Uwem Akpan’s debut, Say You’re One of Them, is a rich collection of short stories set in different African nations and narrated by children who suffer the brutality of genocide, religious conflict, poverty and street life. Akpan, a Jesuit priest, was raised in Nigeria and studied philosophy at Creighton University and Gonzaga University and earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan.
Why did you decide to write from the perspective of children?
I feel in most conflicts in the world we don’t get the perspectives of the young people. But, they suffer the consequences of conflicts. They see people being killed; they feel hunger; but, they don’t normally understand very much why what is happening is happening.
Why did you choose to write about different African nations rather than just focusing on one country?
I have traveled a bit around Africa. Actually, what I did before I started writing was that I listed some issues that really frightened me about my continent. Fortunately, or unfortunately, all of these issues are not situated in one country —— they are spread throughout the continent.
How did you conduct research for your stories?
I write the story first. Research is not the story. Research, as far as I am concerned, helps the story.
For example, for the story about the Rwandan genocide (“My Parents’ Bedroom”), I decided to sit down and write first —— get the characters down; look for that human story. For me, the story is the human relationship, or the relationship between the characters.
After that, I started talking to Rwandese people and asking them about the culture. I pulled out history books and read [which] gives me a lot of confidence that at least the conflicts are well situated and well-aligned in terms of history.
In other stories, if I can go to the place and see things for myself, then I will do it. Very tiny things can spoil a story and begin to make it look strange. If you say the earth is black, when it is red, it’s very obvious because even a child walks on the earth and he knows the color. So, if I don’t know the color of the earth, I try not to mention it because it can give something very big away.
What do you hope readers will understand about the current state of affairs in Africa?
I hope they are able to see the faces of these poor children. I hope they are able to hear the voices of these children. And, I hope they are able to react. The first line of reaction is to see this as a deeply human book, with human stories and then feel for these characters.
Even as spread out as these stories are, I cannot paint the complete picture of Africa. There are many happy children in Africa. It’s not as if every child is facing these particular problems. I don’t want people to think Africa is all about suffering and misery, but at the same time there are real issues there. I also hope people will read these stories and see the influences of the outside world on these situations.
