TEN QUESTIONS With DIANA EVANS

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?

I would like to see transparent roads paved with covers of the books of great authors.

 

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

Chinua Achebe, because ‘Things Fall Apart’ gives me faith and force whenever I read it.

 

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

The ability to edit the past.

 

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

Looking after family members. Swimming.

 

To what extent has African literature envisioned an African future?

I would imagine to a great extent. Writers have the power to change the world.

 

What book do you think best captures Afrofuturism?

I have more reading to do before I can answer that question.

 

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

I love flying. I make it a way of life.

 

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

‘The God of Small Things’ by Arundhati Roy.

 

What is the most difficult part of your creative process?

Establishing the structure of a novel.

 

What is your African dream?

My mother sitting happily in her house after a long time away.