Nigerian writers shouldn’t focus on fame, money – Nnedi Okorafor

Bookshelf: You recently won the 2016 Hugo Award in the Best Novella category. How did you learn you had won? Nnedi Okorafor: It was when I came out of the movie theatre and looked at my phone. I had gone with my daughter to see the film ‘Pets’. I knew the ceremony was happening that […]

Bookshelf: You recently won the 2016 Hugo Award in the Best Novella category. How did you learn you had won?
Nnedi Okorafor: It was when I came out of the movie theatre and looked at my phone. I had gone with my daughter to see the film ‘Pets’. I knew the ceremony was happening that night and it was hard to concentrate. I needed a fun distraction. The only reason I wasn’t at the award ceremony at the World Science Fiction Convention in Kansas City, Missouri was because, in two days, I had to drive nine hours back to Buffalo, NY, where I’m a professor at the University, for the beginning of the semester.

Bookshelf: How did you feel?
Okorafor: I felt elated, shocked and relieved. I felt the relief because whether I won or not, I finally knew the outcome. With all the political ‘wahala’ circulating around the Hugo Awards, the whole situation was nerve-wracking for me and I just wanted to get it over with.

Bookshelf: You won for your novella, ‘Binti’. What inspired the story?
Okorafor: Binti is about a sixteen-year-old African-Namibian Himba math prodigy who, in secret, leaves her beloved family to attend the finest university in the galaxy and the nightmare that happens on her ship. There were several inspirations. The central one was that I had just left my family in Chicago to take up a professorship at the University at Buffalo, NY. My family didn’t like much the idea of me leaving and I had to deal with that reality and my own self-doubt and fear. The central themes of the story are fear, change, identity and the fact that the truly rooted family will always live within.

Bookshelf: Did you foresee ‘Binti’ winning any award?
Okorafor: Not at all. It was all out of my hands, how could I?

Bookshelf: How challenging was it writing the novella?
Okorafor: I’m terrified of space and I had never written a space opera, so I was venturing into new territory in many ways. But once I started, it flowed easily. Plus, I wrote it under no pressure. I had no idea what I was writing when I wrote it. I didn’t know if it was a short story, novellette, novella or a novel and this didn’t bother me. I had no editors or agents expecting it. Only I knew about it. I was just having fun, storytelling.

Bookshelf: Was there any reason why you chose the science fiction genre for the story?
Okorafor: No. The story came as what it was because it was what it was. I don’t choose a genre when I write. Even when I first started writing, I didn’t set out to write anything fantastical. I was just recounting an incident that happened in Nigeria and because of the natural way I see the world, the mystical elements materialized in my storytelling. When it’s done, people can call it whatever they see fit. Sometimes what I write can be placed easily into a genre, like Binti. Most of the time for me that fit is not so easy. Look at ‘Lagoon’, ‘Who Fears Death’, and ‘The Book of Phoenix’. Those don’t fit comfortably anywhere. Labels are an afterthought for me. Let me stress the ‘after’ in the word ‘afterthought’. They do not dictate what I actually write.

Bookshelf: You are also known for writing fantasy novels. Is there any particular reason for that preference?
Okorafor: I’m known for writing speculative fiction novels. This includes science fiction, fantasy and magical realism. These are just labels created by others. Labels I sometimes feel as really reductive. Is my aliens-come-to-Lagos-novel ‘Lagoon’ just science fiction? I think it can also be categorized as African Literature. I write what comes to me and that can be whatever it’ll be. Which do I prefer? From what I’ve written, I prefer them all.

Bookshelf: You have won several other awards in the past. Which will you say had the most impact on you?
Okorafor: They are all special to me. For example, the Wole Soyinka Prize for African Literature was the first big prize that I won; an enormous honor that came from Nigeria. It was like a warm hug from home. It was presented to me by Wole Soyinka himself, an individual I have idolized for ages. The award ceremony brought me back to Nigeria where I got to see relatives. It was the first time I travelled back to Nigeria without my parents. That award was what made my relatives in Nigeria and abroad finally see me as a writer. It was really special to me as a writer. I have little unique stories like this for every single award I have won.

Bookshelf: You live in the United States, yet write as if you are in Nigeria. How do you do it?
Okorafor: I was born and raised in the US, but my parents who raised me were born and raised in Nigeria and are proud of it. From the moment the Biafran Civil War ended and they were able to reconnect with family, they began taking my siblings and me back to Nigeria at a young age to meet family and connect. These trips to Nigeria had a very strong impression on all of us. So strong that the very first story I ever wrote was set in Nigeria. It was about an autobiographical incident in Nigeria during one of our visits. Writing stories set in Nigeria and in other parts of Africa was not a conscious decision. It was organic. And I have never questioned it. I write where the energy is, I follow my muse and my muse is definitely from my father’s hometown of Arondizuogu, Nigeria.

Bookshelf: When and how did your writing career begin?
Okorafor: ‘Career’ is an interesting word. My first story was published in 2000, I think. It was a short story called ‘Uche’ and it was published in a small literary magazine. I guess that would be the start. I wrote my first piece of fiction in 1993 in a creative writing class.

Bookshelf: Do you have a writing schedule? What is it like?
Okorafor: Yes. It’s malleable. It changes every day. Nothing that is set in stone, but clearly I know how to get things done.

Bookshelf: What do you do when you are not writing?
Okorafor: I exercise, hang out with my daughter and people dear to me, travel, catch grasshoppers and butterflies.

Bookshelf: How many books have you written so far?
Okorafor: Over twenty-five. I have had eleven published.

Bookshelf: Among your novels, which, challenged you the most?
Okorafor: It’s ‘Who Fears Death’. I think that was the novel where I was learning a new way to write, so it was a rebirth. I also wrote it during a very painful time in my life and I was pouring it all into the book.

Bookshelf: What are you working on at the moment?
Okorafor: I’m in the final edition phase of ‘Akata Witch 2: Akata Warrior’. 

Bookshelf: In what areas do you think Nigerian writers can do better?
Okorafor: For fiction writers of all lengths, I think there are more opportunities out there because of the Internet. You no longer have to snail mail submissions, you email them. So if you have access to the Internet, the world is at your fingertips in the same way it is for people overseas. I think that Nigerian fiction writers would benefit from looking more within than outside when it comes to the stories, characters, themes, ideas they explore in their work. I also think doing this will bring forth issues or qualities of pride, self-knowledge and interest.
Also, I think, like all writers, it’s best to take your time and truly hone your craft; don’t focus on getting famous or making money, focus on becoming the best writer you can be. If you are going into it for fame or money, you will probably be disappointed. These things can happen with writing but they usually happen to those who are more about the story than the perks of the story. Also, writing toward awards is a trap. Cultivate a love for storytelling and read as much as you write.