IHRAF motivated me to put more effort into my Writing - Grace Suge

 

IHRAF MOTIVATED ME TO PUT MORE EFFORT INTO MY WRITING - GRACE SUGE

 

 

 

Grace Suge, a Kenyan writer currently based in Eldoret Town. She is the author of ‘Maasai in red’. In this chat with Wole Adedoyin, she shares details about her writing career and her latest book.

 

WA: PLEASE KINDLY INTRODUCE YOURSELF

SUGE: My name is Grace Suge, a Kenyan writer currently based in Eldoret Town.

 

WA: HOW AND WHERE DID YOU HEAR ABOUT IHRAF AND IHRAF PUBLISHES?

SUGE: I had written several short story pieces and was exploring ways to get them out there. So I subscribed to submittable and that was where I got to know about IHRAF.

 

WA: WHAT IS THE TITLE OF YOUR WORK THAT GOT PUBLISHED ON IHRAF PUBLISHES?

SUGE: Two of my pieces have gone on to be published on IHRAF; i. Tessellated woman; ii. Laibon’s prophesy

 

WA: DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN IHRAF’S LAST YEAR END SARS COMPETITION

SUGE: No

 

WA: DOES WRITING ENERGIZE OR EXHAUST YOU?

SUGE: Writing energizes me and it is my greatest stress reliever.

 

WA:  WHAT ARE COMMON TRAPS FOR ASPIRING WRITERS?

SUGE: Expecting that their works would get accepted for publication the few times they submit. In reality, one would get a lot more declines before their works would get a home. Also expecting considerable financial returns at the beginning of their careers which is not always the case.

 

WA: HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN READER’S BLOCK?

SUGE: Yes, especially when I was a full-time banker and a young mother. Getting myself to concentrate on reading a book proved futile.

 

WA: DID YOU EVER CONSIDER WRITING UNDER A PSEUDONYM?

SUGE: No. I express my individuality in my writing so I don’t find it necessary to hide my true identity.

 

WA: DO YOU TRY MORE TO BE ORIGINAL OR TO DELIVER TO READERS WHAT THEY WANT?

SUGE: I try to be original and artistic in my writing. I have learned that writing what comes from within me will always find an audience out there.

 

WA: DO YOU THINK SOMEONE COULD BE A WRITER IF THEY DON’T FEEL EMOTIONS STRONGLY?

SUGE: No. We harness our emotions to come out with a great piece of writing. In other words, we have to relate with what we write for it to appear realistic, for us to create relatable characters and the readers will ultimately get to relate with the characters as well.

WA:  WHAT OTHER AUTHORS ARE YOU FRIENDS WITH, AND HOW DO THEY HELP YOU BECOME A BETTER WRITER?

SUGE: I am a fairly new author and I haven’t made that many physical friends in the industry. But I am literary friends with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chinua Achebe, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, and many African writers whose books I have gotten to read and enjoy. As I said earlier, a piece of work always captures the writer’s individuality. You can most certainly get to interact with a writer through her/his works and ultimately get better in yours. Currently, I am best friends with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. We are nearly of the same age and we tackle nearly the same themes in our writing. She preceded me in the industry and my having read her books partly motivated me to write my first novel ‘Maasai in red’ which I have published on kindle. More is to come.

 

WA: WHAT WAS AN EARLY EXPERIENCE WHERE YOU LEARNED THAT LANGUAGE HAD POWER?

SUGE: When I was in primary school, aged 10-12 years, my insha (Swahili word for composition) writings were always the best in my class and they would be read out in front of the pupils as a sample of what they ought to have written. I mastered my Kamusi (Dictionary) and from it mined some peculiar literary words which I would creatively use to come up with unique Insha pieces. My teachers nicknamed me ‘mhenga wa Kiswahili’ which means ‘a sage or ancestor’ of the Kiswahili language. In other words even my teachers believed I was trusted to give sound advice even though I was just but a child. I became one to fear.

 

WA: WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT MAGAZINES FOR WRITERS TO SUBSCRIBE TO?

SUGE: The New Yorker, Granta.

 

WA: HOW MANY UNPUBLISHED AND HALF-FINISHED BOOKS DO YOU HAVE?

SUGE: One

 

WA: WHAT DOES LITERARY SUCCESS LOOK LIKE TO YOU?

SUGE: As a fiction writer, I concoct stories that capture what is in my heart, what comes to my mind, what I read, and what I experience in my interactions with others. When these stories radiate with someone else out there, I count myself successful.

 

WA: WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO MARKET YOUR BOOKS?

SUGE: Online and through organizations like IHRAF

 

WA: WHAT KIND OF RESEARCH DO YOU DO, AND HOW LONG DO YOU SPEND RESEARCHING BEFORE BEGINNING A BOOK?

SUGE: I do extensive research on a subject before I put pen on paper. Before I wrote my first novel ‘Maasai in red’, it had taken me six months to research and read numerous books about the Maasai people, about the advent of colonialists and the Christian missionaries in Kenya before I gained enough confidence to write. It also helped that I lived for some time with the Maasai in Narok town.

WA:  DO YOU VIEW WRITING AS A KIND OF SPIRITUAL PRACTICE?

SUGE: Yes. When I am stressed and depressed, I write to enable me to heal.

 

WA: FINAL ADVICE FOR IHRAF PUBLISHES

SUGE: Mine is only to thank IHRAF for promoting new writers like me. ‘Tessellated woman’ was my first piece of writing after a long while and getting it published the first time I submitted it to IHRAF motivated me to put more effort into my writing. Now I have a book, one year on.