EVERY DAY IS FOR THE THIEF: ON MEETING TEJU COLE Tolu Daniel I met him in 2013, with many admirers – new and old, riding on the fame of Open City. Teju Cole speaks to convince. His speech filled with pauses and precise anecdotes. He knows his way around words and understands how to convince and also ease you into his POV. His eloquence and carriage became my first point of curiosity. I dashed after him for a photograph when I noticed he was free. Then, being seen with a famous writer was more important than querying about the process of art. From the stage where he had just descended from his panel discourse, he had seemed almost god-like. I approached, and he agreed to pose, a photo on an old Tecno phone, gone now. Thankfully. I was staring at him, wondering about his size and care when proximity wasn't an issue. He thanked me in perfect Yoruba, smooth, without an accent, for attending his panel session, displacing any mental throne I had placed him. "Didn't know you spoke Yoruba so fluently", I asked. 57
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