My fight with sickle cell led me to write – Maryam Awaisu

Twenty-seven-year-old Maryam Awaisu is the author of Burning Bright which chronicles the story of sickle cell anemia. The Kaduna-born is currently working on another novel which is feminist. She teaches public school students English Language during her free time.    What was the drive behind the book? Basically the main thing is my fight with […]

Twenty-seven-year-old Maryam Awaisu is the author of Burning Bright which chronicles the story of sickle cell anemia. The Kaduna-born is currently working on another novel which is feminist. She teaches public school students English Language during her free time. 

 

What was the drive behind the book?

Basically the main thing is my fight with sickle cell anemia at a first-hand level. It is not like seeing someone go through it. I went through it and saw the misunderstanding and ignorance. So, that was really the driving force for me. I wanted people to read and understand what sickle cell anemia means so that they can prevent it. Nigeria has the largest population of people living with this disease and we’ve been sitting on it. 

 

What was the feeling like after finishing the book?

It felt great. I thought it was a lot because while writing it I didn’t think it to be that much. It’s 241 pages and that was more than what I anticipated. But I knew there was so much more work to be done. The editing, publishing, I heard stories that it was going to be a nightmare but I was ready. 

 

You’re working on another book. Can you tell us a bit about it?

I’m still not sure when the book will be ready. So many advances are made for the publishing and I want one with great quality, so that will take quite a while. I don’t know which I’m going for yet. I’m also yet to finish the book although I have gone very far. What I can tell you is that it is very feminist. So far my writing is highly influenced by events around me. If you look at our Northern society, there’s so much injustice and oppression when it comes to women and you can’t extricate yourself from it. It’s dehumanizing and gets you thinking and angry, so it makes sense to write something like this. It’s a story that needs to be told. It doesn’t have a title yet either, because I always struggle with titles. But when I’m done writing the book it will come to me.

 

How has your story impacted the lives of other sickle cell sufferers?

I’ve gotten a lot of feedback and some of them are good. I believe that I made a difference with the book. It gives hope and it is a story of strength. Some people found it to be funny which is why I wanted it to be a fictional story. It is entertaining and educative at the same time. It enlightens and for those without sickle cell, it gave them a realistic perspective of what it means to live with the disease in Nigeria. And for sufferers, the book gives them hope and strength to stay strong, keep fighting and keep living. 

 

Would you say Nadia in the novel is a reflection of who you are?

In some ways I can. Like I said, there is a part of me in her. Basically, I think that’s the beauty of fiction, there’s some fantasy in Nadia; in the things she did. Nadia is the type of person I wish I could be because she’s very fearless, intense and intimidating. She’s all up in your face. She doesn’t quit and I think that’s beautiful. I haven’t gotten to that level but I hope to become like her.

 

What do you think can be done to improve reading culture in Nigeria?

I’m trying to recall what got me interested in reading but I think I just grew up loving it. The current situation is bad, but then we also still have some avid readers. You can meet a university student struggling with written and spoken English, so if people are reading substandard work, then there is a problem.

For most people who like reading, even affording the books is a problem. I think that is one of the reasons behind the decline in our reading culture. The average Nigerian can’t afford to buy a good book. My book is one of the pricey ones, I’m aware of that. But then publishing isn’t cheap, so it is not something you can change as an individual. For people to continue reading there has to be some sort of change to make it cheaper for authors to publish their books and in turn, crash the prices for consumers. A lot is on the government. If we make it more affordable to print books, it would make it so much easier on both the authors and the consumers.

 

What were the challenges you faced while writing the novel?

There wasn’t much of writers block. I expected it but I didn’t have trouble with it, probably because I already knew what I wanted to write. But at a point I lost focus because I was worrying too much and that affected my imagination. So, I tried not to worry too much, just lived my life and everything came back.

Another problem was getting a good editor. The educational system is bad and finding someone good to edit my book was a huge problem. But luckily there was a professor of mine who reached out and did the editing for free and it was quality editing. Then there was the problem of getting the right publisher. We have limited resources and the packages are confusing to choose from.

Then,  finally, funding. I funded everything myself. I was lucky that while I was studying, I was working part-time and I was saving the money I earned. That was what helped me.

 

How long did it take you to write the book?

Everything from the writing, editing to submitting for publishing took 10 months.

 

What do you think contributed to the success of your novel?

I think the book was a success because it is about an issue some people can relate to. Somehow if you live in Nigeria, you must have heard of sickle cell. There is definitely someone that you know or have heard of who suffers from sickle cell anemia and the need to understand the condition. Another thing is the fact that it was fiction. A lot of people found it hilarious, there was some romance in it and people love that kind of thing and relate to it.