So I had that personal experience that I always thought I would put in fiction. And by that time, I had spent, like, six hours at least at the embassy - it's a mess. I thought he was joking till he brought out pen and paper and went away for 15 minutes. MARTIN: So you're saying that this is rooted in your experience? I mean, you were actually.ĪKPAN: Yes, yes, I was told to write a story. And yet he's put through this humiliating experience to try to get his visa.
He's got an employment in a prestigious publishing house. He's been invited to the United States on a prestigious fellowship. MARTIN: Just to let people know what you're talking about, the book, you know, opens with this, really - I mean, Ekong, your main character, is already a celebrated editor. Why should that have to be part of the visa interview? I was standing there at the counter, and I was given pen and paper. And during the visa interview, I was told to write a short story. Can you believe, Michel, that, you know, after coming to America twice - two visas, the third time, I was coming to do my MFA program. The other thing is I always wanted to write an immigrant story. So I always thought someone like me with a lot of practice in writing tragedy should tackle Biafra from the perspective of the minorities. And even our minority children don't know what happened to them. The generation that experienced the war - they're dying out in Nigeria. My parents were in minority Biafra, and no one has been able to tell our story, and it's 50 years. So I'm a minority in Nigeria, and a minority of minorities.
OK? They tell these stories but mainly from the Igbo perspective. The Igbos have powerful writers - Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Adichie, my friend Chinelo Okparanta. It's quite different from the story the Igbos are telling. And so the soundtrack of my childhood was the stories of the Biafran War. MARTIN: So why a novel now? What inspired you to tell this story in this way?ĪKPAN: For years, I have been thinking about the Biafran War. It was quite an experience, quite an experience.
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And I don't know how to describe it, but it - I was so, so, so thankful to God and to Oprah and to my fans worldwide. So it was, you know, like out of the blue.
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Before Oprah picked my book, I had not watched a full episode of her show. Like, what was that like?ĪKPAN: (Laughter) I have not recovered yet. I mean, and it just - it was on the bestseller list for months, and that has to have been just an incredible experience.
Your 2008 collection of short stories, "Say You're One Of Them," was a huge bestseller. But before we talk about the new book, let's catch up with you. UWEM AKPAN: (Laughter) Michel, I'm so happy to be talking with you again, and thank you for all you've done all these years to support my work. It's so nice to speak with you once again. The book is already getting raves, so it's a pleasure to have Uwem Akpan with us once again. In this case, it's the Biafran War and the ethnic politics that drove it. But, also, it's a reflection on the conflicts and divides that he and other immigrants bring with them. In his new novel, "New York, My Village," bestselling author Uwem Akpan tells the story of a Nigerian editor named Ekong and the challenges he faces navigating his new world, the shockingly hostile one of New York City and American publishing. And finally, today, it's all there - the sense of adventure, excitement and opportunity upon arrival in a new country and as well a longing for a home, along with the sobering realization of the traumas inflicted by the past and the present.
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