Nigerian priest writes stories of African horrors

Nigerian writer Uwem Akpan has personally been spared the horrors he describes in his debut collection of short stories, "Say You're One of Them".

But, in deciding to tackle subjects like genocide and religious hatred from the point of view of children, Akpan, a Jesuit priest living in Zimbabwe, says he found a common language to tell Africa's tragedies to a global audience.

The five stories are each set in a different African country - Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda - and are told through the eyes of children aged 6 to 16. The book was published this month by Little Brown.

"Children are living through these conflicts. Some of them have seen horrible things," Akpan, 37, said in an interview.

He said he began the book by brainstorming the problems in Africa that worried him most, and decided that telling them from the point of view of children would increase their power.

"I listed the issues about Africa. And these issues are not all in one country, thank God," he said.

One story, "My Parents' Bedroom", is set during the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and narrated by a 9-year-old girl who watches her Hutu father kill her Tutsi mother with a machete.

Akpan has never been to Rwanda but he said he followed reports of the genocide in the Nigerian press.

Reviews have been enthusiastic. The stories are "as shocking as they are delicate", the Wall Street Journal wrote. The Chicago Tribune called it "an important literary debut".

The Grammy Award-winning singer Angelique Kidjo, from Benin, has recorded a song she said was inspired by the collection and is available on Akpan's Web site.

"Christianity is built on the solid premise that it's OK to give your life to save another human being," said Akpan, who was ordained in 2003.

"I am trying to say to people...what is religion if you cannot tolerate your neighbour, if you want to kill your neighbour because of religion?"

A PEACEFUL CHILDHOOD

Akpan was born in the village of Ikot Akpan Eda in southern Nigeria in 1971, the year after the country's civil war ended. He grew up during a peaceful period and his own childhood was happy, he said.

He began writing during his seminary days in Nairobi, working at night. He said he perfected the stories while studying for a Masters degree in creative writing from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 2006.

"I was inspired to write by the people who sit around my village church to share palm wine after Sunday Mass, by the Bible, and by the humour and endurance of the poor," he wrote on his Web site.

So far, the book is only available in America and the United Kingdom. But Akpan said that only when it is published in Africa will he have a true sense of whether he succeeded.

"I look forward to these stories being published in those African countries," he said. "If people have the right information, they can deal with that. Otherwise, somebody can always demonise the other person and then it leads to horror."