Noo Saro-Wiwa
In Conversation
This week we spoke to Noo Saro-Wiwa about her creative journey and the story behind her latest travelogue, Black Ghosts: A Journey Into the Lives of Africans in China.
Interviewed by Zulaikhah Agoro.
ZA: I would love to start from the very beginning of your creative journey. When was the writing seed planted?
NSW: I’ve always had a love of words. I received my first children’s thesaurus on my 10th birthday, and I was so chuffed at being able to use grown-up words like ‘dilapidated’ and ‘phenomenon’. Then, when I was 15 years old, I read Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. Like many teenagers, I picked it up purely for the yuck factor (paedophile protagonist and all that), but I ended up being blown away by Nabokov’s prose. It was so stylish and elegant. That same summer, a friend of mine wrote me a letter in mock Victorian vernacular. She was an amazing writer, and I was totally in awe of her humour and facility with language. The writing seed was sown at that point. But it failed to germinate because my secondary school provided no outlet for creative writing.
In my early twenties, I read a book called Almost Heaven by Martin Fletcher, a British journalist who travelled around the backwoods of America. This particular non-fiction genre was new to me, and a small part of me thought, ‘Maybe I could do this.’ Then, while I was attending Columbia University’s journalism school in my mid twenties, one of my lecturers encouraged me to read Joan Didion, so I bought her book, Miami and enjoyed it. It was my introduction to American-style creative non-fiction, which made me realise that literary travel writing was my passion. I started reading Ryzsard Kapucinski, Paul Theroux and VS Naipaul, among others. Michela Wrong’s In The Footsteps of Mr Kurtz inspired me a lot, but at that point I still didn’t write except when updating travel guidebooks. I never practised the craft in a literary sense until I attempted my first book. That was around age 28 after I had travelled around South Africa.
ZA: Sounds like you had quite the inspiration. I’m going to have to add a lot of those authors you mentioned to my reading list. When you eventually attempted that first book, what was your journey like from aspiring author to publishing ‘Looking For Transwonderland’? How did you make that jump?
NSW: I spent two long years needlessly tweaking and perfecting my South Africa manuscript. Back then, I didn’t realise that you only needed to send three sample chapters to publishers. I sent my manuscript to about six or seven agencies. Five of them declined but said my writing was good. Ironically, it was the two bigger ones who were interested. David Higham Associates offered to represent me within a week. Though my then-agent liked my writing, she had concerns about how to package me from a commercial perspective. Readers, she said, would wonder why this Nigerian woman, the daughter of Ken Saro-Wiwa, was writing about South Africa. At the time I disagreed – for me it’s about the content, not the identity of the author; I was naive to the realities of publishing. My plan had been to write about Nigeria as a second book, however my agent advised me to publish it first instead. I wasn’t happy about it at the time. I sulked for a whole year before doing a proposal and sample chapter for Looking For Transwonderland. Within a few weeks, Granta offered me a two-book deal (they wanted the South African one too). But for various reasons I signed a contract for Transwonderland only.
ZA: Essentially, it was pitching a book about South Africa but then being sort of gently redirected by market forces to do a book about Nigeria. I’m definitely very intrigued by that turn of events, although to me it does make sense and it segues really nicely into my next question. For many Nigerians, Ken Saro-Wiwa is this large historical figure with an overreaching legacy. I imagine-as is common with the descendants of most icons- you might have struggled early on with distinguishing yourself as an individual and cementing your own path. What was that experience like? Was it truly challenging and how would you say you finally came into your own?
NSW: I’ve never really had problems distinguishing myself from my father in my own mind. I’ve always had a strong sense of who I am and what my interests are. Most people can see that I have a unique voice. I’ve written book reviews, travel articles and opinion pieces about movies. It’s quite different from my father. There are certain individuals who view me as a mere appendage of him, but that reflects a lack of imagination and basic observation on their part.
ZA: You certainly have your own voice and it really shines through in this book. I am two chapters in and I don’t want to give any spoilers but I have found myself chuckling in some parts and opening my eyes wide in others. For people who don’t know though, in your own words, what would you say Black Ghosts is about? Why did you want to write this book?
NSW: It’s about my exploration of the African community in Guangzhou, China. When I first heard about this community in China, I was intrigued. Their presence seemed so incongruous in terms of language, religion, music. Chinese people are famously politically incorrect when it comes to race (for example, they nicknamed Guangzhou’s African neighbourhoods “Chocolate City”).
How did Africans navigate life in a society like this? I was dying to find out. Among others, I met a Ghanaian cardiac surgeon, a South African mixed martial arts champion, and Nigerian men whose Chinese wives spoke English with Nigerian accents and had cute mixed-race children. Their stories, their struggles and achievements were entertaining, frustrating and eye-opening.
ZA: What was the on-ground experience in China like while you were putting this book together? How did you navigate the conversations with the members of that community?
NSW: China blew my mind. So modern and so ancient. Describing it as a ‘land of contradictions’ is overused but for good reason. Whatever observation you make about the country, the opposite is also true. The Chinese were mostly friendly or neutral though they stared at me a lot, which could be intense and aggravating at times.
Their frankness and practicality appeals to me, though. Money comes first, ahead of everything, including prejudices. They will also compete for seats on trains with shameless abandon. You can be irritated by it or just embrace the shoving and pushing. It was easy to travel around while knowing only a few Mandarin phrases – I used my smartphone for absolutely everything (I needed it more than my left kidney). Some of the Africans living there were quite elusive or difficult to connect with, but many were friendly. I really admire their ability to learn Mandarin and adapt socially. For some, life there was tough. Others enjoyed their freedom, making decent money and going on regular vacations to nearby countries like Thailand and Vietnam.
ZA: That sounds like a very interesting place. I’d like to focus more on the technical practice of your writing now. What is your writing routine and how do you balance it with your other work like your position at Conde Nast Traveller?
NSW: I don’t have a study, I just use my laptop in any setting, loud or quiet. Peace of mind is all I need. I wrote the bulk of Black Ghosts during Covid lockdown when I had a lot of time on my hands. But since last year I’ve been a staff writer on a travel magazine, so that’s now my priority. It’s difficult to squeeze in book writing. I do it in the evenings after work, on the weekends – any spare moment I have.
My other life commitments mean I don’t get many days off, so I haven’t made much progress lately. I often remind myself that writing is done in one’s head, not when you open your laptop: the typing part is simply about transferring the contents of your mind onto the page. Therefore, I ‘head write’ whenever and wherever: in the shower, while waiting for a train or lying in the dentist’s chair. My thumbs have a mind of their own, however. They start scrolling on Instagram before my brain has even registered what’s going on. When that happens I have to slap myself (metaphorically) and go back to creating my own content rather than consuming other people’s.
ZA: I personally agree with that. We certainly need more creators than consumers in the world. I have two more questions for you. First, what does the future look like as it relates to further books down the line? What are you working on now, if you can talk about it?
NSW: My new resolution is to never talk about future books until publication day is approaching. There was a delay between writing and publishing Black Ghosts (due partly to Covid). It feels like I’ve been talking about it since Biblical times. My friends were asking, “Are you still on that book?” So from now on I’m keeping my mouth shut.
ZA: Haha, yes that is very wise. We don’t want to jinx anything so we will just keep our eyes peeled for your next drop. Final question, if you could give one piece of advice to aspiring authors, what would it be?
NSW: I can’t choose just one, sorry! Keep reading. Identify your strengths and weaknesses, and take on board the advice of good editors. Be flexible in your writing – accept that you might have to kill your darlings. And don’t be disheartened by a lack of instant success. First-time bestselling authors are the exception not the norm. Authors may write two, three or four books before they win acclaim or popularity.
Noo Saro-Wiwa was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and raised in England. She attended King’s College London and Columbia University in New York. She is an author and journalist currently working for Conde Nast Traveller. Her first book, Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria, was published in 2012 and was named Sunday Times Travel Book of the Year, nominated by the Financial Times as one of the best travel books and included as one of the 10 Best Contemporary Books on Africa by the Guardian. It was also shortlisted for the Authors’ Club Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award in 2013 and won the Albatros Travel Literature Prize in 2016.
You can read an excerpt of Black Ghosts here.
