 Image from Amazon* Over the past couple of years, I have wondered about my writing voice, about my place in the writing world. It is almost as existential a question as "who am I," so, true to form, it has been very crippling for me creatively. Then, I read The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives.
I thought I didn't have anything new to say. I thought, "everything that is worth saying has already been said or is currently being said." Then I read the The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives is a good book. The storyline is captivating, and I particularly enjoyed reading the individual perspectives of each of the characters. However, if I had authored The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives, I would have written it in a completely different way. I would have emphasized different aspects than Lola Shoneyin did. For one, I definitely would not have been as explicitly sexual as she was. Perhaps, I might have given Iya Femi a redeeming quality or two. Hear me well, this is not, at all, an indictment on Lola Shoneyin. It is merely a revelation for me. I do have something to say because I have a different perspective. I have different life experiences and I have a unique voice. It might not sound like Lola Shoneyin's or Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's or Osar Adeyemi's, but it's mine. It's Jesus trying to use me and my voice to say something, and for now, that is enough. |
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