We are sharing our recent interview with a Nigerian author Charles Umerie.
Pro Media Mag : First of all please introduce yourself to our readers.
Charles Umerie : My name is Charles Umerie. I’m a 27 years old author from Nigeria, West Africa.
Pro Media Mag : Who or what inspired you to get into writing?
Charles Umerie : What inspired me to get into writing is my love for literature. I enjoy reading classic books like Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Animal Farm by George Orwell. I felt like I have a have a lot stories to tell, or issues to address, and I have been doing that through literature.
Pro Media Mag : Tell us about your upcoming book ?
Charles Umerie : My upcoming book is based on Mali Empire at its peak in the 13th and 14th century. Mali was considered the wealthiest empire in Africa at that time, so I borrowed that idea and mixed it with it fiction. It tackles religion, culture and growth of Africa. I just found a way to mix issues these in the story, so that at the end of the day, it would still be entertaining to read.
Pro Media Mag : What was the inspiration behind writing this book?
Charles Umerie : The main reason I chose Mali Empire is because people are forgetting about it. That’s the inspiration behind it. Most people think Egypt was the only big empire to spring out of Africa, but that’s not true. Timbuktu, Mali’s capital, had one of the first universities in the world. So this is not a place to be forgotten. I said to myself, “Since you have a nice story, why not work with Mali Empire and let people know more about it?” I was inspired to inform through this book, and most importantly, entertain.
Pro Media Mag : What kind of response your first book ‘Kingdom Tales’ had received ?
Charles Umerie : Kingdom Tales is an allegory to the events that took place in Africa after most African countries got their independence in the 60s. People that know Africa would read and tell me it’s such a powerful book, and those that don’t know about Africa would read and tell me they enjoyed it as a fairytale. That was what I had in mind when creating it, so I will say the response was good.
Pro Media Mag : What’s the best part of being an author?
Charles Umerie : For me, I enjoy the creativity. There’s so much joy in being able to create something from nothing, and people would read it and say they enjoy it. There’s no joy that can match that. For me, that’s the best part of being an author.
Pro Media Mag : Is there any similarity between African and American Literature?
Charles Umerie : Africa literature is a literature of or from Africa. It includes oral form as well, unlike American literature that’s generally thought to be in written form. I think the only similarity between the two will have to be language. African literature written in English is similar to American literature, and the only difference would be the content.
Pro Media Mag : Have you set some goals to achieve?
Charles Umerie : My goal is to write successful books, and reach more audience. There’s a difference between a good book and a successful book. So writing good books that would be successful is what I plan to achieve.
