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Miracles do happen,
and extracting Jude Dibia from his busy schedule for an interview
turned out to be such a miracle, only possible after several attempts.
The author of ‘Walking With Shadows’ (2005), he followed that debut, a
novel about homosexual love, with a second book, ‘Unbridled’, which won
the 2007 NDDC/ANA Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize for Prose . ‘Unbridled’ also made
him a finalist in the 2008 NLNG Prize for Literature, which that year
went to Kaine Agary’s ‘Yellow-Yellow’. As he prepares for the
publication of his third novel, ‘Blackbird’, Dibia took time out to
talk about his writing career, a path he has carved while working
full-time in the aviation industry.

Becoming a writer

Writing just
creeps on you. I read a lot as a kid because I was surrounded by books,
but it never occurred to me that one day I was going to take writing
seriously. After I graduated from the University of Ibadan, I got a job
at Lufthansa German Airlines. But I got bored, so I quit, because I
felt the need to write; that was when I started writing ‘Walking With
Shadows’. I had just read a book titled ‘If This World Were Mine’ by a
black gay writer, E. Lynn Harris, and I was fascinated. I was inspired,
so I went to his website and sent him an e-mail, but I never thought
about him responding. When he replied my mail, he told me to keep
writing. He sent me autographed copies of his other novels and that’s
where I got the idea for ‘Walking With Shadows’ It was the first major
lengthy book I wrote; I had written a novella for ‘Hints’ (Magazine).
They took part of my huge manuscript and told me to develop it. When I
wrote ‘Walking With shadows’, it made me think: what’s the worst thing
that can happen? An editor who read the script said that people might
think that I am a gay man. I just wanted to tell a story and live with
the consequences. Even when ‘Unbridled’ came out, a lot of curious
journalists asked me if I had written another book on homosexuality. I
hate being put in a box; I am versatile a writer.

Blackbird on the wall

It has taken four
years for ‘Blackbird’ to come out. What I noticed about writing the
novel was the way I got into the characters heads to bring out the
emotions in a raw state to [readers]. I try not to pretend, so I tell
it as it is. I was pondering on Maroko, how we place emphasis on people
leaving the country when there are people being displaced in their own
society. There were all these housing schemes while we were growing up
and as governments came and left, the schemes got scrapped and all the
money put into scheme went with it. And like these schemes, ‘Blackbird’
is about an evolving society, it is about the changes that occur. The
novel deals with the differences in society, which comes to play in the
characters. I hope people enjoy it because it’s totally different from
those I have written in the past.

One of my
influences is Toni Morrison; she creates her own society in an already
existing society, it gives her creative licence, in ‘Blackbird’ I have
done that and created a society within Lagos. The novel starts at the
beginning of the new millennium, there were so many changes taking
place then, it’s a 320-page book that covers the last ten years. There
are a lot of high points in this one; it follows how tradition
challenges change. There are points that will make you stop and ponder.
I think it is important that people stop and think. There are people
always asking me questions about ‘Walking With Shadows’. I want people
to be able to think and ask questions – that is the fun part of writing
for me. In ‘Blackbird’, you don’t encounter issues on sexuality… It
deals with the role of men and women in society and a shift in these
roles.

Influences

My readings having
been eclectic, as a child I read unabridged versions of Charles
Dickens’ books and other Western literature . I am not much of a
sociable person, so I enjoy my quiet (time). I find my life in books,
books shape the way I think. I was into African writers much later. A
lot of my thinking has been shaped mainly by Western society. My
literal influences include Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Charles Dickens,
Charlotte Brontë, Virginia Woolf, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison and a
handful of African writers like Chinua Achebe, Buchi Emecheta and
Cyprian Ekwensi.

Career highs and lows

My first career
high point was my novella ‘Full Cycle’ that was published in Hints.
Seeing your name and words in print does something to you. I still get
that rush like the first. After Hints published the novella, I was
receiving calls from friends in places like Jos and Kaduna, I even saw
someone reading [‘Full Cycle’ that time on a bus and I felt so excited.
The second will be the emails I got after ‘Walking With Shadows’ came
out – from gays, straights, women and men. There was not one nasty
email. People were able to share their thoughts, it was liberating. The
Commonwealth Short Story win (Highly Commended Award, 2010) was another
highlight; I did not believe I could be popular with my short stories.
My short stories are touchy. If it matters to me, I will write it. If I
can’t make it into a novel then I write a short story. It feels good
knowing that what I write is helping someone one way or the other.

One of the obvious
lows for me as a writer is the obvious lack of adequate time and space
to write as much as I want to. Though I want to be a good writer, I
also want to be a good employee. If you love doing something so much,
you will find the time, but I do not allow people to put me under
pressure to write. I write mostly when am out of the country; apart
from that, I don’t know when I find the time to write. I write when I
can. I am my own critic, I’m always bothered about doing a good job for
my readers. Other lows for me are the lack of interest in books and the
way some people tend to misinterpret me.

Nigerian literature

When Nu-Metro
bookstore had their bestsellers list, my books were always amongst the
Top Three. And with three reprints made of ‘Walking With Shadows’,
because it was almost always sold out, I could say my books are doing
well. It is taking a long time for the industry to develop. A lot of
Nigerian writers want to be known abroad first before being known in
Nigeria, but it is not like that in India. The writers there do not
need to go abroad. When you meet some publishers in Nigeria they turn
you down because they don’t know how to sell you. Some are limited by
what they do; the publishers will prefer to stick to writers that are
already providing them with a market, making it difficult for new
writers. Collectives give the writer more access; to other writers,
editing and publishing, having collectives should help. It is a shame
we do not have big organisations backing writers. Take musicians for
example, they have more access to funds to make their music better.
Books take you everywhere without leaving your house; books entertain
and educate your mind. People do not know that they need to sponsor
writers, how many Nigerians read? We need more programs that will
involve writers and their books.

Sacrifices for writing

It is hard for me
to tell you the hardest decision I have made as a writer. One thing
that I can think of right now is how I relate to my family. Sometimes I
am selfish with my writing, when I write I don’t allow anyone near me.
I cannot completely focus on my writing, I don’t have those perks. If I
had a choice I would stick to writing, but realistically it is not
possible. Hopefully when I retire, I want to do a lot of writing.