My name is Feyisayo Anjorin, I am an actor, writer and director; I was born in Akure, Southwestern Nigeria on the 29th of April 1983. I live in Akure with my wife. My new book is ‘Kasali’s Africa’. I wrote it from the perspective of a filmmaker. I wrote each chapter like an episode of a TV series that can still stand alone but with a united narrative universe. The dialogue and the relationship between the characters mirrors the conflict between the ancient African customs and the views of the educated elite; the clash of ideas between feminism and patriarchy. Kasali’s Africa is targeted at anyone who loves a good story, anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of power in Africa.
Alice Munro is my favourite writer, because she makes writing seem so easy and the emotional impact of her stories, simple as they seem, is unbeatable; the fact that she majors on short story writing. I love John Grisham for his engaging narrative concepts and lively characters, the way he holds the reader’s attention and makes one want to finish a 400-page book in just one night.
What advice do you have to offer in support of other authors?
Authors should keep writing; authors should prepare for fame in such a way that it would not get in the way of the work that is still to be done.
What is your genre(s) of choice and why? How did you come to write in that particular genre(s) or niche(s)?
I love realist literary fiction, and magical realism. I gain a lot from Yoruba mythology and the oscillation between the natural and the supernatural as expressed in my culture; but I also place my characters in the bigger Nigerian, African context.
How’d you come about discovery of your writing talent, gift or ability?
It is a gift, but I knew right from the start that the gift needed to be refined to bring out the best of it.
What are your future writing endeavours? What’s next on your authorship agenda?
A story set in the Pre-Samuel Doe Liberia.
Is writing for you synonymous with living and breathing, or just something you do as a hobby, and how so and why?
Writing is a pleasure to me, it is life; it is not a hobby. It is what I have to do to really live.
What do you feel we need to hear or read more of, that is rare today in a book?
Books by Africans writing in indigenous languages.
What changes in the literary world would you most like to see?
I would like to see books being affordable for Africans, and more opportunities for African writers to showcase their works; and more works my African writers adapted to movies and plays.
Indie/Self-Published Author and/or Published? What do you favour more and why?
I prefer published. Being self-published is a lot of work and makes the writer to become a lot of thing he or she does not need to become.
How is your writing controversial, profound or mind boggling, or how would you describe it?
My protagonist has a lot of ideas that would infuriate radical feminists.
What do you hope to accomplish with your literary creation? What change, or enlightenment do you want to bring about in your reader if any?
I would like my work to provoke questions, to start conversations around issues that people would rather sweep under the carpet.
What’s the greatest compliment that you ever received regarding your literary accomplishments and what did this remark do for you, how did it transform your life or your writing?
During my varsity years – at film school – a lecturer brought a page of my writing to the acting class and read it out, and the whole class thought it was awesome.
What’s the most memorable criticism you received regarding your literary works and how did this remark transform you as a writer or influence your writing if at all?
I was told by a friend that my stories seem to have promiscuous characters. I decided to tone it down with the ‘bad’ guys and girls.
If you could ask a question of your favourite author of all time, what would the question be? How would you answer that question -yourself?
I would ask her how long it takes to get the story to a place where she’s hundred percent pleased with it. For me, my answer would be, NEVER.
What have you sacrificed, if anything, to be a writer, or to write as you do?
I’ve let go of many jobs, like the consuming 9 to 5 kinds that could hinder me from having enough time to write.
Where Can we access your works?
Below are the YouTube links of the book trailers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZuGHM182UQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QCe0CCsh3w
And below is the link to my Amazon page:
https://www.amazon.com/Feyisayo-Anjorin/e/B07CXYSC64
