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Ghanaian writer and author of The Rest of You, Maame Blue, says her debut novel, Bad Love, was inspired by own dating experiences at the time of writing: ‘I wanted to explore how first love shapes who we are for everyone else we meet afterwards, and what it means to navigate a relationship for the first time.’
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?
As a child, one of my favourite books was Matilda by Roald Dahl, mostly because despite being treated like she was nothing, it turned out that Matilda was everything. As a teen, I loved messy romance—specifically teen fiction or Jacqueline Wilson’s Girls series, which felt so familiar and real to me: all possibility with a side of mistakes and a dash of hope.
If your life so far was a series of texts, which text (fiction or non-fiction) represents you at this moment?
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
What’s the last thing you read that changed your mind about something?
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson changed my whole worldview about humanity, structural racism, discrimination and hierarchy. The fact that there are invented frameworks we have all chosen to live by that determine a person’s value has really made me want to lean into empathy and away from individualism.
What is your writing process: edit as you write or draft first, then edit?
I definitely believe in drafting first, editing later. Getting the words on the page must always be the priority, and then I can shape it into something meaningful afterwards. I cannot edit a blank page, so it’s always words first, knowing that they will likely be terrible and that’s ok. I can fix it at the editing stage.
What was your process for writing your debut novel, Bad Love?
First, I wrote it in a notebook, then on a typewriter, and then on a laptop. It was a three-stage editing process that I had not planned for, but I loved every bit of it, even the laborious parts.
And what inspired this story?
It was actually through conversations with friends and my own dating experiences at the time. I wanted to explore how first love shapes who we are for everyone else we meet afterwards, and what it means to navigate a relationship for the first time, when you are still learning who you are, not to speak of who the other person is.
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About the Author
is a Ghanaian-Londoner, creative writing tutor and author of two novels; Bad Love, which won the 2021 Betty Trask award, and The Rest Of You, published internationally in 2024.
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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