Hawa Jande Golakai

Hawa Jande Golakai (born 1979) is a Liberian writer and clinical scientist.

Early life

Golakai was born in Frankfurt, Germany and lived in Liberia during her childhood.[1] Golakai fled the country as a refugee during the First Liberian Civil War. After moving, Goalkai lived in Cape Town and pursued a medical career.[2]

Education

Golakai received a Bachelor of Science at the University of Cape Town in 2005, specializing in cell and molecular biology.[3] Goalkai wrote her Master of Science dissertation at Stellenbosch University in 2008.[4]

Career

Immunology

Upon graduating from Stellenbosch University, Golakai began working at the university's Department of Biomedical Sciences.[5] Golakai works as a clinical immunologist and studies diseases, such as tuberculosis and HIV.[3]

Writing

Golakai's debut novel The Lazarus Effect (Kwela Books) was shortlisted for the 2011 Sunday Times Fiction Prize and the University of Johannesburg Debut Prize, and was longlisted for the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.[6] On the strength of the book, in 2012 Zukiswa Wanner in The Guardian rated Golakai as one of the "top five African writers".[7] The Lazarus Effect was published in 2016 by Cassava Republic Press in the UK.[8]

Golakai's second novel, The Score (Kwela Books) will be released in the UK in 2017. She won critical acclaim for her 2016 essay "Fugee",[9] a personal account of the Ebola crisis in Liberia, commissioned for the anthology Safe House: Explorations in Creative Nonfiction, edited by Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, in partnership with Commonwealth Writers and published by Cassava Republic Press.[10]

Judging

Golakai was a mentor for the 2015 Writivism programme,[11] a judge for the Etisalat Flash Fiction Prize 2015[12] and is a judge for the 2016 Short Story Day Africa prize.[13]

Honours

In 2014, Golakai was included in the Africa39 anthology of the most promising sub-Saharan writers under the age of 40.[14]

Published works

References

  1. ↑ "Safe House: Exploring Creative Non-Fiction from Africa". africawrites.org. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  2. ↑ Akinwotu, Emmanuel. "Hawa Golakai: the Liberian scientist turned cult crime writer". theguardian.com. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  3. 1 2 Kamara, Makanfi. "Interview with Hawa Golakai, Author, The Lazarus Effect". liberianobserver.com. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  4. ↑ Golakai, Hawa Jande. "Identification of immune correlates of natural protection against tuberculosis in a population with a high incidence of latent infection". scholar.sun.ac.za. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  5. ↑ Von Klemperer, Margaret (20 March 2014). "Exploring the African diaspora". The Witness. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "Hay Festival". www.hayfestival.com. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  7. ↑ Zukiswa Wanner, "Zukiswa Wanner's top five African writers", The Guardian, 6 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "Cassava Republic Press — The Lazarus Effect". www.cassavarepublic.biz. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  9. ↑ "'I am Liberian, Not a virus' | Hawa Jande Golakai's Granta Essay is a Dazzling Read". Brittle Paper. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "Cassava Republic Press — Safe House". www.cassavarepublic.biz. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "2015 Writivism Mentors". Writivism. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  12. ↑ "Daily Trust". Daily Trust. Trust Media Ltd. 20 September 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  13. ↑ "The SSDA Prize". Short Story Day Africa. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  14. ↑ Forbes, Malcolm. "Continental drift: Africa39, an anthology of writing from south of the Sahara, is too good to miss". thenational.ae. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
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