Where do you consider home and why?
Côte d’Ivoire, because that’s where I grew up.
List three words or phrases that come to mind when you think of home.
Family, house, friends.
Have you ever been homesick? Tell us the circumstances and how it felt.
Yes, when for the first time in my life, I went abroad for a long time to study at the Sorbonne in Paris.
What is your opinion about brain-drain?
When people who have a skill that would be useful for the development of their country, choose for various reasons to work abroad and never come back.
In what way does your physical location impact your creative output?
I am inspired by what I see around me. I learn from it.
What is your preferred mode of travel and why?
The train is my preferred mode of travel. It is slower than a plane yet faster than a car. You get to see a lot of the scenery. It is also less hard on the body.
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?
Not much. I am not an adept of the Freudian school of thought.
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?
Agree to working on being one of the first colonisers? No, because I believe in fighting for the well-being of Planet Earth for as long as possible.
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 attended the Ake Arts and Book Festival in 2015. I enjoyed meeting so many black writers and artists. The vibrancy of the debates and performances was great. The atmosphere was full of warmth.
What does Africa need right now?
Leaders with a true and honest vision for our continent. Leaders that can work together across borders and to defend their people’s interest.