Today being International Women’s day, Pride Magazine Nigeria caught up with Chika Unigwe for a quick chat.
Chika Unigwe (CU) was born in Enugu, Enugu State. She has degrees from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, The KU Leuven (Belgium) and a PhD from the University of Leiden, Holland. She has published widely and won awards for her writing. She currently lives in Atlanta, Ga. where she is a Visiting Professor of creative writing at Emory University.
In this Quick Chat with Pride magazine Nigeria (PNG), she answers seven questions from us.
PNG: Assistant professor of creative writing can you tell us the journey that brought you thus far? How many books have you written and which one is the most successful?
CU: I have always loved teaching. It’s a privilege to be able to discuss craft with enthusiastic, talented students. They teach me a lot as well. I have published four novels, lots of short stories, two children’s books (Macmillan Readers) and some. If by successful, you mean the one that has sold the most, it’s probably On Black Sisters Street
PNG: When it comes to creativity, is it something that we are born with or a craft we can learn?
CU: I think it’s a bit of both but hard work trumps talent. Writing successfully requires dedication. I tell my students that the only way to get better is to read as much as possible and write as much as possible. They have to submit an original short story to me every week. It’s a lot of work but nothing good comes easy.
PNG: We consider being a successful writer a tough nut to crack. How can one get to make a name in the field? Can one make a living out of just being an author and how?
CU: Take whatever opportunity is thrown your way, take part in contests, read a lot, write a lot, send out work. Let opportunity meet you already prepared to grasp it.
PNG: Do you consider yourself as successful and what is your personal definition of success?
CU: Success, to me, is the ability to maintain joy. People who are joyful can have moments of unhappiness and sorrow, but they never lose their joyfulness. It is an attitude, a way of life. I have a good friend who didn’t have a child for several years (and she desperately wanted one), yet when I had mine, she was genuinely happy for me. This did not mean that she wasn’t sad she didn’t have a child. Her joyfulness in life ensured that she could be happy with her friend. I looked up to this friend a lot. She was my role model, the sort of human being I aspired to be.
PNG: What are you most afraid of?
CU: I used to have nightmares where I lost all of my teeth. Maybe that’s my greatest fear: losing all of my teeth.
PNG: What is your current marital status and how is it impacting your life?
CU: I got married in my final year. I moved an entire continent for him.
PNG: Any advice for up and coming writers?
CU: Keep reading, keep writing. Find writing communities where you can share work and get constructive criticism; grow a thick skin; be grateful for the gift and nurture it.
Photo credit: Victor Ehikhamenor