Today, we’d like to introduce you to Chika Unigwe.
Hi Chika, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve always loved reading, and for me, the natural offshoot of that was to start writing. Even before I became a published writer, I’d started thinking of myself as a writer. Writing is how I answer questions that bug me and work through issues that won’t let me sleep.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I published my first novel in Belgium in the early 2000s. I had taken part in a writing contest, and the jury liked my story and asked if I had a novel in me. I think in the same year, I was shortlisted for a prize in the UK, and at the prize-giving ceremony, I met my first agent, David Godwin (who was Arundathi Roy’s agent too), and the editor with whom I’ve worked on three novels so far, Ellah Wakama.
To be a writer, one must grow a thick skin. Your work won’t be to everyone’s liking; it’s not money. Yet, no matter how many books one writes, no matter how extensively published one is, one keeps hoping that one’s write that book that everyone would love. I guess I am an eternal optimist (all writers are, I think otherwise we wouldn’t write).
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I write short stories, essays, and novels. I also teach creative writing at Georgia College, Milledgeville. My novel, On Black Sisters Street, about four Nigerian sex workers in Belgium, one of whom dies, has been translated into over a dozen languages.
My short story collection, Better Never than Late, came out in Swedish last year, and my latest novel, The Middle Daughter (a reimagining of the myth of Persephone), set in Enugu, Nigeria, and Atlanta, was on Oprah magazine’s list of ’10 African Writers To Read” in 2023 and was chosen by independent bookstores in the UK as their book of the month (April 2023). Its paperback edition will be out in April this year. I am drawn to stories of people at the margins, narratives of strong women, and narratives told from multiple points of view.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Knowing that you’ve done your absolute best, regardless of the result.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chikaunigwe.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amarachikaunigwe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/chikaunigwe
Image Credits
Victor Ehikamenor
