‘I Always Begin My Writing in My Mind.’

Author of ‘A Common Currency For West Africa’, Abdulrasheed Isah, wishes he had discovered Arundhati Roy much earlier. ‘I am amazed at how she writes fascinating stories with profound rigour and simplicity… and how she uses fiction as a tool to fight social injustice. Few writers combine these qualities.’

By Abdulrasheed Isah

April 9, 2021

Abdulrasheed Isah. OJIMA ABALAKA.

Our questions are italicized.

What books or kinds of books did you read growing up?

As a kid in primary school, I mostly read textbooks. My favourite was the English textbook because I loved its stories and pictures. However, like most kids growing up in northern Nigeria at the turn of the century, I read a lot of Hausa novels, which were in ample supply in our house and neighbourhoods.

I read all the popular books such as Ahmadu Ingawa’s Iliya Dan Maikarfi, John Tafida Umaru Zaria’s Jiki Magayi, and Abubakar Imam’s Magana Jari Ce. At night, we usually gathered around with my siblings to read until it was lights-out. Growing up, Hausa fiction fascinated me and sparked supernatural imaginations in my curious mind.

At secondary school, I was introduced to a wide range of popular English literature such as Ernest Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea and George Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy them as much as the Hausa novels because they were a bit inaccessible and bland to me.

What’s something you wish more people knew about the Hausa novels you grew up reading?

They were beautifully written and have good storylines.

If you could rewrite a classic book/text, which would it be and why?

If I could rewrite a classic, it would be Camara Laye’s autobiographical novel The African Child, not because the original is bad, but because it ends abruptly. It is the best book I have read in my life.

Quite apart from the author’s superb depiction of traditional cultures and colonial imprints in Guinea, I felt a personal connection with the story of Camara when I read the book about a decade ago. In retrospect, I think he shares a lot in common with me—from early upbringing in a village to the pain of separating from mother as a kid, to winning a scholarship and traveling to Europe for his studies. However, I wanted to know about Camara’s experiences in Paris, how he compared it to living in Kourassa and Conakry, Guinea, and how he kept in touch with his tearful mother. In short, readers deserve more.

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About the Author

Abdulrasheed Isah

is a DAAD Scholar pursuing a doctorate at the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at University of Bonn, Germany. As a Commonwealth Scholar, he obtained an MSc Development Economics at SOAS University of London, United Kingdom.

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‘I Always Begin My Writing in My Mind.’