TBR: Blood on the Brain by Esinam Bediako

TBR [to be read], a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books.

 

Give us your elevator pitch: what’s your book about in 2-3 sentences?

 

Akosua, a young Ghanaian American woman, struggles to confront the challenges in her life, including a head injury, a breakup, and the reappearance of her absentee father. She deals with her problems the best way she knows how—by rushing headlong into new ones—until the accumulation of unresolved trauma finally catches up to her.

 

Which character did you most enjoy creating? Why? And, which character gave you the most trouble, and why?

 

Akosua and I have demographics in common—Ghanaian heritage, Detroit origins, suburban upbringing, coming of age in New York City. But most of the decisions Akosua makes are the opposite of what I’d do, for better or worse. She’s outspoken and impulsive; I’m shy and make way too many lists. It was fun to create an alter ego.

 

Akosua's mother challenged me (just as she did Akosua). For a while, all I had was her laugh, "a spooked flock of birds, a flutter of wings escaping to the sky." I had a sense of who she was, but it was hard to translate that onto the page.

 

Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.

 

The novel had been my MFA thesis, and after graduation, I got some encouraging responses from agents but didn't land one. Imposter syndrome plus anxiety about getting a "real" job and paying back my student loans led me away from writing. I gained a truly rewarding career as a teacher and educational writer, but I lost my confidence as a writer.

 

But then (~15 years post-MFA) the pandemic happened. Of course it was terrible and scary and felt like the end of the world; at the same time, during that period, I found my way back to writing. My husband convinced me to revise Blood on the Brain and submit it to Red Hen's Ann Petry Prize, and shockingly, I won the prize, which included publication.

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

To help me combat my anxiety about whether my writing was “good enough” for publication, my therapist said, “Remember the little girl inside you who just loves a good story? Write for her.'"

 

My favorite writing advice is “write until something surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?

 

This is a story about identity, but initially, I also saw it as a story about a broken father/daughter relationship. As I wrote, I realized that it’s less about Akosua’s father and more about her dynamic with her mother. The final pages surprised me, too—but once I realized what the story is and isn’t about, the end made perfect sense.

 

How do you approach revision?

Teaching high school English helped me appreciate revision as an opportunity to re-see my work through fresh eyes. When students came for one-on-one help, I’d guide them to really dismantle their drafts and put them back together. Then I realized, “Ahh, I don’t take my own advice!” The new novel I'm working on has undergone radical transformations, which is a good thing.

 

Inquiring foodies and hungry book clubs want to know: Any food/s associated with your book? (Any recipes I might share?)

Wisdom’s Fried Tilapia

 

*****

 

READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR:  www.esinambediako.com

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR OWN TBR STACK: Bookshop

 

TBR: Japa & Other Stories by Iheoma Nwachukwu

TBR [to be read], a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books.

 

Give us your elevator pitch: what’s your book about in 2-3 sentences?

 

Japa & Other Stories is about Nigerian immigrants yearning for a self in America, and sometimes in other parts of the world. One character bilocates in the heat of their yearning, another folds himself into a box on a journey to the fulfillment of his deepest desire. Others embark on a treacherous trek across the Sahara Desert trying to find home in foreign cities.

 

Which character did you most enjoy creating? Why?

 

 Ahamefula (in “Japa Boys & Japa Girls”). A character who shows up in two stories, and in one of the stories he appears in different locations at the same time. He is deeply mutilated and frustrating, constantly making bad, humorous decisions. From the POV of a reader, a fantastic companion on the page.

 

And which character gave you the most trouble, and why?

 

Rasaki. The protagonist who travels to Russia in “You Illegals” to watch the World Cup. Throwing a Nigerian character into a landscape I had never visited presented obvious problems of believability. Trying to figure out how he might act in his interactions with Russian culture, and the Russian people was difficult to accomplish. Eventually I read hundreds of blogs written by Nigerians living in Russia, and watched Vlogs by Nigerian immigrants in Russia to become comfortable enough to render this character with the kind of easy intimacy I look for in characters when I read fiction.

 

Which story did you most enjoy writing?

 

To be honest, I enjoyed writing all the stories, though I might be slightly partial to “Japa Girls” in which a character bilocates.

 

Why?

 

I like working out the supernatural in fiction. It’s such an important fabric of my understanding of the world, and also something which I do not fully understand—so it’s always giving. I believe every human being is part-spirit; whether you believe it or not, you’re what you are. The uncanny is a kind of wildness that attacks our sense of order, though we find it infinitely stimulating.

 

And, which story gave you the most trouble, and why?

 

Two stories gave me the most trouble. The frame story, “To You Americans,” and “Spain’s Last Colonial Outposts” where I switch perspectives—third person/ first person plural. Frame stories are by their very nature like matryoshka dolls. A story inside a story. Rhythm inside rhythm. The outside story and the inside one have to be expanding at just the right pace so that, in the end, the story doesn’t tilt. That’s usually difficult to do.

 

Switching narrators in a story can be confusing for the reader. So again, the rhythm has to be weighed right. The switches happening in a way that feels necessary, that makes the reader believe they’ve received a burst of energy and promise.

 

Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.

 

In the three years before I won the Flannery O’Connor, my then-agent tried to sell my collection to several publishers with little success. I entered a few book contests, too. At some point it occurred to me that I needed to rearrange the stories in the collection and write new ones. I had a couple of stories that had been published in stellar journals but didn’t really belong in the book. It took tremendous courage to cut them out. I sought out a unity in the collection. It took about six months to arrange the stories in what I thought was the right order. Then I prayed for success.

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

Without conflict fiction is just a boring rendition of details. Which is another way of saying, your character must yearn for something. Every human being wants something. And to seek is to suffer.

 

My favorite writing advice is “write until something surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?

 

The incredible amount of research I had to do for each story. For “Urban Gorilla” I had about a hundred pages of research. Images included. I’m a very visual writer.

 

What’s something about your book that you want readers to know?

 

This is serious fiction that also makes you laugh. I appreciate humor in fiction. One of my wrting professors, Elizabeth McCracken used to say, “Don’t be afraid to be funny.”

 

Inquiring foodies and hungry book clubs want to know: Any food/s associated with your book?

 

I drank a mix of hibiscus tea, plus ginger and garlic while writing this book. It improved my eyesight considerably.

 

*****

 

READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: https://iheomanwachukwu.com

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR OWN TBR STACK:  https://ugapress.org/book/9780820367279/japa-and-other-stories/

 

READ A STORY FROM THIS BOOK, “Hosanna Japa Town”:  https://oxfordamerican.org/authors/iheoma-nwachukwu