Joseph's five‐yearterm,ALAwillhaveitsheadquartersrighthereontheColleges'campus,bring‐ing to HWS the basic operation ofthe organization, its official ar‐chives,speciallectureopportunitiesand an interaction with the HWSacademiccommunity.

"Having Professor Joseph as direc‐tor and the headquarters on ourcampuswillputHobartandWilliamSmith Colleges on the map of theworld, letting influential scholars,writersandartistsacrosstheworld‐ from Cape Town to Kyoto to theNetherlands ‐ know that this Ge‐neva campus is an academic cen‐ter," said Professor of AfricanaStudies Thelma Pinto, ALA 2008past president, 2007 president and2006vicepresident.

The archive collectionwill provide a re‐sourceforstudents,notonlythoseintheAfricanaStudiesprogram,butalso inter‐ested students from other departments,such as English and comparative litera‐tureandFrenchandfrancophonestudies.

English,FrenchandPortuguese,thelatterofwhichistaughtintheSelf‐InstructionalLanguage Program, are very importantlanguages for African literature, Josephnoted.Thecollaborationwillalso impactstudentswho go abroad, particularly forthe Senegal and South Africa programs.Additionally, the Colleges will host theyearly retreat forALA's executiveboard.Thiswillincludesessionsandpaperread‐ings with various scholars that will beopentotheentirecampus.

"We plan to involve students in variouscapacities in the operation of the head‐quarters,whichwillprovideafocalpointfor Africana studies majors and otherstudents interested in Africa," explainedJoseph. "Studentswill have the opportu‐nity to work as research assistants whowill look for job announcements, biblio‐

graphicalentries,andothermaterialsweplantopublishinthenewsletter."

"For me personally, the most excitingthingsabouttheALAare:itsclosecontactbetween scholars and writers and itsfocusonactivism‐bothareuniqueforaliterary organization," Joseph said. "Asincomingdirector,I'mlookingforwardtothepossibilities."

Joseph, who joined the faculty in 1986,holds a bachelor's from Oberlin College

andhismaster'sanddoctoratefromIndiana University. He also holds aCertificatdesliteraturesd'Afriqueetde Madagascar from the UniversityCheikhAntaDiopinDakar,Sénégal.

Theauthorofseveralworks includ‐ing "Centralité centrique: lamaisoncomme e'interface dans Une SiLongue Lettre deMariamaBâ," "Bi‐ble Translation and African Audi‐ences" and more. His other worksinclude conference papers, bookreviews, and contributions to spe‐cialized volumes as well as articlesinperiodicalssuchasFrenchReview,RomanicReview,Oeuvresetcritiques,Research in African Literatures, Pa­

pers on French Seventeenth­Century Lit­erature, The Journal of American Semiot­ics, and Diagonales: La revue de lafrancophonie linguistique, culturelle, édu­cative.(HWSDailyUpdate,postedonDecem‐ber8,2009)

What’sInsidePresidentEke’sInauguralAddress……………..2 FinalReport,2008AnnualConference……..…62009MembershipDuesInformation………….5 ECMinutes,2008AnnualConference..……...…9 BusinessMeetingMinutes,2008……………….18TheALANewsletterisproducedbyALAHeadquarters:GeorgeJoseph,HobartandWilliamSmithColleges,Geneva,NY14456,joseph@hws.edu.

Thenewslettercanalsobeaccessedonlineatwww.africanlit.org.(WebMaster:MarkLilleleht,web@africanlit.org)

NewDirectorGeorgeJosephwithPastPresidentThelmaPinto

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“(Re)ConsideringHome,AfricanLiterature,andtheAfricanLiteratureAssociation(ALA)”MaureenN.Eke,ALA,PresidentialInauguralAddress,WesternIllinoisUniversity,Macomb,April2008.

Good evening honored guest, Madame Presi-dent, Dr. Thelma Pinto, colleagues.

On behalf of the African Literature Associa-tion, I wish to welcome everyone, especially our guests, many of whom have traveled across miles of ocean and air to be with us at this year’s annual conference. I hope that future ALA conferences will continue this rich and productive exchange of ideas and friend-ship.

I wish to thank the following:

• Members of the Executive Council, but especially, the outgoing mem-bers of the ALA Executive Council for their dedication to the organiza-tion, and those who are continuing (waking up for a three-hour meeting that begins at 7:00 a.m. each day is not an easy feat). I thank you for your support and devotion to the as-sociation.

My most sincere thanks also go to:

• Our host institution, Western Illinois University,

• Dr. Al Goldfarb, President of West-ern Illinois University,

• Dr. Jack Thomas, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost,

• Dr. Inesa Levi, Dean of Arts and Sciences

• Our conveners: Drs. Abdul Rasheed N’Allah and Dr. Igolima Amachree as well as the hard-working organiz-ing committee for putting together this conference and for providing us with another “literary” home for this year. Congratulations on a success-ful conference.

• Congratulations also to our Fonlon-Nichols award prize winner, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ike

• Distinguished Service award winner, Dr. Kofi Anyidoho, and

• The Lifetime of Commitment to the ALA award winner, Dr. Abiola Irele.

I understand that there are about 350 people who attended this conference, and we have noted the large contingent of women writers from Africa. Isn’t that exciting?

I wish to recognize and thank all of the Past ALA Presidents present here tonight for their commitment to the organization. These people are the pillars of the ALA and without their efforts we would not be here today.

As you can tell from the richness of the panels and the diversity of the affiliate caucuses and interest groups, the ALA is a growing organi-zation. Congratulations to the recently inaugu-rated TRACALA (Translation Caucus of the ALA).

As we know, change is often unavoidable; change can be either self-willed or forced upon us. It is perhaps appropriate at this point to mention, with tremendous sadness, the members of our organization and profession who passed away this past year. Among these, we can list: Aime Cesaire, Hilarious Ambe, Bate Besong, John Conteh-Morgan, Oyin Ogunmba, Oyekan Owomoyela, and Ousmane Sembene. At this time, I ask that we rise for one minute of silence in remembrance of those who came before us, who have helped to shape our discipline, and on whose shoulders we stand. Again, I thank them and you on behalf of the association.

In this first decade of the 21st. century, we have witnessed three key events:

--- 2007 marked the 200th. Anniversary of the ending of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (Brit-ish 1807);

--- 2007 was also the 50th. Anniversary of Ghana’s independence; and

--- 2008 marks the 50th. Anniversary of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the work whose publication, I would claim, signaled the formal emergence of African literature as a field.

Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, as we all know, helped to globalize African literature. Teach-ers and students in places as far as China, Ja-pan, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or even middle America who have come into contact with African Literature often refer to one text first: Things Fall Apart Sometimes, they may not remember the text’s author, but they certainly remember the central character of the narra-tive, Okonkwo.

The three events I have highlighted are impor-tant because they are linked to our presence here today. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade dispersed or forcibly transplanted Africans in the “new world” and centuries later made it possible for us to speak of the “black Atlantic” and/or Diasporan literary and cultural connec-tions. Today, we are able to read and discuss the works of writers such as Aimé Césaire, Maryse Condé, Frederick Douglass, Olaudah Equiano, W.E.B. DuBois, Alain Locke, Derek Walcott, Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, and Phillis Wheatley (the list is extensive and not chronological) within the framework of the Black Atlantic and in relation to Africa.

Indeed, Achebe’s publication of Things Fall Apart (1958) helped not only to transform the way the rest of the world saw Africans and African experiences, especially of coloniza-tion, but also to create a literary model for African writers where none existed, particu-larly, for Achebe.

--- At this time, I would like to acknowledge Mr. James Currey for his role in bringing Things Fall Apart to birth and for helping to initiate African literary studies.

A question that needs to be asked is this sim-ple one: Did Achebe foresee the impact of his work when he put pen to paper half a century ago? Achebe has stated that “Although [he] did not set about it consciously in that solemn way . . . [his] first book, Things Fall Apart, was an act of atonement with [his] past, the ritual return and homage of a prodigal son.”1

Fifty years after its publication, I wonder whether as Africans and as those who study this work and others like it, we have made enough atonement for the continent, its past, our pasts? I also wonder if it is ever possible fully to atone for that which we have lost, which continues to be lost to us, either through our own agency or lack of it? Can we com-pensate for lost history, homeland, cultural identity, memory, current or past trauma, or generations lost to genocides?

1ChinuaAchebe,MorningYetonCreationDay:Essays(London:Heinemann,1975).

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My talk this evening, however, is not about Things Fall Apart. I certainly do not believe that I have much to contribute to your exten-sive knowledge of the work. My engagement with Things Fall Apart here is with the way in which it has helped and continues to help me locate myself--and perhaps, help many of us locate ourselves--in a sort of literary and cul-tural home or space, here, within African lit-erature and Africa, respectively.

It would not be too far-fetched to suggest that Achebe helped define our discipline, African literature, our literary and career home; as such we are forever grateful to him for registering dissent against the devastating experience of colonization, for giving us some voice, some space from which we could even begin to ar-ticulate our own perceptions of the nightmare we had experienced, for insisting that the “sub-altern” can and does speak and has something important to say!

Like Ghana, whose independence in 1957, one year before the publication of Things Fall Apart, declared that Africans were taking con-trol of their own affairs, Achebe’s text de-clared the agency of Africans in constructing their own narratives. We might say that it de-livered the first rhetorical or literary salvo in what many of us today refer to as postcolonial literature; Achebe was writing back to the Empire!

The first African literary text that I read as a critical thinker was Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, almost in defiance of our heavily Brit-ish Literature course in the secondary school. Of course, in my secondary school days of the 1970s, reading an African writer was not really kosher, unless you were a rebel. I was a rebel, but I was also at home, because Achebe’s nar-rative helped me make those cultural connec-tions which were and are still important for some of us who find ourselves far from moth-erlands or homelands. I was raised in northern Nigeria which for a southerner created a sense of cultural displacement. So, you can see the significance of Things Fall Apart in my life.

In line with the influence of Things Fall Apart, teaching or working with African literature here in the United States also helps me to lo-cate myself within a specific cultural and an-cestral, real and imaginative landscape—Africa. The African Literature Association (ALA) assures me that each year I can return to a place that has become home; I am sure the ALA is home for many of us—I hope so!

In the past year, as Vice President/President elect, I have been thinking about home, what it means to be at home in the ALA, culturally and politically.

I also have been thinking about “home” both as a literary and spatial location. I have been thinking about home as a cultural and histori-cal reality, in an attempt to understand why so many of us are here in a diaspora, either forced or self-imposed, and to understand what we must or should do to counter the seemingly expanding threats that our African homelands face.

Many of us who are here today probably did not envision spending a lifetime in a distant land; we had dreams of returning to serve our nations. But here we are some several decades later, still in a land which we call “home,” and which often does not see us as belonging to it. We continue to hope that our homelands would return or recapture some semblance of peace some day so that we could return to re-establish roots. But, those hopes are often dashed by the emergence of new threats either from our own governments or from angry and disempowered / disillusioned persons within our immediate African communities.

Each time I speak to my African friends, they have painful stories to tell, and each time, I am plagued by an incredible sense of guilt that I and those like me living here are not doing enough to help those left behind. I had that feeling two nights ago after watching the film Ezra. It is a feeling of hopelessness, of being overwhelmed by events that do not make sense, and whose agents one does not recog-nize or know.

It may not be safe or even advisable to write political and social criticism against one’s government, without bartering one’s life away. And even if one felt secure in the hope that international pressure would secure one’s life, the leaders will execute the individual and dare the world to try to do something. The case of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Abacha regime comes to mind and so does the dilemma of Nawal el Saadawi who can no longer go home because her nation wants to kill her.

The political climate of some of our home nations is tyrannical and traumatizing for those brave enough to live and work there. In the past few months, Kenya and Zimbabwe have come close to the verge of explosion and I have been worried about Tsitsi Dangaremgba. Each year seems to unearth new threats from

and for Africa. We barely recovered from the throes of civil wars in Sierra Leone and Libe-ria before Somalia, Rwanda, and Burundi ex-ploded, then Congo, which remains unresolved, and now Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Really, it seems to me quite clearly that the only place where one comes close to connect-ing to an Africa or home that makes sense is through literature, film, art, and music.

I do not wish to depress you with a catalog of the horrors affecting Africa, but I mention these because we have to be concerned about what happens to the continent, beyond our usual academic interests. After all, Africa is really our literary home; its writers are the reasons why we are here in the first place, why so many of us have a career in African litera-ture. Consequently, it seems to me that what threatens the continent should concern us. What threatens the continent also threatens us! We have a responsibility to help move the continent beyond the brink of destruction or this persistent experience that some people insist on calling “afro pessimism.”

While I do not wish to prescribe a cure, I do believe, however, that the African Literature Association (ALA) needs to return to its activ-ist origins or roots by claiming and demon-strating agency on issues that affect the survival of our colleagues, especially those who have stayed on the continent. Otherwise, we face the risk of becoming academic or literary tourists—simply studying the conti-nent on paper and only traveling to those Afri-can sites that make us feel comfortable.

How do we address these concerns, you might ask?

Here is a glimpse of my vision for the ALA:

Establish databases of African scholarly arti-cles: The advancement in technology has ex-panded the nature and study of African literature. And to remain relevant, we must take advantage of the technological advance-ment before us. Like the bird Eneke nti oba, we must also learn to fly without perching—take advantage of the technology before us to expand the scope, nature, and presence of Af-rican literature.

Any one who has tried to conduct research from Africa knows how frustrating that can be. Scholars and students are often unable to lo-cate useful research materials to help them

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with their research. Students pirate copies of texts, thereby infringing on copyright laws and denying writers of the pirated texts their mone-tary rights. Additionally, most university li-braries no longer fulfill the function for which they were created and they are lucky if the books we send to them reach them.

As President, I will work with the Executive Council to establish a secure data base (if nec-essary, several databases) of literary sources to which each member could contribute an article once a year or as one chooses, which can be accessed by ALA members, university stu-dents and faculty in Africa and elsewhere for research purposes. Such resources can only help to improve and sustain research on Afri-can literature in its continental home—Africa— and also provide up-to-date scholar-ship in the field.

ALA overseas: I realize that there may be those who wish to return to Africa every two years for a conference. But the reality is that sometimes our African colleagues have more difficulty attending the Africa-based confer-ences than they do coming to the US. The ALA has a policy in place that we return to Africa or overseas for a conference every four or five years.

I wish to underscore the value of maintaining that policy so as to assure the survival of graduate students and junior faculty who may not be able to secure funding for frequent con-ferences overseas. It is not only important to mentor graduate students and junior faculty in our discipline, but it is also important to follow a policy that does not disempower them fis-cally. Additionally, we need to make sure that they are fully represented in the association, for they will sustain our discipline in the fu-ture.

Mentoring graduate students and junior faculty: During my tenure, the ALA Executive Council will continue to mentor graduate stu-dents and junior faculty by supporting activi-ties such as special workshops on job searches, the challenges of publication, and strategies on preparing for tenure and promotion. Those of us who are senior colleagues (faculty) should intervene positively in nurturing our junior colleagues. We can do that not only by identi-fying job opportunities, but also by being ac-tively involved, when necessary, in the tenure and promotion processes of our junior col-leagues.

Continuing ALA’s expansion of its focus through collaboration and inclusion of new topics: The changing global culture and poli-tics necessitate that we assess our place and role in today’s society. The ALA’s survival will depend on the extent to which we are able to expand our scholarship to include or address existing or emergent and previously elided topics such as sexuality/sexual orientation, the increasing contribution of African women in the production and dissemination of knowl-edge, the role of Africans in slavery, the pres-ence of AIDS/HIV as a new subject of African literature, the place of African language and non-Anglophone literatures in our discipline, the intersection of literature and the environ-ment, and finally, the relationship between African cinema and literatures. Also important is our continued attention to the relationship between African and African Diasporan liter-ary studies. I hope the conveners of future conferences will consider some of the topics I have mentioned as topical or thematic inter-ests.

Collaborations with African scholars, insti-tutions and projects: I have stated this point elsewhere, but it needs reiteration. I will con-tinue to work with the ALA Executive Council to explore ways to increase our organization’s support for African scholarship through col-laborations with our colleagues in Africa.

We will develop strategies for mentoring graduate students and junior faculty in Africa who will form the foundation of the ALA in the future.

Future conferences: We need to remember that because we are a small organization, we are always searching for a conference “home” or site each year. We have been lucky in some years to return to some sites a second time. But, that may not always be the case.

Unlike the African Studies Association (ASA) or the Modern Languages Association (MLA), we are nomadic, traveling only where we have been invited. I believe that hosting a confer-ence also acts as service to the organization, in addition to helping to internationalize your institution and making you the favorite of your Dean and Provost, even if it is only for one year! So, this is a plea to everyone: Consider inviting us to your institutions! You know we would love to come!

Another way to serve the association is by serving on the Executive Council. I wish to encourage anyone who has not served on the

Executive Council once to consider running for a position. Serving on the Executive Coun-cil provides you with a tremendous opportu-nity to better understand the working of the ALA, engage in networking, be involved in policy making, as well as get to know your colleagues as distinct individuals.

Human Rights: The ALA has an Issues Committee which eagerly needs more active members. Although there were several panels this year that dealt with Human Rights in Afri-can literature, film, or in general, we need to do more. It is not sufficient to wait for the critical crises before we act. We need to speak out, even before the issues reach crisis point.

As ALA President and a member of the Issues Committee, I will work with the membership to foreground the ALA’s activism either by vigorously lobbying the politicians in the US or by extensive public criticism which will hold the African governments accountable for Human Rights violations. We need to engage in the “politics of forcing accountability.”2 We will foreground Human Rights issues at the ALA and/or ASA conferences and, if nec-essary, work with other national and interna-tional Human Rights groups such as Amnesty International, Medecins sans frontiers (Doctors without Borders), and Human Rights Watch to highlight Human Rights issues in Africa.

In deed, we need to become more active or public in our efforts to safeguard the survival of our colleagues and writers in Africa or elsewhere who try to hold their societies and leaders accountable, for without these writers we would not have these texts which bring us together each year. The ALA needs to become more than a seasonal home to these writers whose works sustain us.

We have to be dissident scholars or engage in a scholarship of dissidence, to borrow the words of Nawal el Saadawi, because dissi-dence is at the heart of the beginnings of the ALA. Recall our activism in the struggle against apartheid or in drawing attention to the fate of Ken Saro Wiwa, Sony Labou Tansi, Dennis Brutus, Wole Soyinka and so many writers whose struggles the ALA actively sup-ported.

22ArundhatiRoy,PowerPolitics,Boston:SouthEndPress,2001.

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Perhaps, we can not return fully to our roots as with South Africa, but we must act; we must choose agency for ourselves and for many who are not able to do so safely, for as Arundhati Roy has suggested:

It is the writers, the poets, the artists, the singers, the filmmakers who can make the connections… Who can translate cash-flow charts and scintillating board-room speeches into real stories about real people with real lives. Stories about what it's like to lose your home, your land, your job, your dignity, your past, and your future to an invisible force. To someone or something you can't see. You can't hate. You can't even imagine. (32).

It is “we” who can help give substance to these stories that inform the texts of African Litera-ture that we teach. I hope that with your sup-port we can collectively work towards a stronger and more active African Literature Association (ALA)

Thank you for indulging me this evening and for being here today. I hope this year will bring us great productivity and that I can learn from your wisdom.

May/June 2008 Dear ALA Colleagues, When I laid out my vision for the ALA at Macomb, Illinois in April, I hoped that my vision would provide the ALA with a starting point to help us reposition ourselves. I realize that I did not underscore that the goals I had delineated are long-term, and as in business discourse, we can see them as part of our vi-sion plan. Their purpose is to help energize the Association. I realize also that it would be unrealistic to expect the ALA to attain these goals within the limited one year of my tenure as President, but we need to begin somewhere. It is my hope to try to attain, at least, one, if not several of these goals before the end of my tenure as President and Past-President. My successors can continue the progress, giving some of these goals their own imprint or add-ing their own goals. I also realize that I cannot as President attain any of these goals alone. Hence, in my speech I have highlighted the collaborative nature of this project. I come to the membership again, soliciting its support, as many of you offered after my speech, to im-plement some of our goals. Although these goals are part of my long-term vision for the

association, clearly, there are goals of high priority, which we must try to implement as soon as possible. They include:

1. The database of research resources or some version of it: I seek your as-sistance in locating ways of initiating this goal. We are faced with two dif-ficulties currently a) copyright and b) database location. I solicit your help here. We need volunteers and suggestions. If anyone is interested in working on this project with the ALA Executive Council, please con-tact me at: eke1mn@cmich.edu and/or Folabo Ajayi-Soyinka (Vice President) at:omofola@ku.edu.

2. Mentoring graduate students and junior faculty: Some conversation has already begun in this direction. I solicit the assistance of our senior and emeriti members to move this forward. Please contact me if you are interested in volunteering for this project. We plan to provide some of these mentoring sessions at ALA 2009.

3. Human Rights: This is urgent.

Please contact Mark Lillelleht (mllillel@wisc.edu) if you are inter-ested in serving on the Human Rights Committee.

I thank those who have already offered to help and hope that those who have not will volun-teer their support. This is our organization. Its future depends on all of us. So, please join the ALA Executive Council to strengthen our organization.

Thank you. Maureen N. Eke President, ALA May/June 2008

ThelmaPintoandMaureenEke

ALAMembership

The African Literature Association’s dues structurefor2009.MembershipLevels/Dues

• SponsorAfricanstudentinAfrica‐$5• AfricanstudentinAfrica‐$5• Incomeunder$20,000‐$20• Income$20,001‐$45,000‐$50• Income$45,001‐$75,000‐$75• Income$75,001andover‐$100• Sponsor‐$120• Life Member (May be paid over 5 years

$300/yr)‐$1500All ALA dues are for the calendar year. The ALAwelcomes additional contributions for books forAfrican libraries. Please specify the amount andincludeitwithyourpayment.ALA members can also receive the following dis‐counted individual rates for subscriptions to Re‐searchinAfricanLiteratures:AddresseswithintheUS‐$34AddresseswithinAfrica‐$42AddressesoutsidetheUS/Africa‐$48All ALAmembers receive the Journal of theAfricanLiteratureAssociation(JALA)twiceayear.Allcorre‐spondenceissentbyairmailatnoadditionalchargetomembers.Members should send the following informationalong with their payment: institutional address,home address, email, and phone. Specify whichmailingaddressyouwouldliketheJALAsentto.ChecksmustbewritteninU.S.dollarsanddrawnonaU.S.bankorU.S.correspondentbank. Sendcheckor postalmoney order payable to "ALA" to the fol‐lowingaddress:FahamishaPatriciaBrown,ALATreasurerMetropolitanCollegeofNYACSHE431CanalStreetNewYork,NY10013Paymentmay also bemade throughPayPal, aweb‐sitewhich allows electronic transfer of funds. Thiswill allow you to use your bank account or creditcard. Youwill receiveanautomatedreceipt statingthatyourmoneyhasbeenreceived.Youmustestab‐lish your own free PayPal account. Once you havedonethat,youmaysendtheALAduesviathefollow‐ingemailaddress:African_Literature_Association_Treasurer@notes.cc.sunysb.eduIn order to facilitate the fee structure incorporatedintoPayPal,werequestthatyouadd$1tothemem‐bership dues. Also, please enter your mailing ad‐dress,emailaddress,andphonenumberinthespaceprovided by PayPal, or send this information in aseparateemailtotheaddressabove.If you have any questions or need any additionalinformation, do not hesitate to contact the ALATreasurerbyemail(fbrown@mcny.edu)orbyphoneat212‐343‐1234,ext.2419.

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34thAnnualConferenceoftheALA~WesternIllinoisUniversity,Macomb,IL~April22to27,2008

A.Stats:

• 350+attendees• 33statesrepresentedfromtheUnitedStates• 15countriesrepresentedotherthantheUnitedStates• 360paperpresentations,• DailyPanelsandevents:atleast28panelsperday,

andahostofworkshopsandliveandoftendramaticperformanceseveryday

• Tuesday,2panels/events• Wednesday,31panels/events• Thursday,47panels/events• Friday,38panels/events• Saturday,34panels/events• Sunday,11panels/events

Awardspresented:

1.TheProfessorIgolimaAmachreeALAMembershipAward.TheOrganizersofthe2008ALAconferencearedelightedtoannouncethenamesoffiveUndergraduateStudentswhohavewontheProfessorIgolimaAmachreeALAMembershipAward,whichpaystheirALAmember‐shipfeeforthe2008calendaryear.TheywonbyvirtueofbeingthefirstfiveUndergraduateStudentswhoseab‐stractswereacceptedforpresentationatthe2008ALAconference.TheALAMembershipisarequirementtopre‐sentatALAconferences.

Thewinnersare:

• SarahGroeneveld,WestmontCollege• JessicaJulius,HobartandWilliamSmithColleges• NnekaEdwards,MedgarEversCollege• StephanieF.Gordon,WesternIllinoisUniversity• NicoleKarr,WesternIllinoisUniversity

2.LifeAchievementsAwardWinners

• HakiMadhubuti,ThirdWorldPress,Chicago,USA• JamesCurrey,JamesCurreyPublishers,Oxford,United

Kingdom• KassahunChecole,AfricaWorldPress&RedSeaPress• F.AbiolaIrele,HarvardUniversity

3.Fonlon­NicholsAward.Fonlon‐NicholsAwardforexcellenceincreativewritingandcontributionstothestruggleforhumanrightsandfreedomofexpression.ItisgiveneveryyeartoanAfricanwriter.

Fonlon‐NicholsAward:• ChukwumekaIke

OutstandingMemberAward

• KofiAnyidoho,UniversityofGhana‐Legon

4.Celebrations/Memorials:

• ConferenceOpening• ThingsFallApart50thAnniversary• AfricaWorldPress25thAnniversary• SembeneOusmaneMemorial• OyekanOwomoyela

KofiAnyidohoreceivesOutstandingMemberAwardfromPresidentThelmaPintoandpastpresidentEustacePalmer.

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B.HundredsFromAcrossGlobeHelpMakeAfricanLiteratureConferenceMemorable

ByPearlieStrother‐Adams

Ateameffortfromthecampusandcommu‐nity last spring resulted in hundreds ofscholarsfromAfrica,theAmericas,AsiaandEurope coming to Macomb, where work‐shops on African literature ranged from aHarvard professor’s panel on Things FallApart to sessions for local school children.The34thannualAfricanLiteratureAssocia‐tion (ALA) Conference attracted about 350teachers, critics, writers and publishers inApril,whenparticipantsfromasfarasNige‐ria, Kenya, South Africa, Britain, China,Germany and Japan spent six days sharingstudiesofAfrican literatureandculture. “Itwaswonderful tohavethepresenceofcol‐leaguesandscholarsfromaroundtheworldon Western’s campus and in the Macombcommunity,” said Dr.Abdul‐RasheedNa’Allah, the Chair of Western’s African‐American Studies(AAS) department and alongtime ALA member who co‐organizedtheevent.OpentoWIUfacultyandstaff,andthepublicat large, theALAconference fea‐tured high‐profile scholars whose well‐researchedworksincluded360paperpres‐entations,15panelsperday,ahostofwork‐shops and even spirited live and oftendramatic performances, all finding unityaround the conference theme, “African andAfrican Diaspora Women Writers, GlobalChallenges and Cultural Identity.” “It wasthe most successful conference I have at‐tended,” said Dr. Igolima T.D. Amachree, aWIU sociology Professor, also a longtimeALA member and co‐organizer of the con‐ference.“Peoplerelatedonetoanother,”hecontinued.“Feedbackindicatespeoplewerepleased. There were conversations insideandoutside.”The cordial, collegiate atmos‐pherewassetthefirstnight.

The conference came alive with a specialpresidential reception at the UniversityResidence;acceleratedontheseconddayintheShermanHallauditoriumwitha festivewelcome celebrating traditional Africanculture, dress, food, art, oratory, poetry,danceandmusic;andcontinued in the tra‐dition of the African marketplace — withvendors with lively displays of variousbooksandCDs,jewelryandart,andclothesand other goods — and climaxed with anoutstanding array of presentations. “The

quality of papers was extraordinary,”Amachreeadded.“Anumberdealtwiththeliterary aswell as social aspects ofwomenandminorities.Papersgivenbywomenaregermane in linkingwomen’sroles in litera‐ture and their roles as creators of litera‐ture.”Conferenceplannershadagoal, theysaid.TheywantedtosharetheirworkaboutAfrican literature, but also to celebrate —celebrate “the creativity, versatility andvibrancyofwomenofAfricaandtheAfricanDiaspora by foregrounding their writings,oraturesandcreative imaginationsthroughall forms of literary genres, performanceexplorations, cultures, languages, styles,criticalparadigmsandmore,”wastheALA’smissionstatementofsorts.

The conference also recognized the 50thanniversary ofThings Fall Apart, the inter‐nationally acclaimed novel by world‐renowned author and scholar ChinuaAchebe.Aconferencehighlightwasapanelled by prominent Harvard UniversityscholarAbiolaIrele,wholedadiscussiononthesignificanceofthenovel,whichhasbeentranslated into various languages and istaughtinuniversitiesthroughouttheworldasoneofthemostimportantliteraryworksemanating fromAfrica. Associate ProfessorSafoura A. Boukari of WIU’s AAS Depart‐ment offered background support for theconference, saying that the conferencewasvery good forWIU and the region. “It wasgood to see somanywell known intellectsand scholars venture to this small place,”Boukarisaid.

“Thesearethewritersandscholarsthatareread and studied here at the university.”Boukari said that the conference also wasexciting because it offered African womenwho’dneverhadacomparableplatformanopportunity to showcase theirworks. Bou‐kariherselfpresentedonthreepanels; twoincooperationwithWIUgraduatestudents.

Cooperationwaskeyfromtheoutset,orga‐nizers said. “Participation was great,”Na’Allah said. “We intentionally involvedthe community and Western faculty andstaff. We went to the mayor, the RotaryClubevensentmembersovertohelpregis‐

terpeople.We contactedhotels.Manyaca‐demic departments on campus providedfaculty assistance. It was an all‐out effort.”Amachree agreed. “The support from theadministrationwasextraordinary,”he said.“Thiswas a firstwhere the universitywasinvolved at such an extensive level. I don’trememberevermeetingwithapresidentorprovost at a university during conferencesin thepast. “PresidentAlGoldfarb,ProvostJack Thomas — former Provost JosephRollo,whosetsomethingsinmotionbeforehisdeparture—andDean InessaLevi,whowas very helpful, are all deserving ofpraise.” Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich andlocalofficials, suchasMacombMayorMickWisslead, also were praised for their help.Local schools benefited, too, and Na’Allahsaid he was most proud of the success ofworkshops organized for Macomb schools,GradesK‐12. “We saw this as an opportu‐nitytoreachout,”Na’Allahsaid.“Presentersintroduced African literature, culture andtradition to Macomb’s children and alsogave teachers ideas for how they can in‐clude African works in their curriculum.Many of the Macomb teachers maintaincontactwiththepresentersandcontinuetouse them as a resource.” The conferenceended with social activities that mirroredthe way African traditions supported byALA create and celebrate community,Na’Allahsaid.Theconferenceendedwithareception and dance in the Union LamoineRoomthatbeganat7Saturdayeveningandlasteduntil 2 thenextmorning.About200people dined on African cuisine and en‐gagedinspiritedcommunaldancing. “Theperformers from Chicago played a mix ofAfrican Caribbean music,” Na’Allah said.“The communal dance shows how we feellike family. It was a celebration of knowl‐edge,whichisvital.”Amachreealsorecalledthe finalewithaffection. “Itwaswonderful.The place was packed,” Amachree said.“People were excited to get awards, to beincluded.Thelittlethingscanmakeadiffer‐ence.”

PearlieStrother­Adamsisanassociateprofes­sor of journalism at WIU. She presented apaperonToniMorrison’sBeloved at thecon­ference.

AfricanLiteratureAssociation,Spring2009

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VeroniqueTadjoandTanureOjaidediscussworksatALAAnnualConferenceinMacomb,IL.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WewouldliketothankPresidentMarkGearanandProvostTeresaAmottforgenerouslyacceptingtohousetheALAHeadquartersat

HobartandWilliamSmithColleges.

WeareespeciallygratefultotheProvostforaskingDorothy"Dot"Vogt,FacultySecretaryinSmithHallattheColleges,tobetheAdmin‐istrativeAssistantforHeadquarters.MembersoftheExecutivehavealreadyreal‐

izedhowwellDothasusedhersuperbskillsandsenseoforganizationtohelpuskeepthingsflowing.

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MINUTESOFTHEALAEXECUTIVECOUNCILMEETINGS

AFRICANLITERATUREASSOCIATIONCONFERENCE

MACOMB,ILLINOIS,APRIL22­27,2008

Wednesday,April23,2008

Themeetingbeganat7:14a.m.

Present: Niyi Afolabi, Oty Agbayoh‐Laoye, Folabo Ajayi,AdaU.Azodo,NanaAyebiaClarke,AmyElder,MaureenN.Eke,TonyHurley,AnthoniaKalu,KeikoKusonose,MarkL.Lilleleht, Lokangaka Losambe, Eustace Palmer, ThelmaPinto,President.

1. RatificationoftheAgenda:

TheAgendawasratified.

2. President’sOpeningRemarks:

Thelma greeted the EC, welcomed it to the 34thmeetingof theALA,and thankedall for theirhelpthispastyear.Shesaidthatthemaindifferencebe‐tween this year’s Conference and others is thepresenceofundergraduatepresentersonpanels.

3. RatificationoftheECMinutesfrommeetingsattheASAinNYC,November2007:

The2007EC/ASAMinuteswereapproved.

4. MattersarisingfromtheEC/ASA2007Minutes:

A. The EC agreed to accept the offer fromHobart and William Smith Colleges to house theALAHeadquarters. This recommendationwill beofferedattheALABusinessMeetingforavote.

B. It was agreed that the Past President bemadeamemberoftheAwardsCommittee.

C. Discussion of future plans for ALA meet‐ings at ASA, a necessary conversation due to thetreatmentthisyearofaffiliateorganizationsduringtheASAConferenceinNYC.

• One idea is that theECno longermeet at theASAbut,instead,atHeadquarters. Itwassug‐gested thatbeforewe take thisaction,weaskthePresidenttodraftalettertotheASAECex‐pressing our views of being excluded frompresentationofpanelsatthe2008ASA.

• ItwasdecidedthatanALACommitteeconsist‐ingofthePastandpresentPresidents,andtheHeads of the Media/Publicity and AwardsCommitteesbe formedasa liaison to theASAEC todiscuss these issues. Once thismeetingtakesplace,wecoulddecidewhethertosubsti‐tuteameetingatALAHeadquartersforoneatASA.

• Motion: The fall ALA EC meetings should beheld for oneday at some location outside theASAlocationassoonassuchameetingisprac‐tically possible, but not conflicting with theASAmeeting.TheMotionpassedunanimously.

5. ECOfficers’Reports:

A. Treasurer’sReport:TonyHurley;Auditors’Reports:GeorgeJosephandBenLindfors

• Tony passed around copies of the “ALA Com‐bined Financial Statement, February 28, 2007–March31, 2008” andpointedout its salientfeatures. In summary, ALA revenues for thisperiod amounted to $54,209.71; expendituresto $29, 526.84; assets as of March 31, 2008(Wachovia checking, account activity not yetcleared, Wachovia Money Market, and PAXWorld Funds Balance): $97,482.79. Totalassetsamountedto$127,165.66.Membershipnumbers,includingthosereceivedafterMarch31,2007:207:365;208:261;Lifetime:23; In‐stitutional 2007: 30; Institutional 2008: 47.The full “Financial Statement” itemizes thesecategoriesandprovidesexplanations.

• TonyinformedtheALAthattheIRScontactedustofileataxreturn;hisaccountantwilltakecareofthisissue;heremindedusthatweneedto identify new Auditors as soon as possible;becauseofbudgetcutsatSUNYStonybrook,allof his institutional supportwill be eliminatedafter this school year; therefore, he is askingthe EC to provide $1,000 to support the re‐maining Treasurer’s expenses for miscellane‐ousofficecostsandstudent internhelp;Tonyalso reminded us that his term finishes in2009,sotheECneedstobeconsideringnomi‐neesfortheposition.

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Discussion:

• The ALA voted to grant Tony a one‐timeamount of $1,000 to cover the rest of hisTreasurer’sexpenses.

• George Joseph and Ben Lindfors were nomi‐nated to be new Auditors; Joseph McLarenwouldbebackup.TheMotionpassed.

• AquestionwasraisedaboutthepurposeofthePAXWorldFundaccount. It appears that theaccountwasestablishedtomaintainourstatusas a non‐profit organization; the IRS requiresALAtofileasanon‐profit,whichisnoproblemaslongaswedonotexceedaprofitof$25,000.

• Folabo volunteered to find outwhy the 2006FonlonNicholsAwardcheck toFemiOsofisanhasnotbeencashed.

TheECthankedTonyforhisfinancialreport.

• GeorgeannouncedthattheTreasurer’sReportappears to be in good order. There are onlytwomattersthattheECshouldconsider:1. amoreefficientmethodofcollectingdues

before the annual conference (with allow‐ancemade formembers coming from Af‐rica).

2. an examination of the interest rate onfunds held in the ALA’s bank account;thosefundsshouldbeearningmore.

TheECthankedGeorgeandBenfortheirworkasauditors. B. JALAEditor’sReport:AbiosehPorter

• AbiosehrequestedthattheConferenceConve‐nerguarantee that copiesof JALA be includedintheregistrationpacket.

• JALA is on track; the early technicalproblemshavebeenresolved.

• He asked for a volunteer to be the newWebMasterforJALA

Discussionensued.

• MarkLillelehtexpressedinterestinmakingtheALA electronic presence more attractive butcouldn’thelpuntilthefall.

• It was suggested to form an Electronic Com‐mitteetocomeupwithasolution.

• No ALA member should be paid as the WebMaster because doing so creates a “two‐tierpossibleconflictofinterest”amongmembers.

• It was suggested the Web Master be made amemberofthePublicityCommittee.

• EustacemovedthatthePublicityCommitteebeexpanded to include Mark as the new JALAWebMaster;theMotionpassed.

TheECthankedAbiosehforhisReport.

6. StandingCommitteeReports:

A. Finance:FolaboAjayi­Soyinka(Postponed)

B. Issues:MarkLilleleht

Postponed; Mark invited all to attend the IssuesCommitteemeetingonThursday.

C.Awards:OtyAgbajoh­Laoye

• OtythankedtheECforitspromptresponsetoherquestionsconcerningtheawards.

• This year’s Fonlon/Nichols Award winner isChuwuemekaIkeofNigeria;theDistinguishedMemberAwardwinnerisKofiAnyidoho;therewas no Student Award this year. At theAwardsCeremony,wewillrecognizeKassahunChicole for the 25th anniversary of AfricaWorldPress.

• Otyexpressed theneed for earlynominationsfor the DistinguishedMember Award. She re‐minded members the award was set up tohonorAfricanwriterswhoareknownassocialactivists.

Discussion:

• ThecreationofanAfricanprizetocomplementthe Fonlon‐Nichols Award was suggested. Itwas decided that the Awards Committee willdiscussanddecideonthispossibility.

• Oty expressed theproblemof creating appro‐priatetimesintheConferencescheduleforourAwardsCeremony.Sheexplainedthedifficultyshehadattemptingtosecuresuchtimebyat‐temptingtocontactthisyear’sConvener.

• Dealing with conference Conveners is solelytheresponsibilityofthePastPresident,oneofwhosedutiesistoserveasliaisonwithconfer‐encehosts.TherewasagreementfromtheEConthispoint.

• It was recommended that the Past Presidentalsocreateachecklist for futureConvenersoftheirnecessaryresponsibilities.

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• Maureensuggestedthatthisyear’sletterssentto the Awardees should be saved to serve astemplatesforsuchlettersinthefuture.

Themeetingwasadjournedat9:50a.m.

Thursday,April24,2008

Themeetingbeganat7:15a.m.

Present: Niyi Afolabi, Oty Agbayoh‐Laoye, Folabo Ajayi,AdaU.Azodo,DebraBoyd, FahamishaP.Brown,MaureenN.Eke,AmyElder,TonyHurley,AnthoniaKalu,KeikoKu‐sunose, Mark Lilleleht, Lokangaka Losambe, Mimi Morti‐mer,EustacePalmer,AbiosehPorter,ThelmaRavell‐Pinto,President

7. ContinuationofLeftoverBusinessfromApril23

A. Finance:FolaboAjayi­Soyinka• FolaboreportedonaletterfromKassahunsay‐

ing that the ALA Annuals are not self‐supportingandthatheneeds$4,000perissuetopublish them. TheFinanceCommitteemetandrecommendsinsteada$2,000subsidyperissue,dependentonKassahun’sgivingtheALAa breakdown of exact costs and sales figures.Another recommendation is that we add theAnnual as anoptionon themembership formforacostof$30.

• The Committee also recommends an incre‐mental rise in membership dues to be re‐viewedeveryfiveyears:0‐$20 $20$20‐$45 $50$45‐$75 $75$75 $100Institutional $100

Discussion:

• Itwassuggestedadding$5to theregistrationfeeforfutureconferencestoprovideanAnnualforeveryonewhoregisters.

• WeshouldinviteKassahuntoanupcomingECmeetingtospeakwithhiminperson.

• ItwasrecommendedwegiveKassahun$2,000up front, then an additional $2,000 once theAnnualispublished.

• MimiMortimerreportedthatshehasreceivedonlyfivepapersfromtheBoulderConference;therefore a solution to this situation needs tobereached.

• On a somewhat different topic, it was deter‐minedthatthereisnomechanisminplacefordistributing the funds contributed by Ada’sstudents to support ALA conference atten‐dancebyundergraduates.

• The Treasurer requested that the FinanceCommittee come up with a specific plan fordistributing funds, including awards. It wasagreedthattheCommitteeneedstodevelopastandardformforourdifferentCommitteestousewhenrequestingfunding.

• PastPresidentEustacePalmeraskedaboutthestate of the long‐discussedRevenue Enhance‐mentplan. HethenmovedthattheALAgranta subvention to AfricaWorld Press for up to$4,000 for publication costs of each Annualuponreceiptofanitemizedaccounting.TheMotionpassed.

• EustacethenmovedtoincreasetheALAmem‐bership feeas suggestedby theFinanceCom‐mittee.TheMotionpassed.

B. ElectronicVoting:MaureenEke• Vice President Maureen Eke recommended

that we move to electronic voting to reachmoremembersandtocutcosts.

Discussion:

Itwassuggestedsomeoneputtogetherapack‐age that guarantees our electronic votingwould be secure. Itwas suggested thatMarkand Abioseh investigate this possibility andpresenttheirconclusionsasanAgendaitematourfallmeeting.

C. TravelGrants:AnthoniaKalu• Anthonia reported that theCommittee’swork

for the year is finished; Tony has writtenchecks for theAwardees. All threeAwardeesarepresentattheMacombConferenceandarepresentingontheprogram.

TheECthankedAnthoniaandtheAwardsCommit‐teefortheirwork.

(OutofPlace):HeritageProject:DebraBoyd

• DebraannouncedthatshehascreatedcollagesforsaleofpicturesfrompastALAConferences:Egypt($6);Morgantown($10).Sherequesteda reimbursement of the $200production costand said the ALA could recover these fundsfromthesalesofthecollages.

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Discussion:

• Tony moved that the ALA purchase thephotographiccopyofthecollagesandpro‐videthemtotheConvenersof futurecon‐ferencesfordisplay.

• Debra commented that Donald Moralesand Joseph McLaren have promised toprovide video taken at past conferencesfor showing at next year’s 35th Anniver‐saryConference.Aslideshowatthatcon‐ference would also be welcome. Inaddition, she is asking ALA founders tocontributetoahistoryoftheorganization.

• Debraagreed that shewouldgiveaCDofthe collages and a hard copy in exchangeforthe$200productioncosts.TheEC thankedDebra forher report andherworkontheHeritageProject.

D. Publications:AnthoniaKalu• Anthonia reminded theEC that JanisMayes is

Co‐ChairofthisCommittee.• TheCommittee has nothing to report; she re‐

questedthatitbereviewedatafuturemeeting.The EC thanked Anthonia for her work andaskedifshewouldbewillingtobeChairofthePublications Committee. She said that shewould.

E. Teaching and Research: Ngwarsungu Chi­wengo

• Chiwengowas not present, and therewas noreport.

F. PublicityandMediaRelations:

FahamishaP.Brown• Fahamisha announced shewill have a full re‐

portatthefallmeeting.• She proposed a packet for this year’s Confer‐

enceConveners.• The Committee will work with the Heritage

Projectforthe35thAnniversarymeeting.• Fahamisha regularly sends out information to

scholarlyjournalsandotherappropriatesites.

Discussion:

• It was observed that this year’s Program didnotpublicizetheinvitedspeakersproperly.

• Itwasagreedthatthereexistotherissueswiththe Program, as well, and with the way inwhichtheConferencewasrun.

The EC thanked Fahamisha for herwork and herreport.

G. RevenueEnhancement Committee: no pre­senter

• Anthoniavolunteered to chair thisCommitteeandtowriteagrantproposaltohelpfundALAprojects. She was reminded to submit anysuchproposaltotheECforapproval.

• Itwassuggesteda ‘wishlist’offundingforECprojectsforfuturecommitteechairs.

• It was requested to place support of Africanuniversitiesonthis‘wishlist.’

Themeetingwasadjournedat9:30a.m.

Friday,April25,2008

Themeetingbeganat7:15a.m.

Present: Niyi Afolabi, Oty Agbayoh‐Laoye, Folabo Ajayi,Irene D’Almeida, Ada Azodo, Fahamisha P. Brown, AnneCarlson, Nana Ayebia Clarke, JoAnne Cornwell, MaureenEke,AmyElder,WanguiwaGoro,TonyHurley,George Jo‐seph, Anthonia Kalu, Keiko Kusunose, Mark Lilleleht, Lo‐kangakaLosambe,EustacePalmer,ThelmaPinto,President,AbiosehPorter,PamSmith,

Thelma recognized Abioseh, Ada, and Eustace, allofwhompublishedbooksthispastyear.

8. LeftoverBusinessfromThursday,April24Noleftoverbusiness.

9. AdHocCommitteeReports:

A. Employment:HumaIbrahimPostponed.

B. HeritageProject:DebraBoydAlreadyreported.

10. CaucusReports:

A. WOCALA:AdaAzodo

• The Women’s Caucus Luncheon was a hugesuccess

• WOCALA has seen a significant increase inmembershipthisyear.

B. GraduateStudent:LauraMurphy

Postponed.

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C. TRACALA:WanguiwaGoroandPamelaSmith

• TRACALAwaslaunchedataluncheonmeetingat this 2008 ALA Conference. Daniel Kunenewas honored as the ‘father’ of ALA’s under‐standingof translationasaserious interestatitsconferences.

• On the Conference Program, the caucus pre‐sentedtwopanels,aroundtable,andareadingof Things Fall Apart in a number of differentlanguages.

• TRACALAwouldlikeanexpandedpresenceontheALAwebsite.

• The Caucus would like a special edition ofJALA,aninauguralissuetopublishpaperspre‐sentedbyTRACALAatthisConference.

Discussion:

• Thequestionwasraisedastowhetherthespe‐cialTRACALAeditionof JALAwouldaffect theALA Annuals. This issue will have to be dis‐cussed further. Itwas recommended that theTRACALA papers be included in the Annuals,since all papers presented at conferences are,technically,ALApapers.

The EC thanked Wangui and Pamela for their reportandforthesuccessfullaunchingofTRACALA.

D. Francophone:AnneCarlson

• TheFrancophoneCaucusheldawell‐attendedLuncheon.AlekBayleeToumiwastheKeynoteSpeaker, and a panel was organized on hiswork, however, the FrancophonepanelswerenotincludedintheProgram.

• The Francophone Caucus coordinated withTRACALA to present a public reading ofToumi’sworkinFrenchandEnglish.

11. PresentandUpcomingALAConferences:

A. 2008: Igolima Amachree and Abdul­RasheedNa’Allah:

Convenersnotpresent.

B. 2009:LokangakaLosambe:

• Lokangaka handed out flyers advertising the2009ConferenceattheUniversityofVermont,Burlingtonin2009.

• He announced that the Conference is well‐funded,withconfirmedspeakers;accommoda‐tionsareattheConferencehotel,theSheraton,fiveminutesfromtheairport.

The EC thanked Lokangaka for his report and ex‐pressed its anticipation of a successful 2009 Con‐ferenceinVermont.

C. 2010:IreneD’Almeida

• IreneproposedtheUniversityofArizona,Tuc‐son as the site for the 2010 ALA Conference,with a tentative date of April 7‐11, 2010; shepresented a letter to the EC providing detailsaboutTucsonasanappropriatelocale;shealsooffereda letterof support fromChuckTatum,DeanoftheCollegeofHumanities.

• The theme of the Conference will be “Eco‐Imagination: Africa and Diasporan LiteratureandSustainability.”

• She is working on a financial commitment,whichshebelieveswillbeforthcoming.

TheECthankedIreneforherpresentationandhercon‐tinuingworktosecurethe2010ConferenceattheUni‐versityofArizona.

D. 2011:

• Eustace announced that there has been inter‐est expressed inholding the2011Conferencebythefollowinguniversities:theUniversityofMississippi, Ohio University, the University ofSouthAfrica,andtheUniversityofToronto.

E. 2012:

• Oty announced that she and Abeya will beworking this summer to hold an ALA confer‐enceinNigeria,possiblyin2012

Discussion:

• Maureenupdatedusonthepossibilityofaconference at theUniversity ofDurban inSouthAfrica. She reported thatSouthAf‐rica is not yet ready; there is no institu‐tional support at this time. She furtherexplained that many of the formerly seg‐regated institutions in Durban have re‐cently merged, and they are preoccupiedwithworkingoutproblemsof this transi‐tion.

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• ShesaidthattheECisalsoconferringwiththeUniversityofCapeTown.

12. LeftoverBusiness:

A. GraduateStudentCaucus:LauraMurphy• LaurareportedthattheCaucuspresentedtwo

panels at this Conference and held its Busi‐nessMeetingtoday.

• Tonyhasprovidedherwith a list of paid‐upALAgraduate studentmembers, and shehascreatedalist‐servefromthelist.

• SheisworkingwiththeAwardsCommitteetopresent a graduate student paper prize; thewinningpaperwillbepublishedinJALA.

The EC thanked Laura for her report and congratu‐lated her for successfully defending her dissertationandacquiringateachingpositionatIthacaCollege.

B. HeadquartersReport:JoAnneCornwell

• JoAnne distributed copies of the most recentALAHandbook.

• ShesuggestedthatitwouldbegoodtopublishtheNewsletterontheweb,ratherthanabsorbtheexpensenecessarytoproducehardcopies.Shewouldlikefeedbackonthispossibility.

• She informed the EC that, as she had men‐tioned earlier, shewould like to phase out ofherpositionasHeadquartersDirector;her in‐stitutionalsupportisdryingup.

Discussion:

• George Joseph informed the EC that HobartandWilliamSmithCollegeshasbidfortheALAHeadquarters.JoannewillconferwithThelmaandGeorgeaboutthedetails.

The EC thanked JoAnne for her report and work asHeadquartersDirector.

C. Employment:HumaIbrahim

• HumareportedthatforthelastthreeyearstheCommitteehasheldpanels at the annualALAConferences.

• Shehasnotbeenabletoacquirematerials fortheprojectedarchives.

• ShewishestostepdownasChair,sincesheislocatedoutsidetheU.S.

TheEC thankedHuma forher report and for chairingtheEmploymentCommittee

13. LeftoverBusiness:Reportonthe2008MacombConference

• Fran Hairtine, 2008 Conference Coordinator, came tothemeetingtoexplainsomeofthediscrepanciesintheConferenceProgram.SherequestedthattheEClettheConferenceplannersknowhowtheywishthetwodin‐ners togo. Also, therewill bea luncheon inhonorofChinuaAchebethatwasnotpublicized;ticketsarebe‐ingprintednow.Shewillpublicizethesechanges.

Discussion:

• AudioequipmentforourbusinessmeetingonSaturdaywasrequested.

TheECthankedFranforherinformationandhelp.

14. OtherBusiness

• Fahamishamovedtodoublethe$500travelawardsto$1,000,sincetheawardeesarecomingfromAfricaandto give the awards regularly at the BusinessMeeting.TheMotionpassed.

• Markreadadraftofaproposedpolicy formakingtheALAmailinglistavailableforpurchaseforatleast$100.During discussion, it was decided that the ALA Presi‐dent will determine how much to charge in each in‐stance, andmemberswillhave theopportunity tooptoutofhavingtheirnamesonthelist.Fahamishamovedthat we approve Mark’s proposed policy statementwiththeEC’srevisions.TheMotionpassed.

Themeetingwasadjournedat9:08a.m.

Saturday,April26,2008

Themeetingbeganat7:15.

Present: Oty Agbayoh‐Laoye, Folabo Ajayi, Ada U. Azodo,Fahamisha Patricia Brown, Anne Carlson, KassahunChecole, Nana Ayebia Clarke, Carroll Coates, Maureen N.Eke,AmyElder,TonyHurley,GeorgeJoseph,AnthoniaKalu,Keiko Kusunose,Mark Lilleleht, Lokangaka Losambe, JeanOuedraogo, Eustace Palmer, Thelma Pinto, President,AbiosehPorter.

15. ALAPanelsatASA:MaureenEke

• Vice PresidentMaureen Eke contacted the ASA EC toask if theALA isallowedtosponsorpanels, if so,howmany, etc., but has received no response, except thestandardinformationsenttoeveryASAmember.Con‐sequently,shefeelswearestillboundbythemember‐

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ship requirements of 10% ALA members being ASAmembers,aswell,tosponsorpanels.

• Ourcurrentaffiliatestatusdoesnotaccordusanypar‐ticular privileges. If we submit panels, they must bevetted individually; we cannot simply vet them our‐selves and expect them to be accepted automaticallybecausewehaveapprovedthem.

Discussion:

• TheECdecidedtodesignateonemembertocoordinateour panels and submit them despite this problem ofASA vetting them. Having papers rejected when onemust pay to join the ASA before discovering this factandmaking travelandhotelarrangementsearlyareahugefinancialissuesformembers.Thisisamootpointfor the upcoming ASA. We will, however, have thisconservationagainatthatconference’sECmeeting.

16.ReportonElectionResults:MaureenEke

• VicePresident:FolaboAjayiSoyinkaDeputyVicePresident:AnthoniaKalu

ECMembers:GregThomas,MohamedKamara,AdelekeAdeeko

17. AgendafortheAnnualBusinessMeeting:

Tobedeterminedlater. TherewillbesomeReso‐lutionsfromthefloor.

18. List of those persons who have passed awaysince the last ALA Conference, to be read at the Busi­nessMeeting:AbiosehPorter

• Abiosehreadoffhislistandaskedtobenotifiedofothers; he also asked for volunteers to offer eulo‐giesattheBusinessMeeting.

19. LeftoverBusiness:

A. Auditors’Report:George JosephandBenLind­fors

• Ingeneral,theALAbookslookfine.• Itneedstobereinforced,however,thatindividuals

whopresentpapersmustbeALAmembers.• Also,thePAXfundisaccruinglowinterest.

Discussion:

• The Treasurer replied that some members payverylateandthatmembershipsurgesafterthean‐nualconference.

• TheVermontConferenceConvenersuggested thatpeople be reminded to pay their membership atthe Conference registration desk before they pickuptheirConferencepackets.

B. Report of the 2008 Convener cont.: Rasheedd’Allah

• Rasheed reported that no exact figure for Confer‐ence attendance is available yet, but he estimatesapproximately350peoplehavebeenhere.

• Conference housing and food service have gonerelatively smoothly, but he acknowledged shuttleproblems that had not been anticipated and thathaveresultedininconvenienceforparticipantsandunexpectedexpensefortheorganizers.

• TheUniversity is very grateful for theConferenceandfeelsthatitssuccesswillenhanceitsglobaliza‐tionefforts.Forexample,aliaisonhasbeensignedwiththeUniversityofGhana.

Discussion:

• RasheedwasaskedtosupplytheECwithaneven‐tual,detailed reportof1)attendancenumbers;2)names of invited speakers; 3) payment arrange‐mentsforinvitedspeakers.

• Rasheedrepliedthatbecausetheorganizersbegansoearly,mostguestspeakerswereinformedearlyaboutpassportproblems,etc.Heishopingthattherestofthespeakerpaymentcheckswillbesentinafewdays;theUniversityProvosthascooperatedinthesigningofcontractswithspeaker.

• It was asked if all the expected financial commit‐mentsfromtheUniversityhavebeenhonored.

• Rasheed answered that the main sponsors havebeen the President and the former Provost, al‐though small amounts have been obtained fromother universities. So far, there have not beenproblemswith funding, and he does not think hisexpenditureswillexceed income. TheCollegehaspromised topickupanyunfulfilleddebts. Hehasallcommitmentsinwriting.

• Therewasaqueryconcerningtheparticularfinan‐cial commitment to a guest from Paris who hascomplainedaboutnotreceivingfunding.

• Rasheed remarked that he has given this speakerthepromisedaccommodation,food,andtravel.Hewill look into giving her a small stipend as well.This individualwas invited to interactwith othercolleagues, not to give particular talks. Others inthispositionwhohavenotbeenpaid alreadywillhavechecksmailedtothem.Hesuggestedthatthe

AfricanLiteratureAssociation,Spring2009

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ALAshouldhaveapolicynottopayregularmem‐berstocometoconferences.

• Itwasexplained thatALAneverpaysmembers toappearonpanels.

• ItwasstatedthatitistheresponsibilityoftheCon‐venertodeterminethehonorariaforeveryonein‐vitedtoaconference.

• Itwasaskediftherewereproblemswiththeweb‐site,sinceitwasextremelyhardtoaccess.

• Rasheed commented that the only problem ofwhichhewasawarewasthesizeofthefont.

• RasheedwillserveasEditorofthe2008Annual.AvolunteerwouldbecalledforfromthefloorattheBusinessMeetingtoassisthim.

• Themotionwasmade that theEC thankandcon‐gratulateRasheedforhisworkontheConference.Themotionpassed.

C. FutureConferences,cont.:HarryGaruba

• Hereportedon thepossibilityof theUniversityofCape Town, South Africa hosting a conference in2012.HewillinformtheVicePresidentoftheUni‐versityofCapetownthattheALAECisencourag‐ing.

• HewasinformedthatbeforetheECcanacceptthebid,wewill need to see a specific commitment inwriting. Also,hewasadvised toconsidera figureintheregionof$75,000foraconferencecost.

• TheECthankedhimforhisproposedbid.

D. AnnualsCarroll Coates, Annuals Editor: reported that hehas receivedno information from thepast Editor.Hesuggestedthatchangingtoelectronic filesplusonehardcopyofauthors’manuscriptswouldmeanthat therewouldbenoneed for six copies, asbe‐fore.HewillreportonthebenefitofthischangetotheBusinessMeeting.

20.OtherBusiness:

A. DiscussionwithKassahunChicole

• Folabo, on behalf of the Finance Committee, in‐formedKassahunof theECdecision to ask for anitemizedcostofproductionofeachAnnual.

• KassahunagreedtoprovidesuchaninventoryandthankedtheECforitssupport.HeremindedtheECthat it made a commitment that we haven’t beenfulfillingtosendcopiesoftheAnnualstoAfricanli‐braries. Hehadagreedtogiveusa50%discount,and theALAwould pay for shipping. This agree‐mentwastobeginwithVolume11andcontinue.

Discussion:

• It was agreed that the EC have regular meetingswith Kassahun at each ALA in order to obtain aprogress report. This meeting will be a regularAgendaitem.

B. Awards• It was agreed that all awards should be passed

throughtheAwardsCommittee.• Itisalsoimportantthattheawardeesbekeptcon‐

fidential.Inthisregard,itshouldbekeptinmindthateverythingatanALAconferenceissponsoredbytheorganization,nottheconvenersordifferentcaucuses;therefore,itistheECandmemberswhowillmakeessentialdecisions.

C. AyebiaPress• Becky Clarke thanked the EC for its continuing

supportofAyebiaPress.

D. LifeMemberships• AletterfromStevenArnold,withaproposalabout

changes to LifeMemberships, to be presented atthe Business Meeting for discussion and a votewaspassedaroundtotheEC. Theprimarypointof the proposal was to honor retirees with LifeMembershipsintheALA.

Discussion:

• Amodification to the letterwas suggested to re‐quirearetireewhosowishedtoindicateinwrit‐ing a desire to remain an ALA member in goodstanding but an inability to pay the dues forhis/her salary range. This person, then, wouldautomaticallybecomeanEmeritusMember.

• Itwasnoted that there is a situationnowwhereyoung faculty are threatenedwith job insecurityandmighthavedifficultyjoiningorganizations.

• Ben Lindfors suggested forming an Emeritusgrouptoaid,throughitsexperience,inguidingtheEC;hesaidthatthisgroupcouldholdworkshopsand panels about faculty issues at ALA confer‐ences, specifically, covering two employment ar‐eas: 1) graduating Ph.Ds; 2) untenured Africanliteraturefaculty.

• The EC agreed to this modification. It was pro‐posed that both Stephen Arnold’s proposal andthe amendment be presented at the BusinessMeeting.

• TheMotionpassed.

Themeetingadjournedat10:05a.m.

AfricanLiteratureAssociation,Spring2009

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Sunday,April27,2008

Themeetingbeganat7:25a.m.

Present: Folabo Ajayi, Ada U. Azodo, Anne Carlson,MaureenEke,President,AmyElder,GeorgeJoseph,ThelmaPinto.

21. RatificationoftheAgenda: Agendaratified.22. RatificationofanyUnratifiedECMinutes NoMinutestoratify.23. RemarksbytheNewPresident:MaureenEke• MaureenwelcomedFolaboasthenewVicePresident.• Herimmediateplanistosetupadatabaseofresearch

resourcesfortheALA.Thisaccomplishmentwouldbeespecially helpful for our overseas colleagues, as shediscoveredfrompersonalexperience.

Discussion:

• Itwas suggested thatwe investigate a “sister library”exchange.

• Maureenwillexpandonthis ideaandsendaproposalouttotheECforsuggestions.

24. AssignmentofTasksResultingfromtheAnnualBusinessMeetingDecisions

• Issues Committee proposal to investigate civil rightsissues around the Macomb region: The Committeeneeds to investigate these issuesnowthat theConfer‐enceiscompleted.

25. ReviewofCommitteeChairs:Issues:MarkLillelehtFinance:FolaboAwards:OtyTravelGrants:AnthoniaandDebraBoydPublications:AnthoniaTeachingandResearch:ChiwengoMediaRelations:FahamishaConstitutionandPolicy:VicePresident(Folabo)

• MaureenwillwritetotheChairstoaskthemtoidentifymembers.

• Wemayhave to reactivate theRevenueEnhancementCommitteewhenwegettothepointofgrantwritingtoinitiatetheelectronicdatabaseofresources.

• TheECagreedthat,fromhereon,theCommitteeChairswillrotateeverytwoyears.

• The following appointments as Members of StandingCommitteesweremade:

Adeleke:FinanceCommitteeKamara:TravelGrantsGreg: PublicityEustace:Publications

• DiscussionaroseaboutDebrasellingthepicturesfromwhichshemakeshercollagesofALAConferences.Wewilldiscussthis issue furtherat theECmeetingat theASA.

26. Review of the 2008 Conference and Recom­mendationsfortheonein2009

• ThePastPresident is the liaisonwith conference con‐veners and should be informed of any problems thatseemtobeoccurring.

• Coordinationof activities: ECmembers’ panels shouldnotbescheduledatthesametimeasthedailyECmeet‐ings;BusinessMeetings,also,shouldnotbescheduledatthesametimeaspanels;convenersshouldbecarefulnot tocall allhotelsbooked forattendees “conferencehotels”; the readings of invitedwriters should not beplacedincompetitionwitheachother.

• ThePublicityCommitteeshouldlookatpastconferenceprograms in order to create a template to send to fu‐tureconveners.

• TheECwishestoreviewadraftprogramearlytocheckonthetimesanddatesofmajorALAevents.

• ThelongstandingrulethatmembersshouldbeaChairofonlyonepanelandamemberofonlyonepanelmustbeupheld;somust therequirement thatcaucusescanhaveonlytwopanels.

27. NewBusiness:

• NominationsfornextALAElections

• Beginning in2009, theAwardsCommitteewill bepermanentlychairedbytheDeputyVicePresident.

Themeetingadjournedat9:56a.m.

RespectfullySubmitted,AmyElderUniversityofCincinnati

AfricanLiteratureAssociation,Spring2009

18

MINUTESOFTHEALABUSINESSMEETINGAFRICANLITERATUREASSOCIATIONCONFERENCE

MACOMB,ILLINOIS,APRIL26,2008

Themeetingbeganat3:10p.m.Present: Adeleke Adeeko, Moradewun Adejunmobi, OtyAgbayoh‐Laoye, Folabo Ajayi, Bose Ayeni‐Tsevene, Ada U.Azodo,F.OdunBabogum,FahamishaP.Brown,RobertCan‐cel, Anne Carlson, Kassahun Checole, Michele Chossat,HelenChukwuma,CarrolF.Coates, JoAnneCornwell, JoyceDixon‐Fyle, Irene d’Almeida, Aaron Eastley, Amy Elder,AdeolaFaleye,WanguiwaGoro,OlabisiGwanna,KenHar‐row,TonyHurley,RebekahHurt,Huma Ibrahim,Marjolijnde Jager, Phebe Jatau, Toyin Jogede, George Joseph, LarryJost, Anthonia Kalu, Kasongo Kapango, Keiko Kusunose,ReginaKwakye‐Opong,RenéeLarrier,LokangakaLosambe,Mark Lilleleht, Bernth Lindfors, Joseph McLaren, DonaldMorales,DanaNard, JeanOuedraogo,FelicityPalmer,San‐dra Richards, Mahriona Rofheart, Irene Salami‐Agunlsye,HalimaSekula,PamSmith, MichèleVialet, PatriciaJabbehWesley,JoyWrolson1. RatificationoftheAgenda

TheAgendawasratified.2. RatificationoftheMinutesoftheBusinessMeeting

ofthe2007ALAConferenceTheMinuteswereratified.

3. BusinessArisingfromthe2007Minutes

Nobusinessarose.4. President’sReport

• Recognitionof2008ConferenceConveners1. Thelmacelebratedthemajoraccomplishments

of the 2008 ALA Conference. Shementionedtheceremonyawardingof theFonlon/NicholsPrize to Professor Ike; the Awards Dinnerwhere Professor Kofi Anyidoho was named2008DistinguishedALAMemberandKasahunChicole was honored for twenty‐five years ofpublishing.She moved that the assembly recognize thehardworkof the2008Conveners; theMotionpassed.

2. She was pleased to see the most recent ALApublications, JALA, the ALA literary journal,andtheALANewsletter;ThelmacongratulatedAbioseh Porter, Editor of JALA and JoAnneCornwell, Director of ALA Headquarters, re‐spectively.

3. ALA Travel Awards for 2009 will be an‐nouncedlater.

4. She concluded that the ALA must be doingwell, judging from the attendance at this con‐ferenceandthefactthatwehavepossiblebidsforfourfutureconferences.ThesebidswillbepresentedduringthisBusinessMeeting.

5. The issue of moving the ALA Headquartersfrom San Diego will also be addressed later.ThelmathankedJoAnneCornwellforhermanyand varied contributions as Headquarters Di‐rector.

• RecognitionofOutgoingECMembersThelmamovedthattheassemblyrecognizetheserviceofMarkLilleleht,KeikoKusonose,andBeckyAyebiaClarke; she saidEustacePalmershouldberecognizedbut,althoughhistermasPresidentisover,hedefinitelyshouldnotstophelpingtheEC.

Theassemblyrecognizedtheirservice.

• ReportonElectionsofNewOfficersandECCommitteeMembers1. Thoseelectedare:

VicePresident:FolaboAjayiSoyinkaDeputyVicePresident:AnthoniaKaluECMembers:GregThomas,MohamedKamara,AdelekeAdeeko

2. Themotiontodestroytheballotspassed.

• SeriesEditor’sReport:CarrolCoates1. Carrolreportedthathehasconversedwiththe

former conference conveners whose Annualsareoutstanding,andheandtheywillworkto‐gether toproduce thevolumes in thenear fu‐ture.

2. Authorsshouldsubmitoneprintcopyoftheiressaysalongwithoneelectronicsubmissiontothe convener of the conference where theypresented.

Discussion:

o Thelma asked if anyone would volunteertohelpCarrolCoates; theconferencecon‐venerswouldhavethefirstopportunity.

o HumaIbrahimwaselectedbyacclamation.

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• StandingCommitteeReports:1. TreasurerandAuditors:TonyHurley

andGeorgeJosephandBenLindfors• Tony passed around the Treasurer’s

Reportoflastyear’sALArevenuesandexpendituresandexplainedit.

• Insummary,ALArevenuesforthispe‐riod amounted to $54,209.71; expen‐ditures to $29, 526.84; assets as ofMarch 31, 2008 (Wachovia checking,account activity not yet cleared, Wa‐choviaMoneyMarket,andPAXWorldFundsBalance):$97,482.79.Totalas‐setsamountedto$127,165.66.

• Tony informed the assembly that heintends to rotate out of the office ofTreasurer and encouraged memberstothinkofareplacement.

• Ben Lindfors reported that he andGeorgeJosephfoundtheALAbooksingoodorder;Georgeconcurred.

Discussion:

• AquestionaroseconcerningtheeffectofstockmarketfluctuationonALAin‐vestments. Tony replied that the ad‐vicehewasgivenwastodonothingatthis point, the policy followed by for‐merTreasurer,BobCancel.

• TherewasaquestionaboutTheOhioState University failing to providepromisedcopiesofRAL. Tonyrepliedthat he was advised to contact RALabout this matter. He reminded theassembly that RAL subscriptions donotremainintheALAtreasury.

TheMotiontoaccepttheTreasurer’sandAuditors’Reportspassed.

2. JALAEditor:AbiosehPorter• Abioseh remarked that he has con‐

sulted about twenty‐sevenALAmem‐bers to use their expertise in variousareastohelphimreadmanuscripts.

• Previous production glitches havebeentakencareof.

• The EC decided to support Mark Lil‐lelehtasJALAWebmaster.

3. Finance:Folabo• Folabo proposed that membership

fees be raised, except forAfrican stu‐

dents studying in Africa; the dueswouldbereviewedeveryfiveyears:0‐$20 $20

$20‐$45 $50

$45‐$75 $75

$75 $100

Institutional$100

• She further proposed that the ALAgive our Series publisher, KasahunChicole,anamountupto$4,000directsubsidy for futurevolumesof theAn‐nuals, on the condition of his provid‐ingtheECwithadetailedinventoryofproductioncosts.

Discussion:

• Therewasaquestionaboutthereasonformembershipfeeincreases. Folaboreplied that it is because of the in‐creasedcostofALAactivities.

• Another questioner asked what dis‐cussion there had been between the2008 Conference Conveners and theALA Treasurer. Tony noted that theEChasnocontroloverconveners.

• It was asked why ALA membershipwas required for presentation at theConference when it wasn’t enforced.Tonyassuredtheassemblythatsuchadiscrepancywould not happen at the2009 Conference in Vermont. BobCancel observed that this problem isalsolinkedtothedeadlineforpublish‐ingnamesintheconferenceprogram.

• The dues proposal passed with oneabstention; thesubsidy topublish theAnnualsalsopassed.

4. Issues:MarkLilleleht• The technical problems with the Is‐

sues Committee website will be re‐solvedsoon.

• AResolutiononSomalia isbeingpro‐vided to members at this BusinessMeetingforconsideration.

• The Issues Committee will provideclassroomresourcesonsextraffickingtoanyonewhorequestsit.

AfricanLiteratureAssociation,Spring2009

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Discussion:

• The issueofhumanrights in theareaof sex trafficking was raised.Shouldn’t the ALA respond to thissituation?

• It was asked that we document thissituation.

• Others suggested contacting theNAACP, ACLU, and Southern PovertyLawCentertogaininformation.

• It was also suggested that the ALAshould not take an active role in thisissue.

• It was agreed that we need to docu‐ment the veracity of all issues beforetakinganactiveroleaboutthem.

5. Awards:OtyAgbajoh­Laoye

• Oty requested nominees for the Fon‐lon/Nichols and Distinguished ALAMemberAwardsfor2009

6.TravelGrants:AnthoniaKalu

• AnthoniaannouncedthattheCommit‐teegrantedthreeawardsof$500eachformembersfromAfricatoattendthe2008 Conference. The recipientswere: Adeola Faleye, drama/Africanlanguage orature, Abafei AwolowoUniversity, Nigeria; Vusi BenedictMchunu,independentscholar,transla‐tions/poetry, South Africa; IniobongUko, literary criticism, focus on gen‐der,UniversityofUyo,Nigeria.

• $500isnotenoughforthisawardbe‐causeoftravelcosts fromAfrica. TheEC agreed to increase the funding to$1,000foreachofthethreegrants.

• Anthonianotedthatmemberssendinnominations forthe2009awardsandthat the application information is ontheALAWebsite.

7. Publications:AnthoniaKalu

• Dr.CarrollCoateshasbegunastheAnnuals’GeneralEditor.

• Anthoniapromisedtherewillbeafullerreportnextyear.

8. TeachingandResearch:NgwarsunguChiwengoTherewasnoreport.

9. PublicityandMedia:FahamishaPatriciaBrown• Fahamishaaskedmemberstogetin

touchwithhertopublicizetheirac‐tivitiesandtoinvolvetheiruniversitymediaofficers.

10. RevenueEnhancement:noChairTherewasnoreport.

• AdHocCommitteeReports:1. HeritageProject:DebraBoyd

Debra requested that members provide herwith photos they wish to be included in the35thAnniversarycelebration.

2. Employment:HumaIbrahimHuma announced that Natasha Vogel will bethenewChairofthiscommittee.

• FutureALAConferences2009:LokangakaLosamba

Lokangaka passed out flyers for the Con‐ferenceandgaveaMediapresentationonthe University of Vermont at Burlington;thethemeoftheConferenceis“AfricaandBlacknessinWorldLiteratureandtheVis‐ualArts”

2010:IreneD’Almeida

Irene presented a bid from the University of Ari‐zona,Tucson forApril7‐11,2010;shegaveame‐dia presentation. [The date was subsequentlychangedtoMarch10‐14.}]

TheMotiontoacceptthisbidpassed.

• CaucusReports:WOCALA:AdaAzodo

• AdareportedthattheCaucusmembershipisupwardsof100.

• TheWOCALALuncheonwasverywell at‐tended;AkachiEzeigbowasthespeaker.

• The present Secretary, Carol Kroll, andTreasurer,FahamishaPatriciaBrown,willcontinueintheirposts.

AfricanLiteratureAssociation,Spring2009

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GraduateStudent:LauraMurphy

• LaurasaidthattheCaucusmembership isgrowing.

• The Caucus held mixers at both the ASAandALAand planapublishingpanelatthe2009Conference.

• It intends to solicit papers from graduatestudents in order to present a GraduateStudent EssayAward at the 2009Confer‐ence.

• RebeccaHunt is the Caucus’ internationalliaison.

• The Caucus, also, now has a Face Bookpresence.

TRACALA:PamelaSmith

• Pamela remarked that TRACALA had averysuccessfullaunchataluncheonmeet‐ing at this year’s Conference, despite theexpected Key Note Speaker being unabletoattend. DanielKunenewashonoredasthe ‘father’ofALA’sinterestintranslationasaseriousconcernatitsconferences.

• On the Conference Program, the caucuspresentedtwopanels,aroundtable,andareadingofThingsFallApart in8differentAfricanlanguages.

Francophone:

NewPresident,JeanOuedraogo,acknowledgedout‐goingPresident,AnneCarlson.

• TheFrancophoneCaucusheldavery success‐ful Luncheon with Alek Baylee Toumi as theinvitedKeynoteSpeaker.AnotherLuncheonisplannedforthe2009Conference.

• TheCaucuscoordinatedwithTRACALAtopre‐sent a public reading of Toumi’s work inFrenchandEnglish.

• The Caucus hopes to draw works from theFrench film festival in Montreal to screen atthe2009Conference.

• ThenewOfficersare:VicePresident:SamuelZadi

Secretary:MicheleShores

Treasurer:MicheleVialet

5. NewBusiness:

• HeadquartersMove:Thelma asked the assembly to thank JoAnnefor her service as Headquarters Director andfor the newly redesignedNewsletter. EustacemovedthattheHeadquartersbeestablishedatHobartandWilliamSmithColleges in the fall;GeorgeexplainedtheECrecommendationsfortheneedsoftheHeadquarters.

TheMotionpassed.

• ConstitutionalAmendment:MaureenEkeMaureenintroducedtheAmendmentconcern‐ingfillingunexpectedECvacanciesandmovedthatitbeaccepted.

TheMotionpassed.

• EmeritusDues:MaureenEkeMaureenpresented the followingMotion sub‐mittedbyStephenArnoldtotheECforconsid‐erationattheBusinessMeeting:

“Onretirementfromhis/herprofessionalposi‐tion, any member in good standing withtwentyormoreyearsofpaidmembershipwillautomaticallybecomeaLifeMemberintheAf‐rican Association. Thememberwill continueto receiveannualduesnotices, andwhile it ishoped that the member would continue tosupporttheALAthroughannualcontributions,themembermay at this point ignore the no‐ticesbutremainamemberingoodstandingbyindicatingsuchawishinwriting.”

ShealsopresenttheMotionasamendedbytheEC:

“Onretirementfromhis/herprofessionalposi‐tion, any member in good standing withtwentyormoreyearsofpaidmembershipwillautomaticallybecomeanEmeritusMember inthe African Literature Association. For suchmembers,paymentofannualdueswillbeop‐tional.”

TheamendedMotionpassed.

6. OtherBusiness:

• RemembranceofScholars/WritersinAfri­canLiteraturewhopassedsinceourlastconference:

AfricanLiteratureAssociation,Spring2009

22

Abioseh Porter spoke forHilariousAmbé andBate Besong; JoAnne Cornwell, IreneD’Almeida, Ken Harrow, and Tony Hurleyspoke for Aimée Cesaire; Abioseh Porter andEustacePalmerspokeforJohnConteh‐Morgan;Ben Lindfors spoke for Cyprian Ekwensi; Fo‐labo Ajayi Soyinka spoke for Oyinka Ogumba,andjoinedAdeolaFaleyeinadirge;BenLind‐fors and Abioseh Porter spoke for OyekanOwomoyela; Ken Harrow spoke for OusmanSembene.

• ResolutionsoftheEC:MarkLillelehtpassedaroundcopiesof the Is‐sues Committee Resolution calling upon theALAPresidenttowritetothePresidentof theUnitedStates, theSecretaryofState, theStateDepartmentSpecialRepresentativetoSomalia,John Yates, the Senate Subcommittee on Afri‐can Affairs, and the Congressional Black Cau‐cus

“toreverseitspoliciesthathavemade[theUS] complicit in [Somali] devastation andto constructively re‐engage and activelysupporttherebuildingofaSomalicivilso‐cietythatdefendstherightsofall.”

Discussion:

KenHarrowspoke in favorof theResolu‐tion and presented additional recent his‐toryabouttheSomalisituation.

TheMotionpassedunanimously.

• Announcements:1. CallforPapersforthe2009Conference:

Lokanga Losamba reminded members tosubmitproposalsforpanelsandpapersfortheConference.

2. AnnouncementsfromtheFloor:Therewerenoannouncements.

7. MotiontoAdjourn:

ThemembersmovedandpassedaMotiontoAdjourn;theBusinessMeetingendedat5:50p.m.

RespectfullySubmitted,AmyElder,UniversityofCincinnati

ALAMembersat2008Macombmeeting

WHATISALA?

TheAfricanLiteratureAssociation(ALA) isan in‐dependentnon‐profitprofessionalsocietyopentoscholars, teachers andwriters. Its existence is tofacilitatetheattemptsofaworldwideaudiencetoenjoytheworksofAfricanwritersandartists.TheALA encourages the participation of allwho pro‐duce the object study and wishes for productiveinteractionbetweenscholarsandartists. Theor‐ganizationassertstheprimacyoftheAfricanpeo‐plesinshapingthefutureofAfricanliteratureandactivelysupportstheAfricanpeoplesintheirstriv‐ingforliberation.