Tiny Interview #12 - Ukamaka Olisakwe
Here we ask authors we admire to share their musings on art and writing, spill their current reading obsessions, and give us a tiny wedge into their creative life. In this Tiny Interview, meet Ukamaka Olisakwe, author of the novels Ogandima, Or Everything Will Be All Right; Eyes of a Goddess; and most recently, Don't Answer When They Call Your Name.
(Interviewed by Cameron Finch)
‘Library Stacks, Lower Main Hall, Smithsonian Institution Building,’ 1912
Q: What book(s) are you reading right now?
A: I am currently reading Hernan Diaz’s Trust, which recently won the Pulitzer. I had it all this time but put off reading the masterpiece because of academic obligations. I am also re-reading Chika Unigwe’s newly released book, The Middle Daughter, a modern retelling of Hades and Persephone’s story which also explores postpartum complications, motherhood, family, and love. I am also reading Ayobami Adebayo’s new book, A Spell of Good Things, which interrogates classism and political rupture in Nigeria. I have just received my copy of R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface and can’t wait to get into that buzzy book that I hear takes a keen look at the American publishing industry.
Q: What are your current writing projects?
A: I recently published my first YA novel, Don’t Answer When They Call Your Name, in which a young girl goes on an adventurous quest to save her community, and which meditates on some of the themes I am often preoccupied with, like family and love. I had a lot of fun writing this book because I recently noticed that the same playful, airy tone has sifted into my current project, a darkly humorous novel that explores complicated female relationships and romantic love. My other project, my Ph.D. dissertation, is a lot heavier.
Q: Do any other art forms influence your writing? If so, how?
A: Film, absolutely, because I work on screenplays. I am currently writing a TV series for Studio Canal, an epic that retells the lives of a community of great women who lived between the 1800s and 1900s. This project has been very taxing; it demands careful research, but it’s been an amazing journey working on this with an amazing team of writers.
This project has taught me to be a lot more patient and deliberate with the plot. Here, you have your lineup of episodes which you then go on to develop, and those lineups take lots of preparation, unlike with short stories where all I often need is the voice. With my stories, the voice dictates the flow, the pacing, the story, etc. But I like to think that I have grown; these days, I take time to plan the project. I try to stitch the story to characters and humor, all the while working toward a coherent and well-paced structure that is rich with tension.
Q: Where is your favorite place to write, and do you have any writing rituals?
A: I mostly write on my bed, especially when I am leisurely working on my stories. It’s this weird ritual I find quite relaxing. But when I want to hold myself accountable, when I set a deadline that I must meet, I work in a private room in my university’s library. I sometimes find the cold, serious silence oppressive, but it keeps me accountable to myself.
Q: Who is a writer you wish more people were reading?
A: Jamel Brinkley! He is the writer’s writer, a master storyteller. To get a feel of what a magnificent artist he is, start with his O. Henry Prize-winning short story, “Witness,” the title story of his upcoming collection.
