Sola Osofisan
09-05-2009, 04:43 PM
Written by Amina Alhassan
We hear you’re prepping your sophomore book. True?
Yes. It’s a story about loss, grief and nostalgia for a city. It is set in Port Harcourt. This story is closer to me than ‘Yellow-Yellow’ because it is giving me an opportunity to deal with my current feelings about Port Harcourt. I loved the city when I was growing up and now I can’t really understand it. I am not excited to visit it and I don’t even like talking about it.
Is it true that the story is set against the backdrop of the Hausa community over there?
The main character is mixed Hausa and Rivers, so you see some of that culture clash in a community in Port Harcourt. For research, I drew from my personal experiences, talking to friends and I did some focus group sessions last year regarding the militancy in Port Harcourt and the new atmosphere.
I chose the Hausa community because of its rich history and cultural heritage. Plus Hausa people are quite interesting.
Do you feel any pressure to perform, given that your debut novel won the biggest prize in Africa?
Of course. But also personally, I want to tell a better story. You always want to improve on your skills, make a bigger impact, etc.
And the $50,000 prize money...how did you spend it?
(Laughter) Some of it is still cooling. Some went to a vacation in Cuba. Some may go to another degree in law.
More (http://www.weekly.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1037:why-my-next-bookll-focus-on-hausa-community&catid=48:weekend-magazine&Itemid=135)
We hear you’re prepping your sophomore book. True?
Yes. It’s a story about loss, grief and nostalgia for a city. It is set in Port Harcourt. This story is closer to me than ‘Yellow-Yellow’ because it is giving me an opportunity to deal with my current feelings about Port Harcourt. I loved the city when I was growing up and now I can’t really understand it. I am not excited to visit it and I don’t even like talking about it.
Is it true that the story is set against the backdrop of the Hausa community over there?
The main character is mixed Hausa and Rivers, so you see some of that culture clash in a community in Port Harcourt. For research, I drew from my personal experiences, talking to friends and I did some focus group sessions last year regarding the militancy in Port Harcourt and the new atmosphere.
I chose the Hausa community because of its rich history and cultural heritage. Plus Hausa people are quite interesting.
Do you feel any pressure to perform, given that your debut novel won the biggest prize in Africa?
Of course. But also personally, I want to tell a better story. You always want to improve on your skills, make a bigger impact, etc.
And the $50,000 prize money...how did you spend it?
(Laughter) Some of it is still cooling. Some went to a vacation in Cuba. Some may go to another degree in law.
More (http://www.weekly.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1037:why-my-next-bookll-focus-on-hausa-community&catid=48:weekend-magazine&Itemid=135)