Literature

The literary side of Niger Delta (interview)

Since the publication of her first novel, Yellow-Yellow in 2006, Kaine Agary?s image as a writer has been growing with a phenomenal speed. Just a year after it was published, the novel won Victor Nwankwo Book of the Year Award, ANA/Chevron Prize for Environmental Writing, and short listed for the ANA prize for Women Writings. The masters degree holder in Public Adminstration, who hails from Port Harcourt, is also a human rights activist. She runs a legal organisation in Lagos, DTalkshop, which is centred on educating people about their rights, and she is the Editor-In-Chief of Taikaii, the magazine that propagates the organisation?s human rights ideas. Sumaila Umaisha met her recently at a workshop on literature and environment and they had a chat on her writings and other related issues.

NNW: Could we know a bit about the author of Yellow-Yellow?

Kaine Agary: I was raised in Port Harcourt, I spent most of my childhood in Port Harcourt. I went to school in Port Harcourt and finished my secondary school in Jos. That was in 1992. After that I went to the United States to study. I have a first degree in Sociology and Economics from Mount Holio College in Massachusetts in 1995. I went on to do my masters degree in Public Administration in New York and I finished that in 1997. Then I lived in New York and worked for a while in Health Care Administration. In 2004 I relocated permanently back to Nigeria. And I have been in Nigeria since, working in Lagos, running a company called DTalkshop. We make magazine called Taikaii, which is aimed at creating awareness, making people aware of what their rights are. And then I wrote a novel in 2006 titled Yellow-Yellow.

Are your parents based in the US; how did you get there?

I was born in the US, actually, and shipped home even before I was one. And somehow it was always in the plan that I will do my university education in the US. My parents returned to Nigeria in the late 70s.

By training, you don?t have literary background, but your very first novel Yellow-Yellow made a big impact, winning awards. What?s responsible for this?

I think my early experience is partly responsible. I remember hearing stories from my grandmother during my childhood. Before I slept she would tell me stories, family history, about her childhood and so on. In fact, my grandparents were always telling stories. I come from a family where we chat a lot. We experience life through each other through story telling. So I think a lot of my talent comes from that and the urge to share my experiences and my thoughts with others.

Why did you title the novel Yellow-Yellow?

The title is the nickname of the character. It was the title I started with when the story was a short story. I played around with other titles but they didn?t seem to work. Yellow-Yellow just captures the character, the colours of oil and it makes a perfect imagery.

What?s the novel all about?

It is a coming of age story; a young girl growing up in the Niger Delta area and trying to come to terms with her racial identity and the perceptions of society on her racial identity. And it is all set in the Niger Delta; it covers the politics and economics of oil. And it is set in the mid-90s. And so all of the local Port Harcourt politics and the national politics at the time are highlighted. But the main story is just this girl getting to a point where she has to define for herself what her future is going to be - that self-realisation.

What do you mean by ?her racial identity??

She is mixed; she is partly Greek and partly Ijaw. Her father was a sailor who came into town, had relations with her mother and left town.

There are so many issues tied to the Niger Delta problem but you decided to focus your attention on the feminist aspect of it; why?

Because I?m a first time writer it was easier to handle what I know. The people I?m hanging out with are the women so a lot of the stories I hear are from the female perspective. And in research works that I had done, as a research writer, a lot of the focus had been on women and their place in the Niger Delta. So it was easier to start with what I already knew.

You hope to change the Niger Delta situation with this novel?

The intent was to focus people?s mind away from the stories of militancy and violence, and to get people to connect with an ordinary life in the Niger Delta, someone just trying to survive the economics, the physical environment and the politics of the Niger Delta.

What is your next step after Yellow-Yellow?

I?m working on another book. It is also set in Port Harcourt, but it is a story about loss and grief. The main character loses a childhood friend and returns to Port Harcourt for the funeral. It is dealing with the loss of this friend and the loss of the Port Harcourt of her childhood.

You have moved from the environmental problems of the region?

It is all interrelated, you know, because while she is in Port Harcourt she encounters all of the things that have come out of militancy, gangs and cults and all that. They are all interrelated; the social aspect of environmental degradation are going to come out. But it is not directly dealing with the environment.

Given your achievement so far, home do you see your future as a writer?

I see a bright future because I?m still learning. I?ve just started out, there are a lot of stories in my head and I know that I have to focus, improve my craft and put out the numerous stories in my head. So I see fun times ahead - it is fun writing.

(c) Interview by Sumaila Umaisha, published in the New Nigerian of 24/5/08.

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Literature