Tuesday 4 November 2008

wiki-madness


All right, it's happened. No, not that. I still have my hair. I mean the other thing guys worry about. No, not that either, thank goodness. Well, apart from that one time, and really it wasn't my fault .... Maybe I'd better just tell the story.
About a year ago a former mento of mine expressed shock at there not being a Wikipedia article about me. How can you claim to be a prominent author without a Wikipedia article? she said. I replied that I made no claim to prominence, and had never been approached by anyone wishing to write a Wikipedia article.
Why don't you write the article, I told my mento. Then I can claim to be a prominent author, and my only trouble will be getting people to believe me.
And I promptly forgot about it. But she did not. She got back to me a month ago with a long list of specific personal questions about me. Age (yes) hair (yes) tonsils (no) any history of (no, I tell you! Apart from that one time, and like I say ... ) And that was just for starters.
And so now there is an article. I takes some finding but it's out there. Apparently the wiki-monitors are worried because there aren't enough citations. I don't know what to tell them. It's all true, as far as I remember. (Well, except for the Orange Prize. That's not really me in the picture up there. It's Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I read it. It's funny and well written.
What a good mento you have there.

Richard Scrimger said...

That may be the trouble. I understand that the wiki-police have a firm no-humour policy. Ah well.RS

Anonymous said...

I don't believe it. Probably they just have their laugh lines drawn in invisible ink. Could be a great wrinkle serum (could bottle that and make a fortune...hmmm). But people are way better looking to me when their mirth shows. It's catchier too, huh?

Sand