And they all said, oh, well I never, was there ever, a sight so dazzling as the Africans in Gothenburg?

You are supposed to sing the title of this blog post to the tune of Mr Mistoffeles. The Book Fair is over, and I have a life time of memories. I will be writing a much longer post in the next few days. But first. My book shelf came to life in the lobby of the Gothia Towers Hotel. I have read everyone of these lunatics, and there they were, lunaticking around in Gothenburg. If you do not know any of them, you need to make their acquaintance, stat. I have indicated their books in brackets, and no, I won't lend you my copies, get your own! From right: Yaba Badoe (True Murder, African Love Stories), Chenjerai Hove (Bones, Ancestors, Shadows, Shebeen Tales, Blind Moon Rising), Tolu Ogunlesi (published in several journals and a Caine anthology), Monica Arac de Nyeko(published in two Caine anthologies and African Love Stories), Doreen Baingana (Tropical Fish, African Love Stories) and Sefi Atta (Swallow, Lawless, Everything Good Will Come).

Yesterday morning I was on this dazzling panel with Kopano Matlwa, Ondjaki, Tolu Ogunlesi, Irene Sabatini and Biyi Bandele. Biyi Bandele. I was on a panel with Biyi Bandele. I have a huge crush on Biyi Bandele, I cannot stop writing his name. Biyi Bandele. Biyi Bandele. Biyi Bandele.

And I had lunch with my new best friend, the stunning Maaza Mengiste, the girl with the coolest hair and boots in town. She is the author of the novel Beneath the Lion's Gaze, which has been hugely successful. I also caught her on a stellar panel with Chris Abani, Sefi Atta, Shailja Patel, Brian James and the scandalous Scandalusian Miguel Gullinder. Heh. Chris Abani is cerebral and brilliant and erudite and very very funny. Much to Shailja's dismay, I made him my household god, a position I had previously promised Shailja. I may have to demote a household god to make room: it is a toss up between the French cobblers Christian Louboutin and Robert Clegerie, who, I am sad to say, have not impressed me with their last two collections. I ended the evening with a dinner with Nadine Gordimer and many other glitterati litterati but that I will write about when I have recovered.