Shoneyin talks polygamy, literacy

Literature lovers recently gathered for an evening with Nigerian author Lola Shoneyin at the Goethe Institut in Nairobi. Shoneyin is the award-winning writer of The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives.

Curated by Zimbabwean author Zukiswa Wanner, the discussion with Shoneyin addressed the themes of her novel and other literary events that have taken place since the book’s release.

Baba Segi’s Wives is the tale of a pompous, polygamous Nigerian man and his family. When he decides to tackle the childlessness of his fourth wife, Baba Segi is unaware that his carefully choreographed household is about to unravel.

The book has achieved worldwide success and been translated into seven languages. In 2014, Shoneyin was nominated to the Hay Festival’s Africa39, a list of 39 sub-Saharan African writers under the age of 40 with the potential and talent to define trends in African literature.

“I knew that the book would do well because it has a lot of sex,” said Shoneyin with a chuckle. She then added on a more serious note, “The book’s popularity is partly because the story resonates with the circumstances of so many women.

“Before, I was quite strident and single-minded about how awful polygamy is because of my family history,” said Shoneyin.

Her grandfather, a modern, educated man, had five wives, the first of whom was Shoneyin’s maternal grandmother.

“When he took a second wife, my grandmother felt betrayed,” recalls Shoneyin.

The complications of husband-sharing and half-siblings that her mother experienced shaped Shoneyin’s anti-polygamist views when she was younger.

In time, her opinions have softened as she has reflected on why women would still choose polygamy today.

“I realised that what is most important for women is opportunity and choice. So, who am I to judge?”

She designed the narrative around a domestic setting in order to address other problems in society. Two of the main characters have had traumatic experiences of sexual violence.

“There is not enough about it in literature, the effects on women, how it changes a woman and impacts her choices,” Shoneyin said.

She cites the case of a northern Nigerian senator who married a 13-year old girl some years ago, a move supported by women of his state — which, according to Shoneyin, has a five per cent female literacy rate.

“I cannot understand this sort of thinking,” she said, and criticised African leaders for failing to support girls’ education and thereby contributing to women’s disempowerment.

Shoneyin admits to being nervous about releasing her next book after the success of her debut novel.

“Because how do you top that?” she asked. “I needed to do lots of reading and introspection.”

In 2013, Shoneyin founded the annual Ake Arts and Book Festival, which takes place in the town of Abeokuta in southwestern Nigeria, the birthplace of her father-in-law, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka.

Shoneyin says that after retiring from teaching, she felt the need to broaden the discussion on African literacy and culture, noting that most such debates were happening with Western audiences.

“I wanted to have that dialogue with Africans,” she said.

The Ake festival brings together mostly African authors “to network, talk about new ideas and have important interactions,” she said.

Shoneyin is currently establishing another festival in the northern state of Kaduna, where she has witnessed firsthand the disruption by Boko Haram and religious fundamentalism.

“Schoolchildren who have not seen a story book and teachers with no resources,” she said of the situation there.

“People who have been through trauma must have incredible stories to tell. I hope to see lots of northern Nigerian writers arise.”

The conversation between Shoneyin and Wanner was followed by a dramatisation of the book. Kenyan storyteller and writer Maimouna Jallow put on an impressive one-woman stage adaptation accompanied by percussionist Daniel Mburu Muhuni playing djembe drums and a Balafon xylophone.