Where do you consider home and why?

I consider Nairobi home because it is where I go to find peace. And it is where my family lives. My family is my home.

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

Sunshine. Forests. Beach; but also Nairoberry.

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

Yes, whenever my travels keep me away from home on a Sunday, I get incredibly homesick. It feels like heartbreak-lite. I find that time in the sunshine is a great cure.  Nairobi on a Sunday is a very special place; I wrote a little ode to it in The Havoc Of Choice.

What is your opinion about brain-drain?

I think that brain drain is often used as a scapegoat and a way to delegate responsibility to an invisible villain. Yes, there are lots of skilled and trained professionals leaving home for a myriad of reasons. But there’s also lots of brilliantly skilled individuals who remain at home to do the work. Brain drain isn’t as crippling as it’s made out to be. For example, the problems with the healthcare system in Kenya is not a lack of trained doctors, but a highly corrupt system that allows resources intended for medical supplies to be stolen and misappropriated so much that it breaks the spirits of our highly trained doctors and sends them into the arms of the first foreign opportunity that comes across. Brain drain is not the problem—it’s often a symptom of the larger issue.

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

Physical space has a huge impact on my work. I very recently discovered that I write best when I am near the water—this is something I am being intentional about. I do my best thinking when I’m alone and surrounded by greenery.

What is your preferred mode of travel and why?

Train! They are often the most efficient and train rides allow me to disconnect in a way that I can’t, even when walking. Trains are much better for the environment than cars and planes.

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?

The dreams that I allowed myself to outgrow.

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?

I doubt it. I have no desire to ruin another planet. I’ll likely be among those who remain to try and heal the earth.

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 has been on my radar for such a long time and I am so happy that schedules aligned to enable my first Ake. And to be here for such a milestone edition makes this even more special. Congratulations to Lola and the incredible visionaries behind this iconic festival. I’m hoping to be inspired, to expand my mind, broaden my networks, buy lots of books and most importantly to dance! I’m also in the market for a West African publisher—I must mention that too.

What does Africa need right now?

We’ve really got to be better connected. We say this so much that it’s becoming a cliche. However, I’ve recently found myself getting impatient and desperate for the reality of a more seamlessly connected continent. It still costs too much for our stories and experiences to reach each other—much less than it does to export them to other markets. I want to be part of an effort to shift this and have been constantly asking myself how my work can contribute towards this goal.