Chioma Okereke
In Conversation
This week we spoke to Chioma Okereke about her creative journey and the story behind her second novel, Water Baby.
Interviewed by Zulaikhah Agoro.
ZA: I would like to start from your origin story. How did you go from studying Law at UCL to becoming a writer? What caught your interest about the art and craft of storytelling?
CO: At some early stage in school, I figured out that it was hard to get a bad grade in English, especially where poetry was concerned because it was about expressing yourself! However, I ultimately cultivated some enjoyment from it and from writing short stories to entertain my friends. I was also a voracious reader so my interest in storytelling undoubtedly grew from there.
Regarding my choice of degree, I’d originally intended to study French and Spanish at university, but after failing my Cambridge offer, I did a hasty life analysis that ended in me switching to Law a week before university started. If I had my time back, I might have not made that same decision, but I’m truly grateful for the people I encountered as a result of altering my journey.
ZA: I know a thing or two about doing hasty life analyses, perhaps we can have a separate conversation about that. Still talking about writing for now, in 2010, you released your first novel titled Bitter Leaf. As a debut author, what was your experience on the journey to publication?
CO: I did a Diversity in Publishing traineeship near the start of my writing journey because I found it hard to make connections within the industry. At the time, I saw a notice in a newspaper, applied and luckily got accepted. It involved six months within the industry (two in Editorial, two in MP, two in Sales). In Editorial, I made it clear that I was an aspiring writer and was told that it would be difficult for me to find a marketing hook to hang myself on. However, if I were to get representation, I would get a deal quickly. That’s exactly what happened.
I’m not sure my trajectory fitted the perceived profile of an African author. I was born in Nigeria but raised in the UK. My origin story wasn’t compelling or perhaps ‘ethnic/diverse’ enough. I also didn’t really have many publishing credits early on, so there were many years of ‘no’s before I found my first agent, and very swiftly after that (within months) I received two offers for my debut Bitter Leaf.
ZA: When you speak of your difficulty in finding a marketing hook, I am once again reminded that publishing is not quite as romantic as it seems on the outside. Still on Bitter Leaf, the book was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize - Africa Best First Book. How did the solid reception of that first book influence your writing process for Water Baby? How did the early success impact your career down the line?
CO: That early award had no bearing on my writing process for Water Baby or any of my other work as the writing is very separate to its reception. Having said that, perhaps surprisingly for some, I don’t perceive my debut as having had a solid reception. It’s clearly to do with my own personal measure of success and failure, as well as my perspective, but Bitter Leaf was released in 2010 and very quickly disappeared, so it really didn’t have its days on the shelf.
Publishing is a business at the end of the day, and though you have hopes and expectations, very often things don't work out as planned. People leave their roles and contracts are cancelled, which is what happened in the very early stages of my debut. It was unfortunate timing since things were seemingly on the cusp of happening for the novel.
ZA: That is definitely very surprising to hear but I wouldn’t entirely lose hope because literature is notoriously cyclical and books can go ‘viral’ years after they are released. Also, you now have a second book, Water Baby hitting the shelves in April! In a recent issue of your newsletter, you mentioned that the main character, Baby, appeared in your mind as you watched a food review show on YouTube. I find that very intriguing so I would like you to describe that moment in your own words. Why did you decide to write this story? What is it really about?
CO: It was quite near the start of the pandemic and like much of the world, we were watching a lot of food related content online. I’d picked a show to watch with dinner, which coincidentally happened to be shot in Makoko and I was blown away by the setting and stunned at my own ignorance about it. As a Nigerian, I knew about it vaguely but I’d never taken the time to investigate further let alone visit.
My mind wandered in a scene and my protagonist appeared in my mind, which is how most of my characters just show up. I recognised her immediately and her family makeup, but wasn’t entirely sure of her story. I joked to my partner that were I to write about Makoko (a place I’d never set foot in) that I imagined publishers would go for that more quickly than the book I had out on submission at the time (that was set in rural France, where I currently live) and he challenged me to do it.
So I started to research Makoko and the deeper I delved, the more fascinated I became with the setting and the community, and equally the more responsibility I felt to tell a compelling story without leaning on too many of the overly mined tropes associated with African fiction. I wanted to focus on universal themes in an unfamiliar setting to demonstrate that irrespective of where we come from, we are closer together than we are apart.
ZA: Personally, I appreciate your firm determination to depart from the status quo of African fiction. While I haven’t gotten very far into Water Baby, I am already particularly struck by the emphasis on water as a source of life. The main character, for example, is actually named after a Yoruba water deity, Yemoja. What symbolism does water hold for you? Why did you opt to place it at the center of the story?
CO: The moment I met my protagonist, she was called Baby and the title Water Baby was almost instinctive. It made perfect sense to me that her real name would be Yemoja, and that she would embody some of those attributes associated with deity. In addition to being linked to water, Yemoja is seen as a caring character who governs everything pertaining to the protection of women and children. She’s equally a strong emotional character, which Baby is.
More generally, water is the essence of life and sixty percent of the human body. Life within the Makoko community is wrapped around the lagoon and fishing is its largest industry, so it was inevitable that water would be a key element of the storyline.
ZA: Now I want to talk about the technical side of things. What is your writing process? Do you plot heavily or do you prefer to wing it? How do you make time to write in your daily life?
CO: I do have some narrative structure I’m subconsciously working towards after the beginning section of the book takes shape, but I’m mostly a ‘wing it’ writer. I’m guided along by my characters and feel like a stenographer for a large part of the time. I liken it to ‘following the light’...pursuing that pinprick until it burns brighter and shows you a path forward, rather than having a fixed direction I’m charting from the beginning.
I like to make time to write in the mornings. That way, you have banked your words for the day and typical distractions that happen throughout the course of a day are less likely to interfere with your progress. I also find setting a daily word limit really encourages me to try and keep pushing to meet that goal. At the end of the day, it’s all about having that rough draft that you can polish into something better!
ZA: You took a 14-year hiatus between publishing Bitter Leaf and Water Baby. When can we expect another book from you? What are you working on now, if you can talk about it?
CO: Technically, I didn’t take a 14-year hiatus; I just couldn’t roll a six!
I’d hoped Bitter Leaf would be a jumping off point, but its journey was interrupted at the beginning and there were a host of other setbacks along the way, including some near misses. Publishing is a very isolating business for authors, and it’s not mostly reflected by those amazing success stories we witness from time to time.
But amidst all the hurdles, there were enough indications for me to keep going. Due to the pandemic, there was a backlog in publishing, so while the deal for Water Baby was signed a while ago, it was an almost three-year lead time that resulted in a 14-year gap.
In terms of another book, I’m currently putting the finishing touches on a draft. It’s set in Nigeria too, and involves another young woman with no agency who ultimately finds her voice. Comfort, a recent graduate facing the challenges of the difficult job market, is forced to make some tough choices that put her in conflict between her employers and her family.
ZA: Publishing does sound very unpredictable but I’m glad you are still moving forward regardless, I can’t wait to hear more about Comfort soon. Finally, if you could give one piece of advice to aspiring authors, what would it be?
CO: The same advice everyone gives: write. Just do it! You can’t edit what you haven’t written, so get the words down.
As for advice for the industry itself, I would say: try not to take it personally, and remember it’s a business.
Also, find your allies. They will be few and far between but they will be out there, and if you’re really serious about the path, you’ll keep pushing forward.
Chioma Okereke is a Nigeria-born author who grew up in London and studied law at UCL. She started her writing career as a performance poet before turning her hand to prose.
Her debut novel, Bitter Leaf (Virago), was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize - Africa Best First Book. Her short story, Trompette De La Mort, received First Runner Up of the inaugural Costa Short Story Award and her work was included in the Virago is 40 anthology.
A coming-of-age story set in the real settlement of Makoko Lagos, her sophomore novel, Water Baby (Quercus, April 2024) portrays the pressures on a young woman trying to escape the confines of her community and explores wider societal issues including climate change, digitalisation, gentrification, and resettlement.
As a keen traveller, globetrotting has greatly influenced Chioma’s storytelling. Passionate about universal stories and challenging the stereotypes surrounding writers of African descent, she divides her time between the bustle of London, the hustle of Nigeria and the rustle of rural France.
You can read an excerpt of Water Baby here.
