So often, literature about African people is conflated with literature about African politics, as if the state were somehow of greater import or interest than the individual.

I've written fiction for as long as I can remember; it's always been my preferred form of play.

The writer presents himself to the blank page not with an open passport but an open heart.

So often, literature about African people is conflated with literature about African politics, as if the state were somehow of greater import or interest than the individual.

I write essays to clear my mind. I write fiction to open my heart.

When I'm working, I'm so narrowly focused on sound, language, rhythm, flow, that I rarely feel the emotion of the text. It's only after - long after - I've finished a piece that I can experience in any way its emotional charge.

The big ideas always come in flashes. I don't really craft stories that much. I genuinely don't know where these people come from and I've often wondered if writing is just a socially acceptable form of madness.