Author of ‘Books as Ammunition: How I Found Solace in Rereading Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen’, Ope Adedeji, believes a common misconception about African writing is that it is only writing that explores heavy themes through a limited set of genres: ‘This misconception attempts to streamline what African writers can write and publish. It’s a Western definition, which amounts to gatekeeping, and is often held by people with publishing power.’
First Draft is our interview column, featuring authors and other prominent figures on books, reading, and writing.
Our questions are italicized.
What books or kinds of books did you read growing up?
I read all kinds of things growing up. Because I was born in a Christian home, it started with Christian comic books and Bible stories. Then there were magazines which I loved staring at even when I couldn’t read. My father is an avid reader and buys all kinds of books. Between the time I was three and six, I read Ladybird classics like The Gingerbread Man, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, Chicken Licken (a personal favourite). I would save up money in primary school—gifts from uncles and grandparents—to buy Enid Blyton titles at book fairs because everyone was talking about them.
I was in the art club of my primary school, so it was essential to have read the cool books. My primary school also had a library where I first discovered Koku Baboni and Sugar Girl by Kola Onadipe. I never finished Koku Baboni, though, because we were never allowed to take books out of the library...
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