Meet ... Chibundu Onuzo
The 'Meet' Series will be a chance for me to interview authors, publishers, book cover designers (really anyone I would love to meet) that is involved with African literature. With that very brief introduction, I am very pleased to announce that the first person in my (hopefully continuous) 'Meet' Series is Chibundu Onuzo.
Chibundu Onuzo is a 21-year old Nigerian, whose debut novel The Spider King's Daughter was published in March 2012. At 19, she managed to secure a two novel deal with Faber & Faber and became their youngest ever female author. She has been longlisted for the Desmond Elliot Prize for debut authors and in June was voted the UK's No.1 Best Black Student of 2012 by Rare Rising Stars. She was also recently nominated under the 'Creative Artist of the Year' category for The Future Awards. Pretty impressive for a 21-year old.
What was the first piece you ever wrote?
It must have been in
Composition, a subject that was mandatory in my primary school. The title would
have been something banal like ‘My Pet,’ or ‘My Last Holiday,’ or ‘My Favourite
Subject’ which was in fact Composition.
What
draws you to writing?
I enjoy doing
it and it was always easier for me to work at writing than Physics for example.
What
do you do when you are not writing?
Lots of
things. I eat, I sleep, I play the keyboard in my church and I sing. I also follow
Nigerian politics and constantly irritate disinterested friends and family
members by trying to talk to them about it.
On Being a Booklover
(Questions I’ve always wanted to ask authors)
What are you reading right now?
She-Wolves by Helen
Castor. It’s summarised as a book about ‘the women who ruled England before
Elizabeth.’
Is
there any particular author (living or
dead) or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult -
and why?
Charles Dickens.
I read a lot of classics when I was growing up and Dickens featured heavily. As
a child I loved him because his stories were so gripping and as an adult I now
appreciate the quality of his writing.
What are your favourite books (or book-related items) to
give - and get - as gifts?
Book
vouchers.
Have you ever judged a book by its cover (i.e. bought a
book based on its looks)? Which?
No I’ve never bought a book based on its looks but I
have borrowed books from the library many times based on their covers. Bitter
Sweets by Roopa Farooki was such a choice.
Hard
copy or e-book?
Both. My brother bought
me a kindle for my birthday and I must say I’m a convert. I still love and buy
physical books but after downloading the complete works of Jane Austen for
£0.77, my esteem for e-books has risen.
Physical
or Virtual? Bookstore or Amazon?
It depends on how badly
I want to read the book. If it’s a book I’ve been meaning to read for a long
time but never quite gotten round to, Amazon. If it’s a new release that I want
as soon as it hit the shelves, then I’ll head to a bookstore when it comes out.
I don’t generally download new books to my kindle. Instead I tend to buy
classics on it.
How did you come up with the title?
It just came to me.
Divine inspiration I suppose. Before I’d written a word of the book I had a
title. I don’t know how unusual this is but it felt pretty special to me.
How did
you come up with the characters Abike and Runner G?
I suppose
you don’t really come up with characters as such. You just find them lurking
somewhere in your head.
What
was your favourite chapter (or part) to
write and why?
My favourite chapter is
actually towards the end of the book so I won’t spoil it for the reader. My
second favourite chapter is Chapter 3 where the hawker describes what everyday
life as a hawker is like. It just flowed out of me perhaps because I
interviewed a hawker many years before I wrote the book. So I had a factual
template to use as a guide and then I filled in any gaps with my
imagination.
What
do you hope people will take away from
your novel?
If you’re
a reader that lives in Nigeria, be nice to hawkers. If you’re a reader in a
country where there are no hawkers then you can take away anything you like.
On
Publishing and Being an Author
Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your
first book published?
Writing
it. That’s usually the hardest part.
Your novel was published in UK and US by Faber and Faber
are there plans to make the book accessible to readers in Nigeria, or other
African countries?
You can buy it in South
Africa at the moment and it’s available in at least one book shop in Nigeria
called Pataba but there are plans to make the distribution more widespread than
it is presently.
You are Faber’s youngest ever female signing, were one of
The Guardians New Authors for 2012, and you were long-listed for the 2012
Desmond Elliot Prize for New Fiction, how does that feel?
I feel incredibly
blessed for each event you’ve mentioned but with success as with failure, you
can’t wallow in it for too long. You have to constantly look ahead. Paul
summarised it well when he said in a letter to the Philippians, ‘But one thing
I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on
towards the goal.’
What’s
the toughest criticism and best
compliment you have received?
Best compliment:
Is that your hair? Toughest criticism: It was a very bilious blog review.
Suffice it to say it was harsh.
On African Literature
bookshy
is all about promoting and celebrating
African fiction, what is your take on African fiction and where do you hope to
see it go?
I want to
see more of it and I want to see it more widely available. It’s a little
irritating that I have to wait till I go to Nigeria to stock up on the latest
Nigerian fiction.
Do
you think the African writer has a role
to play in improving Africa’s (sometimes negative) international image?
No, unless
the Ministry of Tourism is going to start paying us.
Final Questions – I promise
What’s next after The Spider King’s Daughter?
A second
book that I’m working on at the moment. It’s also set in Nigeria and that’s all
I will say.
Is
there anything that you would like to
say to your readers and fans - whatever comes to mind?
Thank you
for reading and enjoying and supporting the book.
Also, check out Chibundu Onuzo's blog, authorsoundsbetterthanwriter.
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I know it's a big long, but I just had tons of questions to ask. Also with Chibundu Onuzo being 21 I thought I'd ask her 21 questions (I know, not very creative). I just have to say I actually do think her hair is fierce. So thank you very much Miss Onuzo and I wait in anticipation for your second novel. Also, check out Chibundu Onuzo's blog, authorsoundsbetterthanwriter.
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