Q&As: Yejide Kilanko – Caine Prize shortlist 2023

By Africa in Words on 1 November , 2023 • ( 0 )

AiW note: We’re going into day 2 in our continuing Words on… Q&A series this week, publishing a range of interviews around the UK-based short story award, the Caine Prize for African Writing, 2023. A few firsts have re-shaped the Prize this year, not least the change of season (from a July to an October winner announcement) and so, in the lead up to the prize-giving on Monday 2nd October, and following on from our coverage last year – which aimed to open up some of the less visible avenues and labour involved in “prizing” writing – we spoke with writers on the shortlist, as well as the publishers of their stories, and some of the judges who determined that list. From these, we are publishing this series of Caine Prize shortlist Q&As, which are “twinned” to highlight interviewees’ involvement in the Prize this year.

Here, we have words from one of the shortlisted writers, Yejide Kilanko (Nigeria), discussing her short story, ‘This Tangible Thing’, published by HarperVia (2023). Our twinned Q&A in the series today is with Kadija George Sesay, scholar and literary activist, and a member of the all-women Caine Prize judging panel.

Yejide Kilanko was born in Ibadan, Nigeria. She writes poetry and fiction. Kilanko’s debut novel, Daughters Who Walk This Path, a Canadian national bestseller, was longlisted for the 2016 Nigeria Prize for Literature. Her short fiction is included in the anthology, New Orleans Review 2017: The African Literary Hustle. Kilanko’s latest novel, A Good Name, was published in 2021. Kilanko lives in Ontario, Canada where she practices as a social worker.

AiW: Congratulations on being shortlisted for the 2023 Caine Prize for African Writing, Yejide. Thank you for your story and for talking with us.

Could we open with a bit about some of the “other lives” or pre-lives of your Caine Prize shortlisted story, perhaps something that our readers might not yet know (or that they should, or need to know) about it?

Yejide Kilanko: The idea to write the short story came because I was struggling to write a middle-grade book set in Canada and Igbó Irúnmọlẹ̀. I started working on an outline but couldn’t move beyond a few pages. My outlines are extensive. I thought that perhaps writing a story about the grandmother would give me a better sense of her world and make things easier. I have yet to go back to the middle-grade book.

Could you tell us a bit about your (other) work — your writing and/or other kinds of work, roles, or the more general and different sorts of professional hats you wear?

I write poetry, fiction, children’s picture books, and creative non-fiction. In one of my other lives, because it genuinely feels like I’m living several, I’m a social worker who has worked in child welfare and children’s mental health for over fourteen years. I also returned to school last year to get a PhD in health quality because fostering health equity for equity-deserving communities is very important.

What would you say is the best investment you’ve made in your professional self, and/or the most valued advice you’ve received about navigating your industry (or industries)?

The best investment I’ve made in my professional self is consistently working on my craft by learning from others, reading books, and sitting down to write and read, even when nothing seems to be going right in my writing world. The most valued advice I’ve received is that relationships matter in writing circles. Find your people. Be yourself. Pay it forward.

Looking to you as a reader, what’s the strangest, most significant – outrageous, even – thing you yourself have done, or would do, because of, or for a book (text / story / poem/ piece of writing)? Perhaps there’s a serendipitous, interesting, or uncanny book / text related thing that’s happened to you, or a happy, weird accident that has occurred around books or writing that you can share with us?

When I was quite young, I read a story about a family that was so poor, they had no trash. I remember spending hours thinking about what they did with their moin moin leaves, tinned tomatoes cans, and all the other trash. Surely, they didn’t eat those too? The story left with a sense of gratitude that even today getting to take out the trash feels like a privilege.

What are the most ethical and/or heart-lifting changes in practice you’ve seen happening across your industry/industries recently, and what would you like to see become more visible and celebrated going forward?

The COVID-19 pandemic shifted things in terms of being able to establish the essential stuff. What is left when life strips all the noise, those things we hide behind? People’s relationship with work has shifted towards creating spaces in their lives for things that bring them joy. Some call it the Great Resignation. I view it as the Great Realignment. I see creatives not waiting to be heard or picked, doing dynamic work, and putting themselves out there. I want to see more of all that glorious self-determination and sparkling joy. We need every ounce of it.

Finally, how can our blog, books, and online communities best offer support for your work with African writing?

Writers need readers. We also need publicity so that those readers can find our work. This interview helps. Blasting our work helps. Thank you.

If you haven’t already, or want an excuse for a re-read, head to the Caine Prize website to read Yejide’s story, ‘This Tangible Thing’ – and all the shortlisted stories which are available to link to there.

As ever, we’d welcome your thoughts on the shortlist, or anything else 2023 Caine Prize related (or anything else, for that matter!) – comment on the post here, below, or contact us direct and let us know. This also year marks 10 years that AiW have covered the Caine Prize – you can deep dive into it all here – Q&As, reviews, and long-read thought pieces – at the AiW search link “Caine Prize” here. Thank you, too, for being here with us.

Coming back to the 2023 shortlist, today’s twinned AiW x Caine Prize Q&A is with Kadija George Sesay, a member of the Caine Prize judging panel this year, as well as being a scholar and literary activist. Yesterday, we heard from writer Yvonne Kusiima and the publisher of her story, Ukamaka Olisakwe, in her role as editor-in-chief of Isele Magazine. You can get to these – and all previous Caine coverage – via the link above, or by searching for “Caine Prize”.

And… there will be more from the series to come, opening up some of the shifts and firsts happening around the Caine Prize this year, as well as connecting up some of the labour that happens behind the scenes, as we hear from more shortlisted story writers, their publishers, and another of the judges…

Caine Prize website, “The Caine Prize Announces, 2023 Shortlisted Writers and Judges”:

…This year’s submissions encompassed a diverse range of talent from 28 different countries, including Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Fareda Banda, Chair of Judges, and a professor of Law at SOAS, University of London, expressed her thoughts on the shortlist: “Together we have read, discussed and wrestled an eligible submission list of 230 stories down to the final five. This has not been an easy task. The entries showed the depth and scope of writing on the continent and beyond.

“The stories spanned generations, genres and themes. They challenged, stimulated, shocked, surprised and delighted us in equal measure. The five shortlisted embrace speculative fiction and artivism (using art as a form of activism). Stories of gender-based violence and reproductive autonomy highlight the power of engaging and innovative/original writing. Love is embodied in stories of grandmothers passing on inter-generational wisdom. The sense of alienation engendered by teenage diasporic liminality sits alongside comedic outrage about the perceived status downgrade in moving from city to village. Each story will have its fans and advocates-we loved them all.”

Banda further noted the remarkable fact that four out of the six shortlisted finalists reside in Africa, with two from the diaspora. This year’s shortlist also boasts a joint submission and an all-women judging panel, marking significant milestones in the history of the Caine Prize.