How Culture, Storytelling, and Unsettling Proverbs Shaped Chinaza James-Ibe’s 2024 Awele Creative Trust-Winning Story

Twelve days after the shortlist was released,  Chinaza James-Ibe was named the 2024 Awele Creative Trust Award winner for her story, Fly and Corpse. Described on the award’s social media page as “a haunting exploration of grief, denial, the supernatural, & the dangers of holding on too tightly to what has been lost,” the story was celebrated for its masterful storytelling, precise prose, and striking imagery in capturing the unsettling.

Chinaza James-Ibe captures moments and dilemmas through her writing and photography in Nigeria. Her work has been featured on Poetry Sango-Ota, Akewi, Isele Magazine, Lolwe, The Shallow Tales Review, Agbowo, Brittle Paper, and elsewhere. In addition, she serves as an editorial member and reviewer here at Creative Writing News. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Chinaza to discuss her unique writing style, her award-winning story, and the influences that shape her storytelling.

 

Read A Review by Chinaza James-Ibe of This Motherless Land by Nikki May

 

Congratulations on winning the Awele Creative Trust Award. Did you see it coming when you decided to submit for the Award?

Chinaza: Thank you so much. I try not to think about awards I’ve submitted to, so I wasn’t really thinking about it after I submitted. When making submissions, there’s always a part of me who wants it all and the part of me that thinks I can’t get it. I wanted to win, but I didn’t believe it so much. 

 

Reading your winning story, I can see that it is a speculative fiction with highlights of Igbo mythology. How did you develop the storyline, and was the writing process challenging?

Chinaza: I was thinking of reincarnation and I wanted so badly to play around with it. Reincarnation is mostly thought of as a positive phenomenon—My father used to say I was the reincarnation of his grandmother, and my grandmother would tell my brother was her husband returned to her. ‘Fly and Corpse’ is a product of my probing the possible dark alleys of it. In the story, I was asking “what happens when a person who doesn’t love life or the living—someone inconsolable—is reincarnated?”

 

When creating ‘Fly and Corpse,’ was there a particular message or emotion you hoped readers would take away from it?

Chinaza: The story draws from two Igbo proverbs that I find unsettling. ‘Fly and Corpse’ alludes to the proverb about the stubborn fly that follows the corpse into its grave. The second proverb says, ‘Whom the gods wish to destroy, they inflict with madness.’ Both gods and humans are complicit, and hamartia becomes inescapable. I find it all very unsettling, which is what I wanted to convey. 

 

Writers often talk about the importance of place and culture in their stories. How does your background influence your writing in general?

Chinaza: It influences my writing in immeasurable ways because I write from where I am from. If I were to go anywhere else, I would have to take off from here. Automatically, I am always watching the men and women around me—I scour for the proverbs they use to admonish a child, the curses they rain on each other amidst a brawl, the exclamations they blurt when they hit a foot against a stone, the sarcasm, and the laughter. Whenever I settle down to write, home comes rushing to me; all I have to do is pick a part of this reality and proliferate it. 

 

There has been a rise in the number of speculative fiction works written by young Nigerian writers, particularly those rooted in indigenous cosmologies and our tribal myths. What do you think about that? And are there writers you see yourself in conversation with?

Chinaza: Nigeria has always been in touch with the supernatural. Growing up, there was always God, and there was always the devil and his angels. A dream was a prophecy. We’ve also always been surrounded by the ridiculous, too—reality distorted and disproportionate. Nigeria is already an unbelievable place. Young Nigerian writers are taking all this material and breaking boundaries we didn’t even know existed years ago. It’s an exciting trail to follow. I’m always in awe of the works of Naomi Eseolojor, Somto Ihezue, Gabrielle Emem Harry, and…there are many more that I can’t recall at the moment. 

 

Were there any parts of ‘Fly and Corpse’ that you struggled with or rewrote multiple times before you felt it was ready?

Chinaza: Oh, yes. That would be the title. I was very unsatisfied with it, and in a way, I still am. 

 

When I saw the title, I had no idea what the story would contain. You explained in your earlier response why you chose it. What title would you have preferred?

Chinaza: Honestly, I don’t have the faintest inkling, and I’m okay with that. 

 

Beyond this story, are there other genres or themes you are excited to explore in the future?

Chinaza: Of course, I’m an adventurer. I’m working on writing photo-essays that are not abominable and plays. I think drama is one genre that deserves more traction than it’s getting. Finding a literary mag that publishes one-act plays these days requires black magic. I don’t think about themes too much. 

 

This is fascinating, and I look forward to seeing your photo essays. As a regular Twitter user, I have come across some of the pictures you have taken. Do you plan on submitting to magazines and competitions? And for the drama, do you have writers who inspire you?

Chinaza: Yes, yes. I’m considering that. Ama Ata Aidoo, Tewfik Al-Hakim, Wole Soyinka, J.P. Clark, and Cheta Igbokwe are some playwrights I love. 

 

Winning an award like this can be a significant milestone. How will it shape your writing journey going forward?

Chinaza: My agenda is to write better and reach higher. I want to win, and I want to deserve what I get. 

 

Finally, where can people find you and your stories?

Chinaza: Thank you for having me. I tweet @Umami_kun. Here’s my linktree: https://linktr.ee/james_ibe_chinaza