aFRica

SA: Again, my choice felt right. I wanted
to stay close to Deola and I wasn‘t
tempted to stray into any other
character‘s head. Technically, the
omniscient third person is a more difficult
point of view to use because you can so
easily lose control of a story. The first
person is overused, so I thought I should
try something different, but I‘m so close
to Deola in this story it almost reads like
a first person narrative.
DA: Recently, you took the path of daring
authors who self-publish in Nigeria. Why
did you choose to plod this path? Were
you dissatisfied with the way Nigerians
go about traditional publishing? And per
chance, will you encourage fledgling
authors to go the way of self-publishing?
SA: I want to work with people who care
about literature, not hustlers. The past
two years have been about taking charge
of my works in Nigeria. A writer‘s words
are not always respected there. I‘ve had
people make unauthorized changes to
my works and have been misquoted so
many times in the newspapers, by the
way.
Recently, the London Book Fair blogged
an article in which I was quoted as saying
that writing should be rooted in social
realism. I said my writing was rooted in
social realism. I would never tell other
writers how to write. I read another
article in which I was quoted as saying
Mississippi was the safest state in the
United States when I said it was one of
the sickest states on account of its high
incidence of hypertension and diabetes. I
also read a headline that said I didn‘t
understand feminism, when I said I didn‘t
understand why I was labeled a feminist
writer.
It‘s hard enough justifying what I‘ve
written and statements I‘ve made. Some
of the articles alluded to the fact that I‘m
press shy, but that‘s because I don‘t want
to spend time denying misquotes and
because I grew up thinking that
promoting my work was showing off. I‘m
changing my attitude, but there‘s only so
far I can go before my next story calls. I
feel very blessed to be able to write fulltime.
Next year I turn 50 and it‘s time to
do what works for me. I recommend that
other writers do whatever works for
them.
DA: Sefi Atta, its being nice sharing your
thoughts on your work in the most liberal
and trajectory sense. Thank you for your
time.
SA: Thank you for yours.
Saraba | Issue 13 | Africa 29