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Author of Face Me I Face You and co-founder of Sprinng, Oyindamola Shoola, is committed to creating a space where African writers can grow, thrive, and be celebrated for their unique contributions: ‘Sprinng was founded in 2016, inspired by the challenges my co-founder, Kanyinsola Olorunnisola, and I
Author of Face Me I Face You and co-founder of Sprinng, Oyindamola Shoola, is committed to creating a space where African writers can grow, thrive, and be celebrated for their unique contributions: ‘Sprinng was founded in 2016, inspired by the challenges my co-founder, Kanyinsola Olorunnisola, and I faced as young African writers. We recognized the limited support and resources available for writers on the continent. This gap often forces writers to seek opportunities abroad with limited resources to support them.’
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?
Despite growing up in a house full of books and readers, I did not grow up loving books enough to intentionally read. Outside what we were mandated to read, especially in Literature-in-English classes, I struggled to find pleasure in the books around me until my late teens when I gained the autonomy to explore much further. The first memorable books I chose and enjoyed included Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey, Seye Kuyinu’s Things I Wanted to Tell You In Other Words, and Seun Lari-William’s Garri for Breakfast.
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About the Author
is the author of the book, Face Me I Face You. Shoola is also the co-founder of Sprinng, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering African writers. She is the editor and programs director at Poetry Journal.
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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