Interview With An Author: Nigeria's Nnedi Okorafor Offers Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Her works have garnered such esteemed awards as the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature and the Macmillan Writer's Prize for Africa. Nigerian sci-fi/fantasy author Nnedi Okorafor, who has a PhD in English and is a professor at Chicago State University, is a force to be reckoned with in the literary world.

Okorafor, who is the author of such critically acclaimed works as 'Zahrah the Windseeker,' 'The Shadow Speaker,' 'Long Juju Man,' and the most recent adult novel, 'Who Fears Death.'

She recently spoke to BlackVoices.com. Excerpts of the conversation are below.

BlackVoices.com: What inspired you to write 'Who Fears Death,' and why did you choose such a profound, in-your-face, fear-inspiring [for some] title?

First and foremost, it started with the death of my father. I was very close with him, and basically writing the book was a way of coping with his death. At the wake-keeping there was a time in which I found myself just standing there in an empty room with his body. When I was kneeling there looking at him, I felt this intense emotion, intense power, and that power felt destructive. That night, I started writing what eventually would be the first scene in the book. I didn't know anything about the character. I didn't know why she was angry. I didn't know why people hated her. I tend to write in a non-linear way, where I'll write the scenes that come to me. A few days after writing that first scene, I read an article in the Washington Post about weaponized rape in Sudan. After reading that article, I knew who my character was and what she was so angry about. The title is based on her name, Onyesonwu, which means "who fears death" in Igbo. It felt like the character was speaking to me, and I just wrote her story.

BV: Your stories have a recurring theme about them: Female lead characters who are on the outskirts of society -- Outsiders. For instance, in Who Fears Death, Onyesonwu is ewu, a child of rape, who doesn't fully fit into the Okeke or the Nuru world. Why females in lead roles and why the choice to make them outsiders?
I do anticipate one day writing a male character. All of my female lead characters have not only been just outcasts, but also, there is something about them that makes them different. A lot of that comes from the way that I feel and the way that I fit in society. I'm on the outside of so many different circles. I'm on the inside, but I'm also on the outside. I was born and raised in the United States. Both of my parents are Igbo. I've always felt part of the Nigerian community, but also outside of it. I've always felt part of the African American community, but also outside of it. I was a nerd, but I was also a jock. So, I've migrated around different circles, and that comes out in my writing. As far as female characters, I have always loved reading fantasy. But, I wasn't seeing black characters, and whenever I saw a female character, I would never see a female character who was written well. I never saw hardcore, complex female characters. That's what I wanted to see, and so I wrote them.

BV: Magic, post-apocalyptic society, religion, tradition, spirituality, nature -- You beautifully weave all these things into your work. There is the sense that you are ahead of your time. What was your childhood like? Very imaginative I'm guessing.
I was a strange kid. I had a very happy childhood. Both of my parents were highly educated, hardworking and successful, and I had my siblings. We grew up in a place that was developing. This was in the South suburbs of Chicago. There were a lot of empty lots that had a lot of plants in them. And that's where I used to hang out. And this is where I developed my love for nature and insects. Growing up, my parents would take us back to Nigeria. And I loved reading. The minute I was able to read I did not stop. It fueled my imagination. You mix together all my experiences and you could see where all the strangeness comes from.

BV: An extremely important problem that exists around the world that you deal with head on in your book, in graphic detail, is the rape of women -- The shame that women are made to endure, the double victimization, by perpetrator and then also by society. Why was it important for you to talk about this in the manner in which you did?
As I wrote the book, a lot of the things that bothered me were issues pertaining especially to African women. Who Fears Death took six years to write. There was information in there that I had been gathering for at least 10 years. When I read about the weaponized rape in Sudan, I was deeply angered and disgusted. The break down of it is that Christian black African women are being raped by ethnically Arab men with the hopes of producing multi-racial and multi-tribal children. You see, these children will be considered the children of the father due to patriarchal assumptions. Thus, these men were seeking to destroy families from the inside out. That was an example of one of the problems as it pertains to African women. Our bodies are a war zone. Through domestic violence, female circumcision, the way names are passed down, widowhood rights, the diseased institution of marriage, the lack of education, I can go on. Who Fears Death dealt with a lot of those issues.

BV: In the book you deal with rites of passage and sexual repression. For the girls in Jwahir, they undergo a rite of passage into womanhood in which they undergo a procedure that is purported to benefit them. As the story unfolds, so do some interesting circumstances. Why did you revisit this rite of passage later on in the book?

There is a scene in the book that deals with female circumcision. I think that it is a terrible, barbaric practice, but I also believe in respecting people's traditions and addressing things in a respectful way. So, when I wrote that scene I was in conversation with all of the assumptions that are made about it. Also, when it comes to rites of passage, for instance, marriage, everyone puts so much focus on marriage, but they never really look at the rest of the person's life. I look at marriage as an ongoing process, so you look at how things evolve over time. So, that's why I had to revisit the topic of circumcision again later in the book. I didn't feel like it was done. When you think of women who are circumcised in our world, they don't just go through a moment of pain (where some almost die and some DO die) and then it's over. They have to live with that for the rest of their lives.

BV: So, what's next for you?
I have a forthcoming novel that comes out in April 2011 and it's titled 'Akata Witch.' Also, the film stuff and some other secret stuff. In terms of writing another adult novel, I've got so many different stories in my head and on paper. I've got a lot of material.

BV: Let's talk about the film stuff. There are some big things happening with 'Who Fears Death.' Currently, the story is being optioned for a movie by film producer Kisha Cameron-Dingle, who is the program director of the Focus Features Africa First Short Film Program, a program for filmmakers from Africa. She associate produced 'Sometimes in April' and 'Bamboozled.' That's exciting. How do plan to retain the authenticity of the work and in general, how do you maintain authenticity in your work?

Trust me, I got warnings left and right from people about this. 'Who Fears Death' is the one book that I hold closest to me. I'm most protective of it, because I think that's the one people can mess up most easily. The producer who optioned it, Kisha Cameron-Dingle, I've spoken in depth with her and Wanuri Kahiu, who is supposed to be directing the film. Having spoken with them, I feel very safe. They have a clear idea of what they want to do with this, and they are not about to take it in a direction that would do a disservice to the book and what the book stands for. I researched them, spoke with them, and I listened. I happened to be in Trinidad a few weeks ago and for some reason Wanuri was there. The ancestors are making things possible here. I have no fear, no fear whatsoever.

http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,entry&id=929359&pid=929358&uts=1283543569

http://cdn.channel.aol.com/cs_feed_v1_6/csfeedwrapper.swf

BV on Books: Hot List for This Season

BV on Books' Hot List for This Season

BV on Books: Hot List for This Season

In 'The Porn Star Guide to Great Sex' (St. Martin's Press, $24.99), porn star veteran Mr. Marcus pens a guide that will set the house on fire. Yes, the whole house, honey! He does not just recommend tricks in bedroom; the Guide comes complete with illustrations and gives tips on how men and women can be better lovers and mates.

BV on Books: Hot List for This Season

In 'The Cheating Curve' (Dafina/Kensington, $15), Paula T. Renfroe spins a captivating yarn about marriage, infidelity and friendship. Can a friendship survive when a woman, whose husband's infidelity nearly tore her apart, learns that her best friend is cheating on her husband?

BV on Books: Hot List for This Season

In 'Visible Lives: Three Stories in Tribute to E. Lynn Harris' (Kensington, $15), Terrance Dean, James Early Hardy and Stanley Bennett Clay join forces to write moving tributes to the celebrated best-selling novelist with hot tales of sex and the search for love by gay black men.

BV on Books: Hot List for This Season

In 'Black is the New White' (Gallery, $15), Paul Mooney, the talented comic presents a sobering memoir about growing up in the Deep South and moving to Hollywood and New York City to write for some of television's most successful shows, including 'Chappelle's Show,' 'In Living Color,' 'Saturday Night Live,' 'Good Times,' and 'Sanford and Son.' But his formidable talent for making jokes about race propelled him to the forefront of the comedy scene as if he were a comedian himself.

BV on Books: Hot List for This Season

In 'Butterfly Rising' (Create Space, $15), Tanya Wright, who portrays the recurring role of Deputy Kenya Jones on HBO's hit drama 'True Blood,' writes her debut novel, which tells the story of an unlikely friendship between two women, a grief-stricken young singer and the town's seductress. The two end up taking a road trip that transforms their lives forever in this heartwarming story.

BV on Books: Hot List for This Season

In 'Luke Cage Marvel Noir' (Marvel Comics, $14.99), artist and illustrator Shawn Martinbrough brings dark comic book character Luke Cage to life with his colorful and striking drawings in this absorbing tale about a "bad, bad man.'' Even if you're not a big fan of comics, you will be hooked on this story. In the fourth of the series, Cage returns to Harlem after 10 years behind bars, hoping to find his old flame, but he gets drawn into a complex web of murder and darkness.

BV on Books: Hot List for This Season

In 'Foxy: My Life in Three Acts' (Springboard Press/Hachette Book Group, $24.99), by Pam Grier with Andrea Cagan, the iconic actress, who immortalized roles such as Foxy Brown, Coffy and Friday Foster, reveals the darker side of what appeared to be a glamorous life in this heartrending memoir about love, survival and restoration.

BV on Books: Hot List for This Season

In 'My Father's House' (St. Martin's Press, $24.99), posthumously released by E. Lynn Harris, the author weaves a powerful story of love, desire, deception, murder and absolution around the life of Bentley L. Dean III, who takes a gamble on losing his family inheritance when he reveals his homosexuality.

BV on Books: Hot List for This Season

In 'Till You Hear From Me' by Pearl Cleage (One World/Ballantine Books, $25), the award-winning author highlights her unique storytelling ability by capturing the heartbeat of America with the tale of Ida B. Wells Dunbar, a 35-year-old presidential campaign worker who wins a job at the White House. The story underscores the difficulties of parlaying hard work into fair game in the shifting world of politics. It also intersects with a post-Obama America and the civil rights movement.

BV on Books: Hot List for This Season

HOT ON HUFFPOST BLACKVOICES:

BlackVoices.com

Categories

Contributors

Other BV Blogs