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Kenyan writer and author of Half Portraits Under Water, Dennis Mugaa, believes that President William Ruto’s administration is authoritarian: ‘Young people genuinely want a better country, but we are living in a country that has been slowly sliding into authoritarianism over the past two years, sinc
Kenyan writer and author of Half Portraits Under Water, Dennis Mugaa, believes that President William Ruto’s administration is authoritarian: ‘Young people genuinely want a better country, but we are living in a country that has been slowly sliding into authoritarianism over the past two years, since President Ruto’s government took over. Beyond that, his leadership has been very poor.’
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, I derived great pleasure from reading, therefore, I read anything I could get my hands on. I read abridged classics; I found so many of them interesting and worldly. I distinctly remember reading The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. In school, I read Arabian Nights and The Adventures of TinTin series by Herge, and I was amazed by how colourful these books were. Of course, back then, I never read Adventures of TinTin with a critical eye to notice its racist undertones; I simply enjoyed the stories and the adventures. I read a lot of Swahili children’s and young adult literature books. I also read The Famous Five books by Enid Blyton, the Supa Strikas comic book series, the Pacesetter series, Barbara Kimenye’s Moses series, and the Bible. I liked reading Bible stories so much that when I was ten years old, I read the Bible from cover to cover. Even though I would go on to lose my faith later in life, I always felt that Bible stories were very enriching. One book trilogy that was integral to me at the time was His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.
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Nigerian novelist, poet and author of Graceland, Chris Abani, does not believe ‘Nigerian literature’ exists as a category: ‘It is a common misconception that there is a fixed category that can be read as essentially “Nigerian literature”. Nigeria has 500 nations, 500 languages and about 2,000 dialects. While culture and language can overlap, the level of diversity is such that Nigerian literature cannot be easily narrowed down.’
For the co-founder and publishing director, of Cassava Republic Press, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, it is telling that African literature is often pronounced dead in recent years, when more women and queer voices are becoming more prominent: ‘The loudest obituary writers about African literature tend to be men. These elegies seem to come from a tacit sense of personal or generational displacement rather than from the actual state of the field.’
Nigerian poet, novelist and author of Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Broken-Hearted, Ben Okri, argues that Nigerian literature doesn’t always have to be about Nigeria: ‘Nigerian literature limits itself to Nigeria and then limits even the ways in which the country can be written about. What we want is a vast literature, a great literature…that speaks to all humanity.’
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