Ifeoluwa Ayandele

What was your favorite book as a child?

Kola Onadipe's Sugar Girl immediately comes to my mind, and then, Ted Osondo's A Chained Tomb. These two books are emotionally tense, and each time I remember my basic school days, the ghosts of these books reappear in its different shades.

Do you remember the original reason or motivation why you started writing creatively?

I initially wrote for friends who loved, lost love, and tried to love again. I was in high school then, and Andrew Marvel's "To His Coy Mistress" and Leopald Senghor's "I Will Pronounce Your Name", were the works that served as my template for writing. But that initial motivation soon faded off as I began to write as an escape route from unhomeliness, loss, and grief in my country.

What was the most adventurous or thrilling thing you ever did/experienced?

Perhaps a night journey on a bus to Northern Nigeria during my National Youth Service Corps was the most adventurous thing I have ever experienced. Amidst the unrest in Northern Nigeria at the time, the journey through the sharp bend along the Kachia-Kaduna road gave me a novel perspective about the dynamic of life there. I'm thrilled by the life of people in Northern Nigeria.

Do you listen to music while reading or writing?

Sometimes, I listen to music while writing but I don't while reading. I cherish silence at my writing and reading table, though when the words to write aren't coming, I listen to a little bit of classical music to calm my nerves, and to remember the minute details of years gone by.