What would you ask a legendary writer if you had just five minutes? Author of Weep Not Child, The Wizard of Crow, and The Birth of a Dream Weaver, Ngugi wa Thiongo’o was the headliner guest for the recently concluded Ake Arts and Book Festival in Abeokuta, Ogun State. Thanks to Lola Shoneyin, the Director of the festival and her team, visitors got to spend five whole days with Ngugi. There were discussions, laughter, and grievances aired about the Nobel Laureate committee not awarding this year’s literature prize to him. What matters to Ngugi is language, preserving and elevating local dialects on the continent. In his words, “we all draw from the same ocean of sounds.”
How has the 2016 Ake Festival been so far?
It’s been great. We are amazed by Lola’s energy. She is an incredible phenomenon. Despite all the days of planning and everyday even now on the last day, her energy seems to multiply.
You too have a lot of energy. What keeps you going?
As a writer, there is always an idea that one day you may do that perfect novel. Even when you write, you realize that you have not yet written the perfect one. The desire to have one more go at it comes back and keeps us going.
How did you get a publisher to publish your novels in Gikuyu?
I had a sympathetic publisher in Heinemann Kenya. Henry Chakava who was heading the company was very helpful and committed. Without a committed publisher it is difficult for a writer to get a break in their local language. Henry made it possible for those before me to get published in Gikuyu. We need publishers who will say even though there are difficulties right now, I would commit a bit of my resources to African languages or even one African language.
Which challenges confront publishing in African languages today?
There are government policies, which are so terrible. African governments are the worst vis-à-vis African languages. You would think they would be the ones who are championing African languages with their policies, making it possible for these languages to have conversations with each other. We spend all our resources contributing to foreign languages. 90% of the resources collected from each and every one of the speakers of African languages contribute to English and French.
If you had only one dollar, what would you spend it on?
The perfect story (laughs).
