Ola Awonubi interview

Where were you born and raised?

I was born in London and raised in Brighton by foster parents.

What was it that first got you into writing and when did you start writing?

I’ve always had a vivid imagination and used to make up stories in my head when I was a kid. I remember being around five years old when I used take my Ladybird and Enid Blyton books and write short stories around them with black characters.

Which writers have influenced you the most?

Chinua Achebe – a great Nigerian writer who wrote Things Fall Apart and No Longer at Ease - novels that spoke a lot about the effect colonisation had on West African society, family and culture. Cyprian Ekwensi, Buchi Emecheta and Doris Lessing. Also Dickens, Bronte and Steinbeck and Hemingway.

More recent inspiration has come from writers such as Chinua Achebe, Chimanda Adichie and Alexander McCall Smith of the No 1 Lady Detective series fame. Favourite books The Purple Hibiscus by Chimanda because it’s a coming of age story told by a child about growing up with a very strict catholic father and how that affects her life.

What kind of things do you write/ What are you working on now?

I am currently working on a collection of short stories based on the African experience in England, a collection of poems and a novel – a cross cultural romance that explores the social, cultural and historical ties that bind and divide Africans and Afro-Caribbean’s post colonisation.

What is your writing day like?

I am currently studying for an MA in Creative writing, so its about assignments and lots of reading and studying the techniques of writing from reading other writers. When that’s over I have time to work on my own projects, or send things of for competitions. I try to spend 2-3 hours a day writing – which is usually after work in the evenings.

What is the most exciting thing about writing for you?

Working on characters and having the power to craft your story. You have the chance to play around with their lives, circumstances and engineer your own ending.

What’s the most frustrating thing about writing for you?

Writers Block and not having enough time to spend writing.

What’s the best piece of feedback that you’ve had from your audience?

During a reading of my short story The Pink House I heard my audience laughing as I described one of the characters. Afterwards people said that story, told through the voice of a 10 year old, made them remember elements of their childhood.

Do you write for a particular audience, or is your first priority to satisfy your own creativity?

As a creative person I seek to express that first of all. I don’t usually set out to write for a particular audience. I just write and find that people sometimes identify with what I have written. Sometimes it’s a particular audience – sometimes its more general. I guess it depends on the subject matter.

Short stories published online are as follows:

www.african-writing.com/four - click on Ola Awonubi on the left hand side of contributors for memoirs titled Born in Britain. June 08

www.african-writing.com/hol - click on Ola Awonubi on the left hand side of contributors for her short story titled Moving Forward Jan/Dec 08 edition

http://www.secretattic.com/Awonubi.htm - Entered the Secret Attic November 2007 competition and was published in their eBook for that month. My story Calling Home was selected from over 400 entrants.

www.wordsofcolour.co.uk/interviews_pinkhouse.htm - short story winner of words of colour writting competition

www.wordsofcolour.co.uk/competition_may_june08.htm - A day in the life of a budding writer

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