'I wanted to start a conversation
As Buki Papillon publishes her astonishing debut novel, An Ordinary Wonder, she talks to Anna Bonet about gender and collecting stories
An Ordinary Wonder follows Oto, an intersex child growing up in Nigeria. Where did the idea for the story come from?
It was really the character that came first. When I did my creative writing MFA, I delved into Nigerian culture and one day, Oto’s voice just appeared crystal-clear in my head. Everything came together from there; building up into this incredible story about what it means to be intersex, and about the universal experience of coming of age, but within a culture that is trying to tell you who you are supposed to be.
Oto is brought up as a boy by her family, despite her heartfelt belief that she’s a girl. Why did you decide to examine the concept of gender? I had an experience when I was young that really changed my perception of gender. I’d been away from my grandparents’ village in Nigeria for a while, and when I turned up one day with my head shaved and wearing trousers, the boys let me play football with them. The next day I showed up in my dress, and these boys wouldn’t talk to me. It was a really clarifying moment and that sense of outrage I felt was really strong – and it has stayed with me ever since. Once I understood the importance of what I was writing, and how much it had the potential to educate people about being intersex, I realised that I had to try to write a book that really started a conversation.
You’ve lived in Nigeria, the UK, and now the US – and, before becoming an author, you had many jobs, from a chef to a lawyer and a travel agent. How has this vast life experience informed your writing?
I joke that I’m a bit like a cat with nine different lives. And with each life, I’ve collected stories and nibs of ideas like a magpie. But also, with every place I’ve lived in I’ve had to adjust and relearn how to be, and almost literally learn how to be Black in that place. So it’s been a struggle sometimes to find that balance between being who I am, and being who I am expected to be, which is something Oto struggles with as well.
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
I’ve always been fascinated by stories and words. At boarding school, I was designated chief storyteller, and one of my teachers once leant me a thesaurus and I read it like you would read a novel. But I didn’t really think about it as a career or start writing properly until I was an adult. I’ve come to it quite late in that way, even though I’ve been telling stories for ever.
What’s your writing process?
I’m not rigidly disciplined; I get kind of fidgety if I try to sit down and write in one long session. So, I’ll write a little and then go listen to music and come back and write a little more. I don’t write every day, but I try to read about writing every day. I have a tonne of books about the craft of writing: Creating Character Arcs by K.M. Weiland and The Plot Thickens by Noah Lukeman are a couple of my favourites. I find reading craft books allows me to slide in sideways to my writing. I find I can’t go directly into it; it’s elusive if I try. During the editing stage, I literally take the manuscript apart, printing it out and cutting it into pieces, and then laying it on the floor to move things around.
Which books have inspired you?
Enough to fill a library! I think it’s so important to read books that reflect yourself so, growing up, I read many books by Nigerian authors such as Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe. More recently I’ve adored Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, The Serial Killer and 26a by Diana Evans, which made me cry so hard my husband thought something had happened to me.
‘I’VE COLLECTED STORIES LIKE A MAGPIE’
Will there be more novels to come?
Yes – I’m currently writing three books simultaneously! I’m hoping to bring out a lot of books in the coming years. I’m not taking any breaks, because I came to writing later in life and I’m desperate to make up for lost time.