Atarhe, 10, wants to gain applaud of her Father, who believes nothing good could come out of an imbecile. She is further intimidated by her younger sister’s academic success. At school, she is also a failure and counted as NFA – which means No Future Ambition. She seeks for comfort in the letters which she writes to herself.
Hope, like a shining sun after a heavy rain, would come for Atarhe when the new aunty was brought in to teach her class. Now find out if she succeeds in proving her father wrong. have not read the book totally but the few lines have read is amazing.
Here is an official website of Ufuoma Bakporhe and details of how to get the www.ufuomabakporhe.com
Although in an interview with Author UFUOMA BAKPORHE here is what she has to say about the book:
INTERVIEW WITH UFUOMA BAKPORHE, AUTHOR OF LETTARS FROM AN IMBECILE
'It was an unplanned story but a perfect one.'
- Ufy.
The cliché that children are the leaders of tomorrow is fast wearing out as most young people are mounting the stage to direct, and act in the play of their nation. She is just a seventeen year old fresh Law student, but she is bent on causing a positive and radical change in her society. In this interview with Christiana Dan, Ufy tells us about her anger on the way the society perceive and treats physically and mentally challenged persons and how it had inspired her to write her first novel 'Lettars From An Imbecile'. With intelligence and brilliance, this admirer of the literary icon , Wole Soyinka, tell us how she intends to change this ideology through her novel. In BookRepublic Interview section, this is a young writer that the likes of Chimamanda should watch out for.
Who is Ufy?
Ufy was born on the 25th of February, 1997, at Idomi South Delta State, Nigeria. Am the last of four children, having three siblings; an elder sister and two elder brothers. Currently, I am in my first year in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and I am studying Law.
Tell us about your book. What inspired you to write it?
'Lettars From An Imbecile' is actually a book I sincerely did not plan to write. I had written a book before but it was rejected by publishers on the ground that it was not marketable. So, I sat down and I was like okay, God, what can I write? Just give me a story; something that will inspire people, something that people will like to read. Actually, I prayed about it and I got the title before I even started writing the book. Stories about imbeciles are stories that are hardly written. At most, they are just acted in the movies but not fully explored in literature. I realize that most people often forget that people like that exist in our society. So, I felt I should create this story with a little child character, Atarhe, who is physically challenged. By creating Atarhe I have been able to reach out to the little children in our society who are facing the same challenges which parents tend to ignore. And, that is basically my inspiration for writing the book. The story is particularly focused on the physically challenged children and the challenges they face. It is an unplanned story and a perfect one.
Do you think Nigerians treat disabled people as normal people?
The answer to that question would be 'No!' because in the Nigeria we are today, people believe in associating with those of their kind. Most times the disabled are left to their fate, with no help and are ostracized from the privileged in the society. Look at Atarhe for example; she is a young girl like every normal child. But, even her own father, notwithstanding, is religiously ridiculing her.
And what do you think is responsible for this?
The ideology of the Nigeria that we live in today. People believe in 'stay with your kind'. And if, the disabled are to stay with their kind then nobody is going to get help. They are not treated properly. They are not treated as normal people and if it continues like this they will begin to see themselves as people that will never be able to fit in the society. They will see themselves as lower people of the society, people that are abandoned and they will feel the urge not to do anything. So, they will just sit at home and allow themselves to be treated as nothing in their families, because that is what the society has subjected them to.
So, do you see your book as an agent of change?
Hopefully. The character that I have created in Atarhe is a beautiful one. One that I believe will enable people to realize that their convention about the state of the disabled and the mentally challenged children is wrong. We should all know that even though they have those traits they are just like normal people, and they are also people like us. All they need is care, affection and love to function better and contribute their own quota in the society. So, I believe that through my book and the character, Atarhe, people will come to understand that they should give more care and more attention to the disabled in our society. And, believe me, when this is achieved the world would be a better place for us to live in.
Who is your literary role model?
If there is anyone in the literary world whom I look up to very well, it is the Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka.
Do you intend to go into writing full time?
I want to become a full time writer, because for me writing is something I want to do every day. It is a passion, it is not a hubby. I want to keep on writing as long as I can write. Oh yes! I want to be a full time writer.
So, why read Law and not Literature?
Law has been something I have always wanted to study since I was five. It is not like writing that you can do without having to go to a school. I just have that passion for writing and may be along the line I will have a master degree in Creative Writing. But for now, Law it is.
What is your philosophy of life?
Believe in yourself. Live simple. If you are alive you can achieve something.
Although in an interview with Author UFUOMA BAKPORHE here is what she has to say about the book:
INTERVIEW WITH UFUOMA BAKPORHE, AUTHOR OF LETTARS FROM AN IMBECILE
- Ufy.
The cliché that children are the leaders of tomorrow is fast wearing out as most young people are mounting the stage to direct, and act in the play of their nation. She is just a seventeen year old fresh Law student, but she is bent on causing a positive and radical change in her society. In this interview with Christiana Dan, Ufy tells us about her anger on the way the society perceive and treats physically and mentally challenged persons and how it had inspired her to write her first novel 'Lettars From An Imbecile'. With intelligence and brilliance, this admirer of the literary icon , Wole Soyinka, tell us how she intends to change this ideology through her novel. In BookRepublic Interview section, this is a young writer that the likes of Chimamanda should watch out for.
Who is Ufy?
Ufy was born on the 25th of February, 1997, at Idomi South Delta State, Nigeria. Am the last of four children, having three siblings; an elder sister and two elder brothers. Currently, I am in my first year in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and I am studying Law.
Tell us about your book. What inspired you to write it?
'Lettars From An Imbecile' is actually a book I sincerely did not plan to write. I had written a book before but it was rejected by publishers on the ground that it was not marketable. So, I sat down and I was like okay, God, what can I write? Just give me a story; something that will inspire people, something that people will like to read. Actually, I prayed about it and I got the title before I even started writing the book. Stories about imbeciles are stories that are hardly written. At most, they are just acted in the movies but not fully explored in literature. I realize that most people often forget that people like that exist in our society. So, I felt I should create this story with a little child character, Atarhe, who is physically challenged. By creating Atarhe I have been able to reach out to the little children in our society who are facing the same challenges which parents tend to ignore. And, that is basically my inspiration for writing the book. The story is particularly focused on the physically challenged children and the challenges they face. It is an unplanned story and a perfect one.
Do you think Nigerians treat disabled people as normal people?
The answer to that question would be 'No!' because in the Nigeria we are today, people believe in associating with those of their kind. Most times the disabled are left to their fate, with no help and are ostracized from the privileged in the society. Look at Atarhe for example; she is a young girl like every normal child. But, even her own father, notwithstanding, is religiously ridiculing her.
And what do you think is responsible for this?
The ideology of the Nigeria that we live in today. People believe in 'stay with your kind'. And if, the disabled are to stay with their kind then nobody is going to get help. They are not treated properly. They are not treated as normal people and if it continues like this they will begin to see themselves as people that will never be able to fit in the society. They will see themselves as lower people of the society, people that are abandoned and they will feel the urge not to do anything. So, they will just sit at home and allow themselves to be treated as nothing in their families, because that is what the society has subjected them to.
So, do you see your book as an agent of change?
Hopefully. The character that I have created in Atarhe is a beautiful one. One that I believe will enable people to realize that their convention about the state of the disabled and the mentally challenged children is wrong. We should all know that even though they have those traits they are just like normal people, and they are also people like us. All they need is care, affection and love to function better and contribute their own quota in the society. So, I believe that through my book and the character, Atarhe, people will come to understand that they should give more care and more attention to the disabled in our society. And, believe me, when this is achieved the world would be a better place for us to live in.
Who is your literary role model?
If there is anyone in the literary world whom I look up to very well, it is the Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka.
Do you intend to go into writing full time?
I want to become a full time writer, because for me writing is something I want to do every day. It is a passion, it is not a hubby. I want to keep on writing as long as I can write. Oh yes! I want to be a full time writer.
So, why read Law and not Literature?
Law has been something I have always wanted to study since I was five. It is not like writing that you can do without having to go to a school. I just have that passion for writing and may be along the line I will have a master degree in Creative Writing. But for now, Law it is.
What is your philosophy of life?
Believe in yourself. Live simple. If you are alive you can achieve something.
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