‘I grew up with a sense of otherness’

Following her hugely successful debut Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi returns with her new novel, Transcendent Kingdom. She talks to Arielle Tchiprout about religion, science and becoming unstuck

Transcendent Kingdom follows scientist Gifty as she tries to make sense of her brother’s addiction and her mother’s depression. How did you come up with the idea?

I was inspired by my best friend, Christina, a neuroscientist studying reward-seeking behaviour in mice. She was finishing her PHD and she kindly let me shadow her in her lab. At the time, I didn’t know I was going to be writing about it; I was just so fascinated. She told me her work was about addiction and depression, so it felt like a prompt to write a book about a woman who studies these topics, where it affects her own life. Gifty’s research in the book is directly based on Christina’s thesis.

Are there any similarities between yourself and Gifty?

I belonged to a Pentecostal, predominantly white church, which is similar to the one Gifty attends. So the elements of the book where Gifty questions whether the religion is serving her and, more broadly, whether it is serving the community and living up to its own ideals, is something I’m very familiar with. Like Gifty, I always grew up with a sense of isolation and otherness, particularly when we were living in Alabama. There was this dual ‘othering’ happening – not only was I one of the only Black people on the white side of town, but there weren’t many Ghanaians or West Africans around either.

How long did it take you to write?

About two-and-a-half years. I really enjoyed it. It didn’t feel too difficult because I had just come off this big tour for Homegoing, so it felt like a relief to be writing again.

What does an average writing day look like for you?

I tend to write in the morning; I’ll grab a cup of tea and go to my desk. I try to write for about three hours, but I’m not too strict with myself. If it’s going well, I keep going. If it’s not, I’m okay stopping. For Homegoing, I had a word-count goal of 400 words a day, but for Transcendent Kingdom, I didn’t have any structure to my days. I try to make every sentence as intentional as possible, so when I’m revising, it doesn’t feel like a huge ordeal. I wrote a lot of it while I was on a fellowship at the American Academy in Berlin; I had this beautiful office with a glass wall where I could sit and write. That was a really treasured time, and very rare. That’s not like how it is in New York, where I still have my pyjamas on.

Do you plan everything in advance?

I’m not a planner. I wish I were sometimes, because I think it would make the beginning of the novel feel more purposeful. I often feel, in the early stages, like I’m fumbling my way through, trying to find where the path begins.

How do you overcome the feeling of being stuck?

I feel kind of bad about it, and wonder when I’m going to become unstuck! In my experience, there’s nothing to do about it but wait, which is not a fun feeling. But sometimes if I’m in the middle of something and I know why I’m stuck, it helps to jump ahead and write the part that I do know.

‘USUALLY, I WRITE WITH MY PYJAMAS ON’

Which writers and books inspire you?

Toni Morrison – always. Song Of Solomon is hugely important to me. I love Jesmyn Ward, particularly Salvage The Bones, and one of my favourite books is Lost In The City by Edward P. Jones. For non-fiction, I love Eula Biss.

What are you working on next?

Hard to say! I have an idea for something but, at the moment, it feels almost like a mirage. I’m just turning the idea around in my mind.

Do you feel pressure to keep producing bestsellers?

Not really, because the publishing process and the reasons why I want to write are so different. I just trust that I will write, because I don’t know how else to be in the world. And whether or not what

I write becomes as successful as

Homegoing and now Transcendent

Kingdom, feels like a different question.

It’s out of my control.