Ewa Gerald Onyebuchi
ORP: What inspired you to begin writing or creating? Has that source of inspiration changed throughout your life?
Ewa Gerald Onyebuchi: I was probably fourteen. And I read a book, Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emechata. It was the first novel that brought me to tears. And days later, I imagined myself writing something different, something less tragic and painful. But of course, I made a mess of the story. Still, that love for reading has continued to spur me to write, to create memorable characters.
ORP: Do you write or create with an audience in mind? If so, how do you consider the relationship between that audience and your work throughout your creative process?
EGO: I don't. I just write, with an outline or a thought in mind. And then, the picture takes a full form.
ORP: What does success as a writer or artist mean to you?
EGO: Success to me means being able to write, to actually take the story in my mind and relocate it onto the pages. To craft sentences that are both emotionally endearing and strong. And success means to be read and read properly.
ORP: Does writing or creating energize or exhaust you? What aspects of your artistic process would you consider the most challenging or rewarding?
EGO: Sometimes the process of creating is quite exhilarating and consuming. I can be on a story for almost an entire day that the tweeting of birds by my window reminds me that it's evening and I haven't had anything to eat. Other times, writing can be exhausting and frustrating, especially when I dawdle around the entry point of a story, trying to craft a compelling, well-written first sentence.
ORP: What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing or creating? What advice would you give to another writer or artist?
EGO: Read and read and read and when you write, go beyond the surface of a sentence. Reach for the soul of a sentence; animate it. And I would say same thing to any writer.