AUTHOR

 We have with us today a Liberian author, that literarilly has a story to tell. His first book is that story. Over that, he has stories to tell from his creative resevior. Welcome Nvasekie. Thank you for granting us this interview; it is much appreciated. I am sure that anyone who has read your book, The Land of My Father's Birth, know this but I will still ask;  Where do you come from? Tell us a little about you- your early childhood, upbringing, education.

      I was born and raised in Nimba County where I attended schools beginning with Traditional Quranic School, the Liberian Muslim Union School, then Johnny Voker Elementary School, Kpaytuo Public School and Johnny Voker High School in Saclepea, all in Nimba County. My post high school studies include Zion Community College in Monrovia in the early 90s prior to my travel to the US in 1995. I currently hold BSC in Comparative Literature with emphasis on African, African American and Carribean literatures.

LLR: What inspires you to write generally?

      As far back as in grade school, I have always been fascinated by written words, beginning with the Holy Quran, the Holy Book of Islam. When I read "Murder in the Cassava Patch" by Bai T. Moore, "Why No Body Knows When He Will Die" by Wilton Sankawulo, "Things Fall Apart," by Chinua Achebe and other writers, I thought that if I could read other people's stories, I too get stories to tell. The first time I ever showed someone one of my creative pieces of writing was 1989. Being a lover of music, I started writing first as a lyricist with the hope of becoming an artist.  I took couple of my lyrical poems to the late Clifford Flemister and he was quite impressed with them. He gave me an anthology of writings by the African American poet, Langston Hughes. Reading this great African American poet opened me to the African American literature where I read many of the writers of the Harlem Renaissance such as Claude McKay, James Weldon Johnson, Alain Locke as well as those of the Black Arts Movement such as Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, Haki Madhubuti and many others.

LLR: Who are some of the people/things that influence you?

      There are countless number of people from diverse backgrounds who have inspired me beginning with my mother and father, my traditional upbringing as a Muslim. In the area of literature I have been inspired by many writers including some of those named above. I draw great inspiration from music as well and some of the artists who have inspired me including Bob Marley, Alpha Blondy, Peter Tosh and a long list of others. In the area of Politics, I have been inspired by key figures in the universal African people's liberation struggle such as Malcolm X, Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Toure, Thomas Sankara, Marcus Garvey, Nelson Mandela and many others. So you can see that I draw my inspiration from diverse sources.

LLR:  Can you talk a bit about the inspiration for your first book?

      My first book is a collection of poems written about my experience from the Liberian civil war as well as nine years I spent in the US Navy. Both of these expereinces inspired my first book, "Going to War for America." These poems are about war, peace and love. My second book is "The Land of My Father's Birth," a memoir of the Liberian civil war. Unlike the first book, this one is a prose, a memoir. Thematically the two books are similar except that one is poetry and the other one is a prose.

LLR:  What is your writing process? How do you do it? How do you pick your topics?

      I always make sure I have some papers and pen to jut down ideas as they pop up in my head whether in the day or night. Sometimes I have to pull up if I am driving to jut down ideas on paper so I won't forget them. I don't have any specific time schedule for writing. It happens whenever I feel something and feel that it needs to come out, I make the time for it. I write poems, short stories but I also write commentaries on current political issues as well as write books reviews. I am a voracious readers, always looking for something to read. The more I read, the more I am inspired to write.

LLR: Let’s talk books. What are your favorite Liberian books? Why do you love them?

      Of course those will have to include Murder in the Cassava Patch, Why No Body Knows When He Will Die. Contemporary novels will include Behind God's Back by H. Boimah Fahnbulleh, Redemption Road by Elma Shaw, One Saturday in August by Prof. K. Moses Nagbe. I just read a memoir written by a fellow Liberian author, Prof. Momo Sekou Dudu, it's a beautifully written account of the Liberian civil war and migration to the US. Of course my own works but I can't be the one to make that call. My last book, The Land of My Father's Birth, has received rave reviews from many people, so that convinces me that it is a great contribution to Liberian literature, particularly Liberian war narratives.

LLR: As a Liberian author, what advantage/disadvantages are there?

      As a Liberian author, the advantage is that we are telling your own Liberian stories which is an honorable thing to do but if there is any disadvantage it is that we come from a society where there is no literary culture. Where works of arts is not given due regard, not being recognized or celebrated. So for those of us who are lovers of letters, it's a long arduous journey but we can't give up. We must continue to carry the torch, comes sun or rain. That's our contribution to the development of our country.

LLR: How has Liberia influenced your works, and what do you think of the future of writing in Liberian? Where do you think it is headed?

      As writers and creative people we are all influenced by where we come from and as such my work is very much influenced by my Liberian experience of growing up and of course the war that has defined my generation of Liberians more than anything else.

LLR:   What are the greatest challenges for a modern Liberian writer especially in terms of publishing, distributing and promotion, in just getting out there?

     The greatest challenge for Liberian writers is the absence of a literary culture which inspires and promotes literary activities. In my recent remark at the launching of a book written by a fellow Liberian author, Prof. Momo Dudu, this is what I said with respect to literary culture: When I say literary culture, I mean a culture which celebrate works of arts and literature; where literature is truly valued and writers are celebrated for their works, be it novels, short stories, poetry, memoirs, or other works of non-fiction. A true literary culture is symbolized by literary awards on national and regional levels, book clubs, especially in schools, libraries where people can go and read books and other publications, book reviews in newspapers and magazines, book fairs etc. It is unfortunate that a country as old as Liberia there's none of such activities as enumerated above. That's the greatest challenge faced by Liberian writers.
    

LLR: What do you think of the future of writing and publishing in Liberia?

      Whether there is a bright or bleak future for writing in the Liberian society depends largely on the Liberian writers themselves. At this moment, everyone is interested in himself or herself. There is no strong organization among Liberian writers where we promote each other's works. Some years ago, I came out with the suggestion of organizing ourselves as Liberian writers here in the US. The result was the Liberian Writers Network. We had Prof. K. Moses Nagbe, Ophelia Lewis, Robert Sesay, Stephanie Horton, the late Wilton Sankawulo. At some point Prof Sankawulo and Stephanie withdrew because they said they prefer working on their own than being part of a group. When they left, we kept going for a while but little by little everyone started going away and now we are back to everyone doing his or her own thing. All we have of the Liberian Writers Network now is a page on Facebook. At least in Liberia, the story of the Liberia Association of Writers is encouraging because they organize workshops at various schools, encouraging budding writers in various schools and of  course We Care Library is serving as a base for Liberian writers in Liberia. Who know some of the kids participating in the various workshops may write the greatest novels or short stories ever written by Liberians. When I spoke there the last time I was in Liberia, that was my message to these young people from the various writer clubs in high schools.

LLR: What do you think of digital media in general?

      Digital media is a great opportunity for writers everywhere. While the print media may be limited in term of circulation, or even while electronic media such as radio or TV may be limited, digital media has made the world one place where we are all able to follow development in nearby and far away places as well as share our own creativity with people everywhere. You could be living anywhere now and share your creativity and views with people everywhere. You can easily reach to audience outside of your own locality so easily because of digital media. It's a God-sent opportunity for everyone, including writers.

LLR: What is your view on E-books and self-publishing? Have you used either?

    I will consider E-book the same way as digital media, even though for me, I still like the physical books in my hand. I prefere it to E-books. On the other hand, I embrace the idea of self-publishing. Over the years, those people who are only writing for money and fame have looked down upon self-publishing, making it look like if you are not published by major publishing houses in New York, Paris, or London you have no right calling yourself a writer but such thinking is being challenged by success stories of many self-published writers. John Grisham comes to mind. For me I see writing as a duty and commitment to my cause of advocacy. There are people whose stories I have been telling since I started publishing articles in newspapers in Liberia in 1992 and those that have admired and supported my writing are in Africa, Europe, America and Australia. So we have reason to write and are not going to be sitting waiting for good luck of being published by these big name publishing houses. We have to tell our own stories for our own people. Even if we don't become famous for the rest of the world but if we are appreciated by our own people for telling their stories, that's where our success lies as writers.

LLR:​ Would you advise writers [published/aspiring] to use E-book or Self-publish?

Of course. Do whatever that good for you.

LLR: What advice would you give aspiring writers?

      Believe in yourself and don't give up no matter how tough the journey may be. There may be many nay sayers but you have to believe in yourself and always seek the opprtunity to improve the quality of your works.

LLR: What are you currently working on? What are some of your future projects?

      I have several projects I am working on now. Two books and a documentary. The books are collection of poetry, "The Love of Liberty Brought Us Together," and "Liberian Voices," a collection of book reviews and interviews with Liberian writers done over the years. I am looking forward to a busy summer between the US, Europe, and of course , Liberia when those projects will be launched. 

LLR: What character traits do your friends use to describe you?

      For the past 20 years since I have been actively writing and publishing articles on both electronic and print media and because of my active involvement in various community organizations and activities, many friends think of me as being inspiring, couragious, committed to whatever I want to accomplish. If you follow me on social media you may form your own impression of me based on my various activities and how people respond to me and what I post on social media. I feel like a real celebrity among my people because we draw our inspiration from our daily interaction with our people everywhere.

LLR: How would you describe yourself using five words? I know it is not much but… 

      In our culture, people frown on self-praise because we will always be positive when we have to describe ourselves to others. We may want to hide our shortcoming and deficiencies. So the best judge of who we are should be others.

LLR: What do you do for fun in your spare time?

     I read, listen to music, sometimes go to the movies, take my kids to the playgrounds or the malls, especially during the summer, as well as attend music concerts. I also do like to travel a lot. 

LLR: Tell your fans two things about yourself they don’t know about you.

       I am deeply religious personally and very conscious of doing the right thing but I dispaly a very strong liberal attitude towards others. I rarely watch TV nowadays, I catch all my news and infos from the internet or my car radio. Instead of flipping from chanel to chanel, I search from one website to another for news, information and entertainment.

LLR: Would you consider yourself a big-picture person or a detail-oriented person?

      Depends on situation or circumstances under consideration.

LLR: There's no right or wrong answer, but if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be? What would you be doing?

      As a writer and cultural activist, I see myself as a global citizen and will certainly love to have the freedom to travel to as many places as possible. I will like to maintain constant presence in Liberia of course between Monrovia and Saclepea, my home town in Nimba County.

My last words for this interview: I thank you very much for undertaking this wonderful project for Liberian arts and culture. We need more of such efforts instead of everyone doing their own, thing thinking that he or she is better than others. We complain that our society does not promote literature but we are the ones that should be up and armed to show how our society should appreciate the creative efforts of its creative people. How many times do you see our "esteemed writers" leading efforts to promote or even talk about or promote other Liberian writers?

But on the bright side, I hope your efforts here can be a wake-up call for all of us to develop a group thinking in promoting the creative culture in our country. Once again, thank you very much for this effort.