Where do you consider home and why?

Officially I call Ghana home, but my idea of home is not really attached to a place. Home is my loved ones. 

List three words or phrases that come to mind when you think of home.

Safety. Ease. Love.

Have you ever been homesick? Tell us the circumstances and how it felt.

I get homesick all the time. The most intense case was the first time I travelled overseas by myself. I spent a couple of months doing an internship in the US. Because American culture is so ubiquitous, I thought there’d be no culture shock. I was wrong. Everyone was lovely, it was summer and the weather was great, but it felt incredibly foreign. 

What is your opinion about brain-drain?

I think it’s complicated. I prefer to stay on African soil, partly because it’s home and I want to contribute, and partly as a form of resistance against the idea that success can only be found overseas. But I have the luxury of options. The environment in many African countries is not conducive and it would be illogical to expect people to stay and struggle if they have a better chance elsewhere. Some people can do more for their country by leaving than by staying. If we want our greatest minds to remain at home, we have to make home better. 

In what way does your physical location impact your creative output?

When I write, I go deep into the zone and ignore the real world, so my physical location doesn’t matter much. That said, my favourite place to write is at a desk, near a window, with a lot of light and fresh air. If I’m left alone for long enough, I can get a lot of work done.

What is your preferred mode of travel and why?

I really like public transport. I enjoy being with other people, quietly, and not having to deal with the anxiety of driving. For longer distances, probably the train. There’s something contemplative about travelling by train. 

In her debut collection of poems Home Coming, Sonia Sanchez’s writes:

“i have returned \\ leaving behind me \\ all those hide and \\ seek faces peeling\\ with freudian dreams.”

      What does the phrase “freudian dreams” mean to you?

I guess it makes me think of the sides of ourselves we hide, or the sides we’re not conscious of. Dreams that reveal things we’d rather not acknowledge—or maybe can’t acknowledge.  

The mission to establish a colony of humans on Mars is becoming a realistic proposition. Would you agree to be one of the founding members?

Nope. I can explore space without leaving my home. The thought of actually being in space is terrifying. If we were a star-faring race that had been bouncing around the galaxy for ages, then maybe, but I’m not pioneer material.

This is the 10th anniversary of Ake Arts and Book Festival. If you have attended this festival before, please tell us what was special about your experience. If you have never attended, what are your expectations?

I’ve never attended before and I’m excited! I’m really looking forward to broadening my horizons. I hope to meet incredible artists and writers and learn more about the arts scene. I expect to be exposed to things that challenge and inspire me and have a whole lot of fun.

What does Africa need right now?

Community-driven solutions to the many challenges we face. Community-driven Pan-African collaboration. Recognition of our value as Africans. We have so much to offer and gain from each other. And stories. More stories of all kinds to reflect all our voices, our languages, our experiences, stories that allow us to dream and envision the continent we want for ourselves and for those who come after us. Even if we got everything else right, we would always need that.