Writing Bug Followed Love of Bugs

Written by Jan Jaben-Eilon Tuesday, December 06 2011

Snapshot: Nnedi Okorafor, author
Nnedi Okorafor was born in the United States to two Igbo (Nigerian) immigrant parents. Though American-born, Okorafor's muse is Nigeria. Her parents began taking her and her siblings to visit relatives there when she was very young. Because Nigeria is her muse, this is where many of her stories take place, either literally or figuratively. Because she grew up wanting to be an entomologist, even after becoming a writer she maintained that love of insects and nature. Her work is always filled with vivid flora and fauna.

Her first novel, Zahrah the Windseeker, takes place in a highly technological world based on Nigerian myths and culture. Her second novel, The Shadow Speaker, has characters from and takes place in the countries of Niger and Nigeria. Her young adult novel, Akata Witch, is about a teenage albino Nigerian girl who learns that she is part of a secret magical society. Her adult novel, Who Fears Death, is a dark, gritty magical realist novel that evenly combines African literature with fantasy-science fiction. Okorafor has had several short stories published and won innumerable awards.

Her short story, How Inyang Got Her Wings is about a young Efik girl with amazing powers in a remote southeastern Nigerian village. Her award-winning short story, Biafra, is a magical story about Nigeria's civil war, which took place in the late 1960s.

The Popular Mechanic is a story that touches on a very serious problem in Nigeria today – oil. More than 80 percent of the country's revenue comes from oil sales. Nigeria is American's fifth largest oil supplier. Yet, Nigerians continue to suffer from shortages of gasoline, and the country's most oil rich areas are some of the most poverty stricken places in the world.

Okorafor earned her bachelor’s in rhetoric from the University of Illinois, Chicago University, and her master’s in journalism from Michigan State University. She is also a graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop. She holds a Ph.D. in English and is a professor at Chicago State University. She resides in the suburbs of Chicago with her daughter, Anyaugo.

Womenetics: You have written so many books and short stories. Can you tell us which is your favorite?
Nnedi Okorafor: I’ll have to give the cliché response here. Every one of my books and stories is like a child to me. I don’t have a favorite because each is its own individual. Though each came from the same tree, each grew from a different seed with a different purpose. And each is special and dear to me.

Womenetics: More than 80 percent of Nigeria’s revenue comes from oil sales, yet Nigerians suffer from shortages of gasoline, and the country's most oil rich areas are some of the most poverty-stricken places in the world. What can be done to change that?
Okorafor: That’s a big question. The history of Nigeria’s corruption began with colonialism. It had its problems before that (one of those being the fact that "Nigeria” and the greater “Africa” are false constructs created by selfish greedy racist maniacal foreigners), but colonialism was The Great Monster. Colonialism was Nigeria’s Godzilla. When the colonialists left, they left a mess. The scramble for oil was the fuel (pun intended) behind the Biafran civil war. So this issue runs deep, and it was not completely self-created. The solution to the problem of the Niger Delta will not be easy or quick. It’s a raging symptom of the country’s greatest ailment: corruption.

Nigeria’s government has the power to impose restrictions and regulations on oil companies. It has the power to develop an affordable plan to build more oil refineries so Nigeria won’t have to import gasoline. The Niger Delta is among the world’s major wetlands and one of the richest deltas in the worlds. According to the World Wildlife Fund, it is now one of the five most polluted places on earth. The Nigerian government has the power to give the people who live in the Niger Delta their proper due, financially and environmentally. The problem is that too much of Nigeria’s government is festering with corruption, as is just about every other level of law and order in the country.

The government is not watching the back of its own land. It hasn’t for years. We cannot expect these oil companies to care about anyone but themselves. They are like children in many ways; they need someone to tell them the right thing to do. Nigeria has to protect itself. Nigeria has to care to protect itself. Instead you have government officials who lack an iota of patriotism. Not only do they pocket wealth that belongs to the country, they turn around and invest that wealth overseas. I can go on and on about this.

Womenetics: One of your award-winning short stories is about the Nigerian civil war. Yet it is called Biafra, which calls to mind that poor country. Why did you choose that name?
Okorafor: The Nigerian civil war is called the “Biafran War.” When the Igbos seceded from Nigeria, they called the seceded country, “Biafra.” It was named after the Bight of Biafra, the body of water right off its coast. In my short story Biafra, the main character is not Igbo. She is Efik. She flies through the worst of the Biafran War within Biafra, when people were starving and being slaughtered. She saves whomever she thinks needs saving, regardless of tribe. I think the choice of name for the story was pretty clear.

Womenetics: Did you write as a young girl and know that you always wanted to be a writer?
Okorafor: No. I didn’t start writing stories until I was 20 years old when I took a creative writing class. Up to then, I was sure I’d be an entomologist. I was a pre-med major. The only hint that I’d be a writer was that I read books like crazy. I loved stories. So my love of writing actually began with the enjoyment of reading stories.

Womenetics: For what did you win your latest award, the World Fantasy Award?
Okorafor: My novel, Who Fears Death, won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.

Womenetics: How did you get interested in insects when you were a child? Most girls shy away from bugs.
Okorafor: I’ve loved insects from the day I was born. There’s no “how” to it. That’s just me. They fascinate me in a million ways. My daughter loves insects, too. I think a lot of girls do.

Womenetics: You are teaching four classes at Chicago State University. What do you teach?
Okorafor: I teach literature, creative writing, journalism, film, composition; I’m a jack of all trades.

Womenetics: Do you think the art of writing can actually be taught or does someone need an innate talent for writing?
Okorakor: The craft side of writing can be taught. Talent cannot be taught. One is born with that (though, it can bubble forth at any time in one’s life, young or old).

Womenetics: How do you juggle your teaching, your writing, and taking care of your 8 year old?
Okorafor: I just do it. I don’t think or fret about it; I do it. If I think and fret, I get intimidated or disheartened. It is not easy, not at all. I also get a lot of help from my mother, and I am very blessed to have that help.

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Jan Jaben-Eilon was a founding staff writer of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Since then, she has been the international editor of Advertising Age magazine and has written for such publications as The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Washington Journalism Review, and Consumer Reports. She is the author of soon-to-be-published (There is) Life After Cancer. Jan and her husband have homes in Atlanta and Jerusalem.