Nnedi Okorafor speaks on science fiction

omotolani

November 20, 2017 9:22 AM

Nnedi teaches a Science Fiction class in Buffalo and is confident that Science Fiction will soon settle in Nigerian academia with time.

The last day of the Ake Arts and Books festival saw a book chat between Nnedi Okorafor and Diane Awabuk moderated by Geoff Ryman.

According to Nnedi, the beginning of stories are important to her as they set the pace. On speculative fiction, Nnedi said, “I would expect speculative fiction to come out of Africa and not just the diaspora. The word Afrofuturism will become mainstream when the Black Panther movie comes out, so it will be a good idea to define what it really is now.”

The moderator describes Who fears death as a tribute to Lagos while Nnedi says, “Lagos is the first place that popped into my head when I wanted to write about chaos. In Lagos things are different, if aliens were to come to Lagos, the people of the city would come out to meet the aliens.”

On writing, Diane says, “You write the things you want to read. Generalizing is one of the hardest things in writing. Write the thing you want to write because there are different reasons to write. Commercial success is lovely, but writing for yourself is what's most rewarding.”

On her genre of writing, Afrofuturism and science fiction, "My professors told me not to write sci-fi because they didn't consider it real literature but I am hard headed, I will write what I want to write, I can't control it, that's just how it comes." Ironically, although Nnedi had just taught a writing workshop at the Ake Festival, she said she does not believe in mentorship for young writers.

"I don't believe in mentoring young writers, new writers need to find their way and voice. Having a mentor will not grow you, mentors will fashion you in a way that fits them. I don't believe in mentoring writers. Writers have to develop the strength to write and the way to develop this strength is to go out and do it instead of depending on others to tell you what to do.”

Although Science Fiction is not yet popular in Nigeria yet. Nnedi, who is a professor, teaches a Science Fiction class in Buffalo and is confident that Science Fiction will soon settle in Nigerian academia with time.

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