TMHO Exclusive! Interview with Chika Unigwe

By: tmhogirl (11 December 2008)

As a brand new website with absolutely no reputation to speak of, or glorious acclaimed reviews to give us some street cred (and the most in your face about us section which talks about reclaiming free speech, and celebrating being a nation of opinionated moaners, whiners and wannabe writers) it was with some trepidation that we decided to approach a couple of our favourite people for interviews that would appear on our launch edition, that is, the very first time ever we subject the world to our random thoughts.

And so I made the rather tentative but firm approach to Chika Unigwe, who was top of our list of authors to interview. I must admit that I completely expected to be referred to some big shot publicist, who would subject me to torture and random questions about the website, and its intentions. I was prepared to remain firm and assertive, after all, the integrity of the site was more important than any celebrity that might be *fortunate* enough to grace our website's pages. Our ethos was after all, a website by the people, for the people, and we had absolutely no intention of selling out at the first hurdle.

But I was not fobbed off to any scary publicist. As anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting or chatting with the beautiful and talented Chika will attest, there are no false airs or diva tendencies about her. She says it as it is, and she is not afraid to be different, or to have a voice. She immediately responded to our request for an interview with the affirmative, and in spite of her busy schedule, also met our rather tight deadline for the interview.

If I wasn't already an admirer of Chika, the ease of dealing with her, her grace, intelligence, immense charm, down to earth attitude, the sincerity and depths of her answers, and infectious sense of humour, would have converted me into her biggest fan!

Thank you so much for agreeing to talk to us at the launch of our website. Here on Tearingmyhairout.com we want to know at least three things that make you tear your hair out?!

I tear my hair out when I have to deal with judgmental people, pretentious people and ignorant people who think Africa is an amorphous country.

Talking about people that think Africa is an amorphous country, you appear very proud of your African heritage and your native Igbo language. How do you maintain links to this culture and instil them in your children whilst living in Belgium and being married to a white Belgian?

I believe that you carry your identity within you. My youngest understands a lot of Igbo. I remember once when we went to visit a Nigerian woman and she went, "How are you?" to my son in English. He just stared at her and she asked me if he did not talk yet. I said that he did but that he had not understood her.

So she said, "Well, I don't speak Dutch." I said, "No, but you could ask him in Igbo."

Then she went, "Kedu?" [Igbo for how are you?] And my son answered, "Odimma." [Fine, thank you.]

When he has been very good, his older brothers normally shout, "Kualu Jefke aka." [Clap for Jefke] And he claps for himself.

My sons are aware of their Igbo heritage. They eat traditional Igbo meals such as gari and soup. They know that Mama is from Osumenyi. They have been there too.

Please tell us about your latest novel On Black Sisters' Street published as Fata Morgana in Dutch

On Black Sister's Street is about four Nigerian women who in search of a better life relocate to Europe to work as prostitutes. They all come into Belgium via the same pimp, Dele. The death of one of them is the catalyst for the others to re-examine their lives, and their dreams.

What sort of research did you do in order to write about a life that is so obviously different from your life?

I was challenged by a writer friend of mine who read the earliest drafts to do some field work, to go to the red light district and talk to the sort of women whose lives I was trying to portray. So I dressed up in a mini skirt and high boots and went to Antwerp's red light district Schipperskwartier, with my very supportive husband.

The greatest lesson I learnt from talking to the prostitutes, young Nigerian women like me, is that shame is a luxury and we tend to forget that. How much shame can you afford to have, if you have got nothing at all? If you've got your entire family depending on you for financial support? Where will you draw the line?

The research also made me really angry at our Nigerian government which makes commercial sex work in Europe a much more attractive alternative for young women, some with immense talents but obviously with no connections back in Nigeria where nepotism is still the only way to secure many jobs.

I wrote an essay on my research titled Any Old Antwerp Night and it is available online.

[See bottom of page for link to Chika's essay.]

The main characters in On Black Sisters' Street Sisi, Ama, Efe and Joyce are Nigerians who work as prostitutes in Antwerp seeking their fortunes in Europe. How has your writing been influenced by growing up in Nigeria?

When I draw into memories of my childhood to create characters, they are all memories from growing up in Enugu, Nigeria. I remember the hills and how I could see them from my balcony. I enjoyed gazing at them for hours and in one of my stories, I have a character looking at the Udi hills from her balcony, "…rising and folding into each other like an enormous blanket."

When should we expect On Black Sisters' Street to hit the bookstores in the UK and the USA?

Jonathan Cape will release it in the UK in July and I expect the US release (Random House) will be around the same time too.

[On Black Sisters' Street is currently available to pre-order from Amazon, see bottom of page.]

Will you be doing a book tour in the UK and the USA, if so, when should we expect to see you?

I hope so! The publishers handle these things and so at the moment I have no idea of the schedule.

You talk about drawing memories for your characters from growing up in Enugu. Tell us more about you, and about your background and childhood growing up in Enugu.

I was born in Enugu. I love Enugu. I had a wonderful childhood: fantastic parents, brilliant siblings, most of the time [she says with a sense of pride and humour] and loads of books. My parents always bought us books. In primary school, my dad subscribed my younger sister and I to Highlights for Children, an American journal for children, which really opened my eyes to the rest of the world. It came once a month and always had a geography section which also talked about the customs of whichever part of the world it treated.

Wow! Your childhood sounds idyllic. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I always wanted to be a writer. My earliest memory was in primary two when the author Flora Nwapa, whose daughter was in my class, would often come in with a bunch of her books to occupy us while we waited to be picked up. I wanted so much to be like her.

Tell us more about your early works, both published and unpublished

I started off writing poetry but when I moved to Belgium, I suffered from a massive case of loss of self-esteem. I suddenly found myself in an environment where nothing I knew mattered, where I had to rely on my husband for the most banal conversations, where I had to learn the social etiquette. As a consequence of all these, I found that I could no longer write. It was almost as if I was too drained to write anything. When I started writing again a few years later, I realized that I could no longer write poetry. The Muse had left me. It is only in the past few months that I have started, cautiously, dabbling into poetry again

We are all glad that you are writing poetry again. Which of your works are you most proud of and which has been the most challenging to write?

So far, it is On Black Sisters' Street because I had to rid myself of my prejudices so as to produce something which is neither judgemental nor pontifical.

Other than drawing memories from your childhood, where else do you get your inspirations from?

I get my inspirations from everywhere. I know I shouldn't but I eavesdrop on people's conversations while I am on the train or in the bus. You hear the most amazing stuff, and get the most inspirational story lines. A few days ago, I was travelling to Antwerp by bus and this young man comes in and sits across the aisle from me. He recognizes the man sitting opposite him and soon they start talking. They talk about how it's been ages since they last saw and then one says, "You know I'm going to be a father soon." But there is something sad in the way he says it. The other congratulates him. He then tells his friend that the pregnancy was unplanned. "I'm only twenty-four. I don't want a baby now. She said she forgot to take her pill once but I don't believe her. Twenty-four, what am I going to do with a baby? I wish I'd stayed with my former girlfriend. She never lied to me." I would love to do a story on this man; explore what happens once the baby arrives.

What an interesting story and we look forward to maybe spotting that theme in a future novel! People watching is definitely one of our favourite pastimes but let's get back to your career. How did you get your first big break?

I won a Flemish literary competition and got a call from the publisher who had co-organized the contest asking if I had a novel.

You have obviously won many prizes, including the BBC Short Story Competition 2004 and the Commonwealth Short Story Award 2003 and in 2004 you were a finalist for the Caine Prize. How important is it as a writer to receive recognition for your work?

Every competition you win is a validation of your work and writers seek that. Writing isn't an exact science; it isn't an exact art like say putting a table together. If you make a table, you see whether you've done a good job or not, there are basic rules to guide you, such as: Are the legs wobbly or not? Is the finishing smooth? And so on. With writing, the success of a book is a reflection of the readers' reaction to it. So yes, when you win a competition, it's like you've been told, yes, this is good, you can do it, keep it up. It is enormously uplifting. You have to remember that most writers are incredibly full of self doubt and so that validation is a very good thing.

Your debut novel, De Feniks was shortlisted for the Vrouw en Kultuur debuutprijs for the best first novel by a female writer and it is the first book of fiction written by a Flemish author of African origin. How difficult was it to be published in a language other than English?

Moving to Belgium and not speaking the language was difficult at the beginning but I took intensive lessons at the university.

As an Afro/Belgian writer why do you think African writers such as yourself and Chimamanda Adichie (author of Half a Yellow Sun) are finally having this breakthrough into mainstream Western market?

Persistence and luck. Luck plays a great role in our profession and being at the right place at the right time.

Lastly, in 2007, you became the first person of African origin to be elected into Belgium's Turnhout City council. Why did you decide to run for City council?

The Flemish saying, Als je niet aan tafel zit, ben je vergetten (if you're not at the table, you're easily forgotten). I rage against a lot of things and it is easier to effect changes if you're at the table with the people who draw up the policies that affect you.

Rightly said Chika. Thank you very much. We are very grateful for your time, and we really hope that you will join us again really soon. I am also sure that our members would be interested in reading a post or two from you if you ever fancy joining us here at TMHO.

Thank you, my pleasure.

On Black Sisters' Street is available for pre-order through amazon.co.uk. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Sisters-Street-Chika-Unigwe/dp/0224085301/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227020207&sr=1-2

Chika's essay Any Old Antwerp Night is available online at: http://www.eclectica.org/v11n4/unigwe.html

You can also find out more about Chika on her website www.chikaunigwe.com

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Comments on this post:

"Wow! What a woman. I really enjoyed the interview. Congrats"

summer (14 December 2008)
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"I enjoyed the interview immensely, its good to see successful sisters not letting go of their culture, language and heritage generally.Nice one"

your world – your voice

TMHO Exclusive! Interview with Chika Unigwe

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