Reading and writing are essential tools that help us express our creativity and share it with others.

Keene is Reading, a campus-wide program run by English Professors William Stroup and Emily Robins Sharpe, hosted a panel of Nigerian writers in the student center on April 8.

The writers, E.C. Osondu and Helon Habila, read excerpts from some of their works out loud to students and faculty in attendance.

Osondu is author of the novel “This House is Not for Sale,” as well as a number of other works, and is a professor of creative writing at Providence College.

Habila is author to a number of novels, his most recent being “Oil on Water.” He is also a professor of creative writing at George Mason University in Virginia.

Osondu read a chapter from “This House is Not for Sale,” and Habila read his short story “The Second Death of Martin Lango.”

In addition to reading from their works, Osondu and Habila spoke about the writing process and their inspiration to become writers.

“Even before I learned to read, I was also listening to stories. I grew up around my grandmother and

Colton McCracken / Equinox Staff

for her every occasion was an occasion to tell a story,” Osondu said.

Habila said, “In books people could do what they liked, so I began to read more and even the adults in the books misbehaved and I thought that was interesting.”

The authors also shared advice for prospective writers.

“Work hard, hope for the best, expect the worst,” Habila said. “It’s passion. It’s if you want it just like any other thing. It’s who wants it most.”

Osondu said, “For a writer, you can always get better.”

The event was a part of Keene is Reading, a program that chooses a book that is read across the campus and community and hosts book discussions and events based around the book.

Sharpe, co-coordinator of Keene is Reading, said she was happy with how the event went.

“It’s a really wonderful experience to get to go and sit in a room with a bunch of other people and have a writer read his or her work to you. I think that it can be very different from the experience of reading a book to yourself,” Sharpe said. “They both read some works that expanded and challenged some of the ideas we’ve been talking about all year long in the Keene is Reading discussion groups.”

The overall response to the event was  positive.

“I thought that the students who asked questions asked fantastic questions and got some interesting responses about how the two writers came to be writers and the writing processes,” Sharpe said.

The panel was the final event for Keene is Reading until next semester, when the program will choose a new novel to work with.

Devon Roberts can be contacted at droberts@kscequinox.com