Late last year, we conceived an idea of interviewing everyone of the authors in the new Cassava Republic Ankara Press imprint of romance stories from Africa as a way of introducing the authors to the public, hear their thoughts and motivations, and celebrate their success in a new genre that – from reviews – is satisfying a hitherto neglected audience around the continent.
The interviews were conducted by award-winning writer Ayodele Olofintuade (author of Eno Story). And, every week since December 29, 2013, we have published about one interview, touching on issues of gender bias, marriage, “body count”, reading imagination, love chemistry, marriage, happiness, premarital sex, societal attitudes to divorce, among many others. Having concluded the project, it’s my pleasure to introduce you again to all the interviews, in one place:
THE INTERVIEWS
- “Readers are strongly responsible for their imaginations” – Oyindamola Affinnih (December 29, 2014)
- “With love, chemistry and attraction anything is possible!” – Amina Thula (January 5, 2015)
- “The term ‘body count’ is… the most outrageous jokes instigated by social media” – Amara Nicole Okolo (January 13, 2015)
- “Women have a right to define their principles and their destinies” – Chioma Iwunze-Ibiam (January 26, 2015)
- “Unhappiness Can Be Extremely Relative” – Sifa Asani Gowon (February 24, 2015)
- “In our society we tell our daughters – get married or die trying” – Ola Nubi (March 9, 2015)
On Valentine’s Day 2015, Ankara Press introduced a delightful appendage to the romance project, publishing what was called “a Valentine’s Anthology“. For those interested, it is my hope that the anthology, along with these interviews, makes a satisfying afternoon (or weekend) read. Special thanks to Ayodele and all the authors for volunteering their time, thoughts, and opinions. You can read more about the Ankara Press project here.
Cheers.
Kola Tubosun (@baroka)
EDITOR
Lekki, Lagos. Nigeria