LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY AND RAZOR & TIE
ENTERTAINMENT PARTNER FOR UNIQUE PROMOTION
May 29, 2008
(New York, NY)-Little, Brown and Company and Razor & Tie Entertainment announced today a unique partnership linking the highly anticipated literary debut of African writer Uwem Akpan with a new song by Grammy Award-winning recording artist Angelique Kidjo.
Akpan's debut collection, SAY YOU'RE ONE OF THEM, consists of five stories, each written from the point of view of a child in Africa. The collection has already received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, with Publishers Weekly saying, "Akpan's prose is beautiful, and his stories are insightful and revealing." Akpan's words inspired the Benin-born Kidjo to record "Agbalagba," a song written with her longtime collaborator Jean Hebrail in the Yoruba language. "Agbalagba" roughly translates to "the ancestors," as the song pertains to young peoples' responsibility to those that came before them. Please see below for an English translation of the lyrics.
Angelique Kidjo commented, "I immediately felt a bond with Uwem. . . . The second we met, it was as if we had always known each other. I'm proud to contribute a song to his beautiful collection of stories."
"I am very excited that my stories have inspired such a powerful song, and I hope that both the song and the book will bring readers and listeners a greater understanding of the problems of people in Africa," Uwem Akpan said.
Razor & Tie Senior Vice President of Marketing Michael Krumper commented, "This is a particularly exciting partnership for all involved, bringing together the literary and music worlds into a very natural marriage. Angelique Kidjo has devoted so much of her life to improving conditions in her home continent of Africa, with an added focus on children. The readers of Uwem Akpan's beautiful debut collection will no doubt enjoy Kidjo's haunting new song inspired by SAY YOU'RE ONE OF THEM."
Michael Pietsch, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Little, Brown and Company, added, "As publishers, we are constantly looking for innovative ways to help new voices be heard in a crowded marketplace. This is a wonderful opportunity to introduce Kidjo's fans to a writer we feel will be an important force in literature for years to come."
SAY YOU'RE ONE OF THEM will be available wherever books are sold on June 9, 2008. The book jacket will point readers to www.sayyoureoneofthem.com, where "Agbalagba" will be available as a free download. The song will also be available on eMusic, where it can be purchased as part of a package with three of Akpan's stories read by actors Robin Miles and Dion Graham.
Angelique Kidjo's latest album from Razor & Tie Entertainment/Starbucks Entertainment is DJIN DJIN, which was awarded the Grammy for Best Contemporary World Music Album earlier this year and includes collaborations with luminaries such as Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, Carlos Santana, Josh Groban, Joss Stone, Ziggy Marley, and Branford Marsalis. In her Grammy acceptance speech, Kidjo dedicated her award to the "women of Darfur, the women who are fighting every day to give their kids an education." Kidjo has devoted much of her adult life to global charity work; she is a spokesperson for both Oxfam and UNICEF and recently created her own charity, Batonga. Batonga's main goal is to create a culture that values and supports the secondary education of girls in Africa. Kidjo has long believed that education is the key to precipitating change in her home continent.
Akpan was born in a small village in Nigeria and is now a Jesuit priest. After studying philosophy at Creighton and Gonzaga universities, he studied theology at the Catholic University of East Africa. He received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan in 2006. Two of Akpan's stories, his first published in the United States, appeared in The New Yorker to great acclaim. A heated auction for rights to his first collection ensued. "My Parents' Bedroom" was one of five short stories by African writers chosen as finalists for the 2007 Caine Prize for African Writing, known as the African Booker. Author Chris Abani, whose books include GraceLand and The Virgin of Flames said, "Uwem Akpan writes with a political fierceness and a humanity so full of compassion, it might just change the world. His is a burning talent."
Agbalagba
Children are the guardians of the future
I beg them not to forget their roots
Whatever wealth and riches you will earn
Please celebrate the memory of your ancestors
Every morning is a new day
So many challenges that you will face
Wherever you will live, even far from you home
Never forget the land of your ancestors