Helon Habila

**Helon Habila Ngalabak** (bɛ ni dɔɣi so November yuuni 1967) nyɛla Nigeria salinwaɣila mini taɣimalisi sasabira, ŋun sabbu di pina pam, nti pahi Caine Prize yuuni 2021. O daa nyɛla University karimba ni lahibali kpuɣira Nigeria tingbani ni pɔi ka o naai labi England yuuni 2002, luɣi shɛli o ni daa nyɛ Chevening Scholar m-be University of East Anglia, punpɔŋɔ ka o nyɛ karimba m-be George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.

## O pilli
Helon Habila yuuni 2009

Helon Habila in 2009 daa nyɛla bɛ ni dɔɣi so Kaltungo, Gombe State, Nigeria. O bɔhimla silimiinsili mini Litiricha University of Jos ka daa wuhi eral Polytechnic, Bauchi yuma ata. Yuuni 1999 o daa chaŋla Lagos ni o ti sabi Hints magazine, ka daa chaŋ *Vanguard* newspaper nti lee ŋun maani litiricha niŋda. Habila daa dila Music Society of Nigeria (MUSON) ka lahi di national poetry award zaŋ ti o taɣimalisi shɛli "Another Age" yuuni 2000, lala yuuni maa yaha ka o salin' ŋmahi ŋmahi gba daa din yuli daa booni *Prison Stories* daa zaŋ wuhi salo. O daa lahi dila yuuni 2001 Caine Prize n-ti salin' shɛli din daa be salima kpanjɔɣu maa ni, "Love Poems". O tuuli salinwaɣinli, *Waiting for an Angel*, daa nyɛla bɛ ni zaŋ shɛli wuhi salo yuuni 2002, ka yuun' shɛli din daa ti paya ka di daa di Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Africa Region, Best First Book). O ni daa labi England yuuni 2002, Habila daa leela Africa sasabira ŋun sabiri ka di bira University of East Anglia. Yuuni 2005 o daa nyɛla Chinua Achebe nima ni boli so ni o ti lee tuuli Chinua Achebe  nira ŋun be Bard College, NY, ni ka o daa zaŋ kamani yuuni n-sabira  ka wuhira, ka kuli kpalim US n-kuli nyɛ professor o baŋsim sabbu polo George Mason University dundɔŋ puuni, Fairfax, Virginia.

Yuuni 2006 o daa pahiya ka bɛ mali British Council lahibali bɔbili buku, *New Writing 14*. O salinwaɣinli din daa pahiri ayi, *Measuring Time*, daa zaŋmi wuhi salo yuuni 2007, ka daa nyɛ bɛ ni yihi shɛli zuɣu na ni di kpaɣiri bo Hurston-Wright Legacy Award, IMPAC Prize, ka yuuni 2008 ka di daa di Virginia Library Foundation Prize for fiction. O salinwaɣinli din daa pahi ata, *Oil on Water* (2010), din daa yɛri ti ʒilɛli puuni saɣimbu zaŋ kpa oil-rich Nigerian Delta, daa dee labiyuli viɛnyala pam. Bernardine Evaristo Guardian puuni sabiya:

"Habila's prose perfectly evokes the devastation of the oil-polluted wetlands"; Margaret Busby labi yuli *The Independent* ka yɛli "Habila has a filmic ability to etch scenes on the imagination", ka Aminatta Forna, The Daily Telegraph daa bahi naali ni: "Habila is a skilful narrator and a master of structure." *Oil on Water* daa nyɛla bɛ ni pii shɛli pahimi  ni di deei pini gahinda nti pahi Pen/Open Book Award, Commonwealth Best Book, Africa Region, ni Orion Book Award. Habila salima kpanjɔɣu buku la, *The Granta Book of the African Short Story* daa yina Silimiin goli September yuuni 2011.

Habila nyɛla ŋun pahi ban kpa African Writers Trust puuni ka punpɔŋɔ ka be ban saɣisiri African Writers Trust, "a non-profit entity which seeks to coordinate and bring together African writers in the Diaspora and writers on the continent to promote sharing of skills and other resources, and to foster knowledge and learning between the two groups."

Din kpuɣi July 2013 zaŋ hali ni June 2014, Habila daa nyɛla DAAD Nira, Berlin, Germany.

O daa nyɛla kuɣulana zaŋ ti vihigu vihigu polo yuuni 2016 Etisalat Prize for Literature.

Helon Habila daa nyɛla bɛ ni dabi so yuli pahi ni o nya Grand Prix of Literary Associations yuuni 2019, ni o tuma din yuli daa boli *Travelers*.

## Kundivihira