Going to the chapel — eventually
Yinka, Where is Your Huzband author, Lilzzie Damilola
Blackburn. Aiden Harmitt-Williams
Haitian-American playwright,
Magaly Colimon-
Christopher. Magaly
Colimon-Christopher
Caribbean Life, JANUARY 21-27, 2022 43
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
“I just want you to be
happy.”
You’ve heard that before,
and yet, unsolicited advice
never does. All the y’oughtas
(“What y’oughta do is….”) and
the unexpected help make you
want to scream, even though
you know that people really do
mean well when they offer it.
The thing is, they are not the
CEO of your life. As in the new
book, “Yinka, Where Is Your
Huzband?” by Lizzie Damilola
Blackburn, they need to mind
their own business…
It was almost getting so that
Yinka Oladeji didn’t want to go
anywhere.
Every time she went out,
someone – her Mum, her Aunty
Debby, Big Mama – someone
was asking when she was going
to find a huzband. Pronounced
auz-band in the British-Nigerian
way, it was a total embarrassment.
It probably didn’t help that
Yinka’s little sister, Kemi, was
expecting her first baby, or
that her friend, Rachel, just
got engaged and Ola just had
her third child. It also didn’t
help that Yinka lost her job,
and the man she loved, Femi,
who’d dumped her and moved
to America, was back in the city
with his beautiful fiance.
Femi had broken up with
Yinka two years ago.
She should have a huzband
by now, right?
Maybe so. Yinka had to admit
that romance would be nice,
and so she created a spreadsheet
and filled it with stickynote
ideas, vowing that she’d
have a date for Rachel’s wedding.
She agreed to let Aunty
Debby fix her up with Alex,
but he was pretty clear that he
really liked Yinka’s BFF, Nana.
Yinka went online, on many
dating sites and she swiped,
swiped, swiped. She considered
Derek, but she didn’t like him
like that. Donovan was kind of
a jerk, Marcus wanted just one
thing (ahem!), and Emmanuel
had someone with lighter skin
in mind.
And so, Yinka began to look
harder. She even considered
men she rejected once before
but the more she looked for a
date-slash-potential-huzband,
the more her other relationships
suffered. Now, nobody
wanted to be around Yinka.
Where’s the happily-ever-after
in that?
At this point in your life, the
pandemic, your career, whatever,
you’ve had your fill of nosybut
well-meaning questions
and advice you don’t need. And
so, “Yinka, Where is Your Huzband?”
is a book for you.
Indeed, this sweet little romcom
removes any sting a busybody
might leave by taking
the ultimate in none-of-yourbusiness
literature and turning
it upside down. Author Lizzie
Damilola Blackburn inserts
way too many meddlers into
Yinka’s life, and the resulting
mess is hilarious – especially
when the lies pile up and readers
are given a peek at several
obvious solutions, only one of
which has anything to do with
a huzband. Not to be a spoiler
or anything, but peace is made,
but not before readers get the
lightest touch of feminism
from this completely enjoyable
story.
Beware that there are Briticisms
inside this novel but
nothing that’s too difficult to
understand. Mostly, understand
that “Yinka, Where is
Your Huzband?” is going to
just plain make you happy.
“Yinka, Where Is Your
Huzband? A Novel” by
Lilzzie Damilola Blackburn
c.2022, Pamela Dorman
Books / Viking
$26.00
384 pages
Book cover of “Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?” by Lizzie
Damilola Blackburn.
Conch Shell Int’l Film Fest accepting short film, script entries
By Nelson A. King
The Queens-based Conch
Shell Productions is currently
accepting submissions
for its second annual Conch
Shell International Film Festival
2022 (CSIFF 2022).
The event will run from
Aug. 26-28, 2022 online on
Filmocracy.com’s festival
streaming platform, and will
feature films, workshops,
networking events, screenplay
readings and Master’s
classes.
Regular deadline for submission
is April 15; late deadline
is June 3. Visit conchshelliff.
com for a submission
link.
CSIFF was founded by
Haitian American actress/
writer/producer Magaly Colimon
Christopher.
She said the festival promotes
short films and screenplays
written by artists from
the Caribbean and the Caribbean
Diaspora.
“For the second consecutive
year, industry sponsor
Filmocracy will provide a
safe and interactive online
film festival experience for
filmmakers and attendees,”
Colimon-Christopher said.
“And award sponsor, Final
Draft, industry leader in
screenwriting software, will
be commemorate the accomplishments
of award winners
with software prizes.”
She said the festival is
seeking films from one to 30
minutes from aspiring independent
filmmakers, student
shorts and short screenplays/
television pilot scripts.
“This year’s festival features
indie and student films
that inspire social change,”
said Colimon-Christopher,
adding that eligibility
requirements include short
films that have screened in
previous festivals between
2010-2021 and are eligible for
Jury and/or Audience Choice
Awards.
She said categories include:
narrative (all genres), documentary,
animation, web
series, micro shorts, music
videos, mixed media and
experimental films.
Colimon-Christopher said
films under consideration
are written or directed by
Caribbean Diaspora or Caribbean
artists.
For more information,
contact Colimon-Christopher
at 917-776-9647 or email
conchshellproductions.com
/Filmocracy.com
/conchshellproductions.com
