KEEPING SPIRITS UP
‘Tragedy does not occur because something has been broken,” says Nigerian writer Chigozie Obioma, on the phone from Nebraska. “A thing is tragic if it cannot be mended again.” Readers of his stunning novels will know that he is a master of that which cannot be mended. The Fishermen, shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize when Obioma was just 28, and An Orchestra of Minorities, which pulled off the same trick in 2019, have been described as mythic, dark and tragic. They will break your heart.
“The worst thing you can be is an idealogue. How can somebody talk with you – you already know everything.”
“I don’t read reviews, but someone wrote one that he sent to me, which was weird. I have a lot of respect for the guy. I had to read it,” says Obioma. “He said that the best way to look at my work is that they’re tragedies, but what makes it odd is that people no longer write tragedies. If you look at American literature today, you don’t see modern tragedies. It’s a rare thing.” It made him think about why his work is so … tragic. “I think it’s just because of the source of these stories. I’m looking at Nigerian society in these two books and the only vision I can see is a tragic
