Obinna Udenwe is a writer, a civil engineer, a farmer, and the founding editor of the Village Square Journal. He recently won the maiden edition of the annual Chinua Achebe Prize for Literature with his book ‘Colours of Hatred’. In this interview by KINGSLEY ALUMONA, he speaks about what winning the prize means to him, the challenges he faced while writing the book, his favourite Achebe’s novel, among other things.
How did you feel/your reaction when you were announced the winner of the 2021 the Chinua Achebe Prize for Literature for your book ‘Colours of Hatred’? And how are you handling the fame the prize has given you?
The announcement was made just close to midnight of Saturday, November 6th. I was very elated, because the prize is one that has a lot of weight. It is named and instituted in honour of the late legend, Professor Chinua Achebe and to now be connected to this name, this personality, is an honour, one I am sure will bring a lot of successes especially to me as a writer. I am sure the prize will open doors, and it is already doing so. One of the most respected writers in the world, Leila Abouleila, reached out to congratulate me. It feels surreal. It is exciting.
What is the inspiration behind the book, and what lessons do you want readers to learn from it?
Most of my works deal with the theme of power and manipulation and death. For ‘Colours of Hatred’, I was inspired by the amount of greed and hate in our society, and how these lead to the downfall of many families in Nigeria. I was also inspired by the Sudanese war, and how war in general affects people psychologically and changes their fate.
I hope readers will be entertained first off. I hope they learn forgiveness and that they learn that hate destroys everyone at the end. In fact, ‘Colours of Hatred’ is a book that is apt at this time in Nigeria with the ongoing secession tension and all.
Where there challenges/setbacks that you experienced while writing the book, and while publishing it?
It took less than a year to write ‘Colours of Hatred’ in 2009 and close to ten years for rewrites and edits. There are lots of challenges writing in Nigeria – you will have to think electricity, think economic problems, finances and comfort. Writing in Nigeria is difficult to compare to other countries. In more civilised world, there are grants for writers, so you can get some money and stay off work for a month or more to write. There are residences where writers can go and lock themselves in for a few weeks to meditate and write.
In Nigeria, as large as we are – in fact, we have one of the largest population of writers in the world – yet we have just one residency, owned and funded privately by Dr Wale Okediran.
If not for Dr Okediran’s The Ebedi International Writers Residency in Iseyin, Oyo State, I would not have the book. Because it was while at the residency, in 2014, that I deleted over 40,000 words from the manuscript and rewrote it to make it stronger and better.
Then there is the problem of marketing, publicity and book distribution.
What can you say about the organisers of the prize for awarding you the prize, and for their work in promoting Nigerian literature.
I am thankful to the judges for finding ‘Colours of Hatred’ worthy of The Chinua Achebe Prize for Literature. I am thankful to the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) who administers the prize. I encourage them to ensure that it enlarges and grows. They will need to find more funders to increase the prize money, to build a befitting website for the prize, and there is the need to establish a trust fund for the prize such that it will continue to run forever.
I would love to be present when the prize will be presented to a winner in fifty years to come.
What other prizes/awards has ‘Colours of Hatred’ been nominated for or won? And What other literary works have you authored?
‘Colours of Hatred’ was a finalist in the 2021 NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature. I am the author of ‘Satans & Shaitans’.
Do you think the literary works of contemporary Nigerian writers are addressing salient/critical societal, socio-political problems of Nigeria the way Achebe’s works did?
There is this age-long conversation about the duty of a writer. Do writers owe the society the duty to cause social or political change with their works? Or should writers just write to tell stories and entertain. Achebe believed in the former. I have argued that the primary duty of the writer should be to tell a good story, to capture a moment or an issue, and most importantly to entertain and while doing this, the reader can learn. But the writer should not set out to write for the purpose of causing a change alone, for to do this may make the work narrow.
Having said this, I believe many of the contemporary writings from Nigeria address socio-political issues. What I do not know is if their authors set out with the intention of writing such works to trigger socio-political change. When I write, I want the reader to be entertained first off, to stay glued to the work to the very end, and to have a better understanding of human nature and their world. If the work causes a change in the reader and in the society, then God be praised.
Meanwhile, there are better ways for a writer to cause a change. He can become an activist, if he so desires.
Which of Achebe’s books is your favourite and why?
‘Arrow of God’. This is because of the calamity that befell Ezeulu while trying to protect the customs and traditions of his fathers. It is a lesson on fate and how we can never run away from our fate.
Are you currently working on another book? And what job/business do you do aside writing?
I am a civil engineer and a farmer. I have a collection of short stories ready to be published in 2022.
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