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I’ll never forget Buchi Emecheta schooling us ( a bunch of googly- eyed Caine Prize shortlisted writers) in 2004 (?) about rethinking writing as hobby vs career
A journalist had asked if we hoped to ever make money from writing and we all said oh no and it didn’t matter if we didn’t because we all loved writing so much and were doing it for the love and not for money bladderdash.
A journalist had asked if we hoped to ever make money from writing and we all said oh no and it didn’t matter if we didn’t because we all loved writing so much and were doing it for the love and not for money bladderdash.
After the journalist left, she asked us, that white journalist who just asked you this, you think he’s not both doing what he wants to do and earning a salary?
There’s nothing glamorous or romantic about poverty, and if you do intend to keep writing , then intend to make money from it ( something along those lines)
It was important to her that young African writers understood that writing could work as a career and not just what one did for the love of it and expected no financial reward for
Then she told us ( or reminded those of us who’d read everything by her) that she bought her first home with money earned from writing; raised her kids with money earned from writing ; moved her family across class lines with money earned from writing
She said, You young women particularly ( Monica Arac de Nyeko ,Doreen Baingana and me) , if writing is what you want to do, then you mustn’t be embarrassed to make money from it
It seems obvious now but before then, no one had told me it was okay to want to make enough money from writing to live well. I’d had a short story broadcast on the BBC by then, and was shocked when I got a cheque for it
Back then , I thought it was enough to have your story broadcast ( that they’d accept it was more than I’d hoped for, and I remember the joy of hearing it read over the radio)
Our meet-and-Greet with Buchi included having dinner at some fancy restaurant with her, and she was like your straightforward aunty who did not mince words, but she was also very warm
She was generous with her time and surprisingly open about some of the vicissitudes of her life
This past year, I’ve had to revisit her works for a scholarly piece I wrote on her. Gosh! This woman was a warrior. Life handed her lemons and she made smoothies with those she could, and those she couldn’t use, she trashed and took out the garbage
Thanks to Google for honoring her today. Continue to Rest In Peace , Buchi Emecheta
PS just a quick tweet to note that ironically , I discovered Emecheta as a kid, not at school but at an Opus Dei Saturday morning children’s gathering in Enugu where we were shown a documentary on her life by Brazilian and Spanish ‘aunties.’
And met her through an event facilitated by another non-African, Caine Prize’s Nick Elam
