It was very exciting to meet with Irenosen Okojie in February 2020. A fellow of the Royal Literary Society, not only does she have two collections of short stories available, Speak Gigantular and Nidubranch, she has also published a novel, Butterfly Fish, that won a Betty Trask Award in 2016.
We found a quiet corner of Rich Mix in East London to discuss her work and in particular her latest collection, Nudibranch (which I later discovered I may have pronounced wrong, sorry…) already in its second printing and newly announced on the longlist for the Jhalak Prize 2020. Follow the links to read my reviews of her work here: Butterfly Fish, Nudibranch.
The authors and poets that Irenosen mentions are: June Jordan, Toni Morrison, Sylvia Plath, Donna Daley-Clarke, Jasmine Cooray, Miranda July, Shirley Jackson and Leone Ross. You can also find out more about Irenosen and her work on her website here. I would have happily chatted to her for much longer and came away thinking about everything I didn’t ask. Ah, always the way.
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