Where do you consider home and why? 

Ghana for sure. It’s the only country that I can claim citizenship of, and doesn’t deny that I have the right to claim it as home. Plus generations of my ancestors are buried there. I can take you to the little cemetery in Twenedurase where my maternal grandparents are buried, and I can also take you to the farming village–Kwadarko–that my paternal ancestors founded. See. My name is even reflected in the name of the village. 

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

Heat, yummy food, more heat and occasionally rain

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

Yes, when I used to live in London. I was one of those Diaspora kids who would come home every other Christmas to see family and then ghost till the next time. It felt strange. Living in Ghana at the moment still feels congruent with who I am as a person. 

What is your opinion about brain-drain?

People have to do what feels right to them. Our governments should make people feel like they can live in their own countries and thrive. Sadly that’s not a feeling that a lot of folks have. 

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

I mean it’ll be pretty tough to write about African women from outside the continent. Not impossible but just difficult. 

What is your preferred mode of travel and why?

A super comfy car. I actually have a low level fear of flying. 

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 always think anything Freudian implies something sexual, or a desire for one’s parents. 

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?

Hell to the no. I’m no interested in becoming a coloniser

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?

Ake always feels special because of all the efforts the organisers take to ensure guests have a good time. Plus the really incredible sense of community and friendship among all the writers that attend. 

What does Africa need right now?

Truly radical African feminism