Interview with Chika Unigwe

Just this week I was reading that JD Salinger's narrator in Catcher in the Rye is supposed to have said that a good book is one that makes you want to talk to the author on the phone. Well, here is the 21st century version of that - an email intervew. I am so pleased that Chika Unigwe, author of On Black Sisters Street so generously agreed to be my first ever interviewee, following our discussion of her book at the Black Reading Group's January meeting.  It has been a real pleasure to put this together with her and I am sure that you will enjoy her responses which are both thoughtful and positive. Also, we seem to have outed' ourselves as ABBA fans!

We were really taken by your book, totally drawn into the lives of the women whose stories you chose to tell. What inspired you to follow this theme?

First of all, thank you very much for your interest in my book. I struggled for a long time with the idea of writing as a career and comments like yours validate my choice. Thank you.

One of the greatest cultural shocks I had was seeing half dressed girls in display windows waiting for customers. I became intrigued when I heard that many of the African prostitutes in Antwerp were from Nigeria (mainly from Benin City). I wanted to know why anyone would come that far to feed the sex industry here.    

How long did On Black Sisters’ Street take you to write?

About two and a half years and fourteen re-writes. I was

relieved when it was done as it was a very hard book to write. Hard in the sense that it took a lot from me, emotionally. But writing it, researching it, has changed me fundamentally and I am grateful for that.  

Tell us about the research that you did and how long did it take?

I went to the red light district dressed in a mini skirt and high boots with killer heels, dragging my husband for safety with me. I went to a bar called 't Keteltje where many illegal Nigerian prostitutes work out of. It's pretty much like the 't Teepotje of my novel. I also talked to the prostitutes who worked behind display windows.    

Do you see any of the women who told you their story? What do they think of the book?

No. It's a bit selfish but I went primarily to get fodder for my novel and not to establish any sort of relationship. These women also, while they are friendly are proprietorial about their emotional/private space. They would not give me their phone numbers, for instance. But I hope that if any of them reads my book that they'd recognise a certain sense of empathy in the way the narrative is told and in the way the women are portrayed.  

Which character did you identify with the most?

Ama. Probably because she grew up in Enugu, same as I did. And she loves ABBA (I think).

Can relate to that – whenever I hear their songs, I am totally surprised at how I have come to know all the words.

Of course, most of our book club discussion was about Sisi, we felt that she was the one that could have taken a different course and we felt that she was compelled by greed to her final fate. Do you think that we were on the right track or are we being too harsh on her?

I think that Sisi, like some of the women I met during my research, could have survived in Nigeria, she could have survived but she wanted to do more than survive which is her right to want. I don't think it was greed which propelled her to look for a better future but a sense of entitlement to a better life. Living in Nigeria where the gap between the rich and the poor is unfairly high, where the right qualifications doesn't necessarily translate to a job (unless you know the right people), where she sees no way of breaking through the cycle of making-do, I am somewhat sympathetic to her desire to flee.   

Can you tell us more about Polycarp? We could not decide whether he really loved Alek or whether he had planned it that way all along?

I have never really given Polycarp a lot of thought because I just hate what he did to Alek. I was sorry to have made him good looking. What he did was very unfair, cowardly and really mean. But thinking of it now, I am pretty sure he loved Alek. He certainly did at the beginning. He was not strong enough to fight the tradition which his mother embodied. He probably thought he was doing Alek a favour, sending her abroad where she could live a better life. I haven't re-read the book in a while but I don't think Senghor

Dele ever told him the truth about the nature of Alek's job. 

Is there a back-story to Segun?

No. Not as far as I know. He is probably Madam's or Dele's relative, socially unsuited for any other job. His gratitude to this relative for providing him with a job is translated into dog like loyalty. He'd do anything that is asked of him by his benefactor.   

We have all had the ‘bus stop’ conversations that you described towards the end of the book, but I just wanted to check whether or not you had used clothes softener on your hair?

No. But a woman came to me once to ask what I'd recommend for her African son's hair. He had adopted him from Rwanda and had no idea what to do to with his hair short of shaving it off. She said she had tried all sorts of clothes softener on it but to no avail. I could not believe it. Clothes softener! I've heard more clothes softener confessions since then. Hilarious! I used to play this game where if I saw a bunch of black kids, I could spot which one had white parents by the state of their hair.

Can you tell us about the reactions to the book in Belgium and Nigeria?

Have there been differences to the way that the countries have responded to it?

On the whole, the reactions have been more or less the same: it is a revelation to many, even those who know of the phenomenon of Bini prostitutes in Europe. 

You are the first African writer to be published in Flemish, did you originally write the book in Flemish?

No. I worked with a translator.  I have a non-fiction book I wrote in Flemish, Diep in Uw Schoot, in which I document my experiences as a newcomer in Turnhout but also tells stories of six others. It was very therapeutic to write that book as it helped purge me of a lot of emotional baggage I was still carrying around. 

In England we know that the Dutch/Flemish speak better English than us, because nobody from outside learns Dutch or Flemish, how did you take to learning the language?

I took intensive lessons at the University of Leuven and am still picking up a lot of vocabulary from listening to people.

Do you dream in Flemish?

Depends on what I am dreaming of. If people I'd normally speak Flemish to appear in it, I'd speak Flemish. 

What is your favourite place in the world and why?

London. For many different reasons: my favourite cousin, Susan (from whose kitchen I can see the London eye); My favourite shoe shop; the multitude of bookshops, the South Bank Centre and Oxford Street 

Will you be visiting London soon?

I hope so! 

Some of the members of the group are budding writers. What advice would you give to encourage them?

Read a lot. Write a lot. Challenge yourself by setting goals. Take part in reputable competitions (it's a good way to get discovered) I wish them the very best of luck

Did you always know that you’d be a writer?

Yes. I always wanted to be a writer but I did not always think I had enough talent and will to survive it

What is your ideal writing day?

Mugs of hot cocoa, plates of rich tea biscuits and lots of inspiration. I have days like those when I do a short story at a sitting. I don't have them often but when I do, I feel so blessed

What would you be if you weren’t a writer?

Boef. I don't know. A university professor.

Can you tell us what you are working on now?

I am working on a collection of short stories and a novel. I can't talk too much about them because I fear that if I do, i'll jinx it

Which authors do you most admire?

Atwood. Bernadine Evaristo.  Ali Smith. Caryl Phillips. Murakami (sometimes),Tahir Shah (I'd read all of his travel books!)

Who are your literary influences?

I am influenced by every good writer I've read

What book(s) are you reading at the moment?

Norwegian Wood by H. Murakami (in bath); Dahl's Omnibus (in bed), Atwood's Moral Disorder and Other Stories( in my bag. I carry this everywhere as I dip in and out of it quite regularly. I am always re-reading it)  

What book would you recommend to a reading group such as ours?

Evaristo's Blonde Roots, Chikwava's Harare North, Aminatta Forna's Ancestor Stones, and Caryl Phillips' In the Falling Snow (taking into account that you are a black reading group) and Atwood's Moral Disorder and other Stories , and Pauline Melville's The Migration of Ghosts.  

Which blogs do you read?

Maud Newton, Petina Gappah's,Laila Lalami's, Jude Dibia's, Bernadine Evaristo's and a bunch of others

I know that I have asked a lot of questions, but what question would you have asked yourself?

This is a difficult one. I think I've learnt a lot about myself through writing OBSS and I like talking about how the experience has changed me. So, How have you been changed by writing On Black Sisters' Street?


Photo Credit: Rocio Forero B