‘Language is resilient’ Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún’s First Draft
What fascinates author and linguist, Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún, about language is its ‘resilience despite human attitude’; its ability to ‘find its way, though not always in the directions we want.’
First Draft
‘Talent not nurtured is useless.’ Moyosore Orekoya’s First Draft
Chemical Engineer and author of ‘Democracy Questioned: How Democracy Can Fail Us, and What to do About It’, writes and edits ‘in chunks’, finding before editing ‘the golden mean sweet spot where I write an ‘idea’ or a standalone chunk of the article’.
‘We Need Writers Who Can Remember Freedom’ Joshua Segun-Lean’s First Draft
Essayist and author of ‘Long Live the Children of Disobedience’ and ‘The Prophetic Vision of Chinua Achebe’, Joshua Segun-Lean, edits as he writes, ‘feeling for a sense and a sound I might never arrive at but must keep tuning for.’
‘Who has time for undecided authors?’ Dominique Otigbah’s First Draft
If she could write about any moment in history, historian and author of ‘Reading Biafra’, Dominique Otigbah, would write a history of stockfish, ‘a quintessential Nigerian ingredient with its origins in Northern Norway.’
‘Finish the Damned Thing’ Ẹniọlá Ànúolúwapọ́ Ṣóyẹmí’s First Draft
Political theorist and author of ‘Are Nigerians Black Enough to Talk about Race?’, Ẹniọlá Ànúolúwapọ́ Ṣóyẹmí’s writing ‘almost always starts from a place of unreasonable obsessiveness.’
‘The Story Comes With Its Own Style’ Sada Malumfashi’s First Draft
Essayist and author of ‘Zata Iya: A History of Hausa Feminist Writings’, Sada Malumfashi, has always wondered ‘how different and more diverse the stories of the first-generation Hausa novels would have been if women also participated in the writing process.’
‘The Lesson is in Design’ Merlin Uwalaka’s First Draft
Essayist and author of ‘From Glamour Girls to Nolly Babes: Nollywood Nostalgia and the Modern Nigerian Woman, Merlin Uwalaka, finds it ridiculous that there are Nigerians who are proud to say that they do not watch Nigerian movies.
‘Editing Feels Like Taking Vitamins.’ Ore Ogunbiyi’s First Draft
Author and speechwriter for the Vice President of Nigeria, Ore Ogunbiyi, thinks everyone should read Emmanuel C. Eze’s Race and the Enlightenment: A Reader before leaving university.
‘Writer, Write.’ Moyosore Orimoloye's First Draft
For Moyosore Orimoloye, poet and author of Poet in the Time of Buhari, poetry does more than ‘wrap the mundane in arcane language’; sometimes, poetry gives us ‘“simple” words by which to articulate what we think is a complex experience.’
Introducing ‘First Draft’: Our New Column Authors and Prominent Figures on Books, Reading and Writing
Introducing First Draft: a new weekly column about reading, books and writing inspired by questions our editors have had during the course of working with authors.