🥤Have You Read These Memoirs?

👋 Hi there! It’s the last day of September, and I can’t stop wondering how this year has gone by so quickly. But has it, really?

I asked my eight-year-old cousin if he felt the year was flying by too, and he said yes. That surprised me. I don’t remember thinking the years moved this quickly when I was his age. Maybe it’s because the world around us keeps changing so fast that time feels like it’s trying to keep up.

Anyway, before September disappears completely, let’s get into this issue.

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Five memoirs worth adding to your reading list

We’re taking a little break from our usual fiction this week and turning to personal non-fiction.

These five memoirs take us into very different lives and worlds, from childhood, identity, and family to grief, trauma, ambition, and finding your voice. Some will make you look at another person’s life differently, while others might have you seeing parts of your own life a little clearer.

How to Say Babylon: A Memoir - Safiya Sinclair 

Safiya Sinclair delivers this memoir about her strict upbringing as the first child of four living in Jamaica. With a father who never hesitated to spare the rod and a mother who loved and introduced her and her siblings to the beautiful world of literature, it was enough for Sinclair to know what love meant. 

Her father was a frustrated, failing reggae musician who saw the outside world as a corrupt Babylon and desperately did whatever it took to seclude his family from its influence.

That obsession and his constant repetition of the name inspired Sinclair’s title. Sinclair found her escape route through books, and it went on to impact her life and writing career.

There Was a Country - Chinua Achebe 

Reliving a war through memory requires immense courage. Personal memoirs written by those who survived conflicts are not only deeply compelling but also essential for historical understanding.

In this work, celebrated author Chinua Achebe examines the everyday experiences of Igbo individuals as they endured the devastation of war and attempted to rebuild their lives in its aftermath.

While it offers an emotionally intense experience, There Was a Country remains an essential account for anyone seeking insight into the events of the Biafran War. Interested in reading about the history of the Biafran War?

The Face: Cartography of the Void - Chris Abani

Have you ever taken a look at your face in the mirror and wondered what other people see or decide about you before you’ve even said a word? Chris Abani does exactly that with his face, and in his memoir, he writes the history of his family through his face, that of his parents and grandparents. 

He writes about life as a mixed race, as his identity frequently gets mistaken in different parts of the world, and the stories our bodies seem to tell before we get the chance to tell them ourselves.

Speak - Tunde Oyeneyin

Speak by Tunde Oyeneyin provides a thorough narrative of her life journey, detailing how she embraced action through personal insights, reclaimed body positivity, and navigated the nuances of grief.

Throughout the book, Oyeneyin reflects on experiencing lifelong body-shaming and addressing its impact on her self-worth. Part memoir and part empowering guide, it offers readers motivation to embrace their authentic voices.

Becoming - Michelle Obama

Our top recommendation for this week is Michelle Obama’s Becoming, a warm and revealing account of the life behind one of the world's most recognizable women. 

The memoir follows her life as a child born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, her family dynamics, studying law at Harvard Law, as well as marriage and motherhood. She traces these experiences along with building a career and also becoming First Lady.

It is as much about being comfortable with who you are as it is about everything she accomplished along the way.

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Angel Nduka-Nwosu on books, feminism, and building The Emecheta Collective

In this issue, we have Angel Nduka-Nwosu, journalist, writer, and founder of The Emecheta Collective. She speaks about building a space where women can speak without performing for the male gaze, and how books can open up conversations that stay with us long after the pages are closed.

She also talks about the conversations Emecheta has created around women’s bodies, relationships, motherhood, healthcare, and the structures that influence their lives. 

What does a women-only space like The Emecheta Collective make possible that you think is harder to create in mixed spaces?

In my experience building women-only spaces, the key component is what I call “the loosening of tongues and the discarding of performance away from the male gaze.” To put it simply, in women-only spaces, women are freer to speak in a manner that can come only because they know the possibility of a male shaming them does not exist. I will also say that women find it easier to talk about their bodies and things like periods, pregnancy, etc., in women-only spaces. 

While one can argue that we should be able to discuss these things in mixed spaces, the truth is that we are not there yet. Women-only spaces provide women the tools and courage needed to speak even in mixed gatherings.

Emecheta is rooted in feminism. How do books and literary conversations shape the way members think about issues affecting women?

Yes, The Emecheta Collective is rooted heavily in feminism and feminist values. While open to all women who care about women, it is a space founded on feminist values. I named it after Buchi Emecheta, who is one of my favourite writers ever. 

Regarding how books shape members, I have observed that when book discussions on women happen in the community, it creates space for women to learn and also share incidents from their own lives. Books play a crucial role in the feminist conversations we have on TEC because they give women space to learn how to navigate sexist structures and inevitably overcome them.

Feminism can mean very different things to different women, especially across generations and backgrounds. How do you navigate those differences within the collective?

This one is a balancing act, actually. What I always work with is the firm belief that, as feminist women, though our approaches may be different, at the end of the day, we all want the full humanity of women. 

Of course, there will be disagreements and arguments, but the way the group is set up, we try to ensure that it does not impede our ability to practice sisterhood and support ourselves. I also always reiterate that we can and should be able to disagree with each other because it is not an echo chamber. It is not an echo chamber, and even if we all feel strongly about issues, once we realise that we care about women, it gets easier to still work with ourselves no matter our differences.

What are some of the conversations about womanhood that have come up through Emecheta that have stayed with you?

There are a lot of conversations on TEC that have stayed with me. However, I will say that the conversations around motherhood have left indelible prints on me. From hearing from the TEC women who are single mothers to members discussing what their own mothers went through in marriages and the grief of losing one's mother, I have been reminded time and time again that the relationship I have with my mother is rare.

And I don't mean this to say these women's stories made me pity their own relationships with their mothers. However, hearing firsthand from women who are now mothers made me appreciate my mother more. I always have done so, but TEC definitely made me appreciate my mother. 

Two other recurring conversations that have left an imprint on me will definitely be discussions and tips on how to overcome period pain and also the discussions we have about medical misogyny in African countries. These two have bolstered my belief that more feminists, or at the very least women-centric doctors, are needed in healthcare across the globe.

Has being part of Emecheta changed the way you read or think about books, particularly stories about women? If so, how?

Actually, yes. Prior to this interview, I hadn't actively thought of it as TEC influencing how I engage with books and stories about women. But now that you ask, I will say that when I read novels or engage with any sort of media about women, I find myself searching for traces of TEC conversations in the book. 

When I see something online about women or a very nice documentary, my first thought is often to share it on TEC so that other women can benefit. So yes, it has influenced how I read and think about books because I look for traces of our conversations in the material I am engaging with.

What are some books you think every woman should encounter at least once, and what makes them worth reading?

Tomorrow I Become A Woman by Aiwanose Odafen will definitely be a book I will recommend. It's strong evidence of why you must get comfortable with damning family members if you truly want to be alive, literally. 

I will also recommend Kehinde by Buchi Emecheta. This is because it shows the importance of women forming sisterhood across barriers of tribe and religion. I also like Kehinde due to how it emphasized the need for women to own their financial futures as opposed to leaving it in the hands of men. 

The next one is Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I just started reading it, but I will recommend it because, so far, it has shown me the danger of women not knowing how to speak up in romantic settings.

This week’s gem is The Passport of Mallam Ilia, a classic novella written by Cyprian Ekwensi and published in 1960, twelve years after it was originally written. 

Context: Ekwensi studied Pharmacy but worked in new media, and wrote several short stories, novels, and children's books. He authored the famous The Drummer Boy (1960), Jagua Nana (1961), and The Rainmaker and Other Stories (1965). He was honoured with the Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) in 2001.

Origin: The Passport of Mallam Ilia was set in the northern part of Nigeria before the independence era, and the adventurous story revolves around Mallam Ilia, whose lifelong mission is to chase a sworn rival, Mallam Usuaman, across countries.

On a particular train ride, his search comes to an end when he encounters Usuaman in disguise. This leads to a physical struggle and a final action that he later narrates to another train passenger, right before the Grim Reaper comes for him. 

Why Read? 

With about 80 pages, the novella starts on a fun high note and throws you into a burst of adventure with strong themes of vengeance.

📌 Rosemary Okafor’s The Path of Blood and River is on its way

Fantasy and mythology lovers, October 16 is for you! Rosemary Okafor’s The Path of Blood and River follows Enenebe, a female warrior sent by the gods to fulfil a prophecy, who falls for Ikedi, a human heir she has been forbidden to love. With a common enemy threatening them both, the pair must fight to survive while deciding how much they are willing to risk for love.

📌In Honour of September Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

Chinemelum Chimuanya’s The Sound Souls Make When They Die explores grief, guilt, and what it means to keep living after loss. Set in Lagos, the debut follows Chizaram, a young woman who has spent three years carrying the guilt of her best friend Amina’s death.

While everyone else sees it as a tragic accident, Chizaram believes she is responsible. Then an old love walks back into her life, forcing her to confront the grief and guilt she has spent years trying to bury. Through friendship, love, depression, and survivor’s guilt, Chimuanya tells a story about the complicated ways loss stays with us and the difficult journey towards healing.

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