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