It’s 2118 and you’ve arrived in Lagos for a book festival. When you step out of the airport, what is the first thing you see?

Oh, we are assuming Lagos will still exist in a hundred years. Well, I think Lagosians will still be a pretentious lot. So, there will be holograms displaying three Eyọ masquerades in their regalia singing ‘ẹkaabọ́’ and some traders underneath the machine projecting the holograms trying to sell Retractable Homes.

You’ve been selected for a mission to the moon. Which African author are you taking and why?

Definitely Nnedi Okorafor. She will probably know what to do if we get stranded or get abducted by aliens. 

What invention do you think would change the lives of Africans today?

A time machine. So we can go back in time and beat the shit out of those colonialists. 

Two things you’re doing when not reading or writing?

Playing FIFA and trolling people on twitter. 

To what extent has African literature envisioned an African future?

I think to a very large extent, African Literature has done a lot, although I find myself cringing sometimes at how pessimistic some of these narratives usually are. I still think it is possible for us to imagine even more and write the kind of future we want. 

What book do you think best captures Afrofuturism?

I don’t think there are peculiar books or maybe I haven’t read enough to be able to say. But I did like how reading Lesley Nneka Arimah’s ‘What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky’, and Nnedi Okorafor’s ‘Binti’ novellas were able to capture the essence of the Afrofuturist ideology. 

You wake up one morning to find that you’ve grown a pair of wings. What do you do?

Will find a fashion designer to make me a pair of superhero costumes, fly to Hollywood and demand a contract to star my own Marvel Movie. 

Name one book that made you think differently about the world.

‘A General Theory of Oblivion’ by Jose Eduardo Agualusa.

What is the most difficult part of your creative process?

Rewriting. Because it’s never just enough to write a great first draft. 

What is your African dream?

A continent for all.