Historian and author of ‘Nigeria’s March to The Gallows: Nigeria, South Sudan and the False Security of Secession’, Gbọláhàn Adébíyì, writes like a baker: ‘while researching and writing is rigorous, the joys of the rigour are in the eventual publishing, a properly-baked cake—between writer and editor—to share with all.’
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?
Growing up, there were no children literature books lying around for reading nor were any such books read to my inquisitive ears. My childhood was full of solitude and playfulness as my parents struggled to make ends meet. So, instead of being surrounded by stacks of books, I was surrounded by old furniture.
In primary school, I read tales like ‘The Bell and The Cat’ and ‘The Dark Continent’ in a book series titled Your Mastery of English.
I never saw or visited a library until I was eleven years old, and this was during my first year in secondary school. At this point, my reading became quite extensive but limited to the secondary school/WAEC syllabus. Alongside my classmates, I devoured texts like D. Olu Olagoke’s The Incorruptible Judge,’ Ifeanyi Ifeogbuna’s A Woman of Substance, Femi Osofisan’s Women of Owu, Asare Kanadu’s A Woman in Her Prime, Kobina Sekyi’s The Blinkards, Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, and George Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man.
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