Indie Spotlight: Itoro Bassey’s Faith

 Welcome to our Indie Spotlight series. In which TNBBC gives small press authors the floor to shed some light on their writing process, publishing experiences, or whatever else they'd like to share with you, the readers!

Today, we are shining the spotlight on 

Itoro Bassey’s, Faith

 

Itoro speaks in-depth about her debut novel, Faith, a work of fiction following the protagonist Arit Essien, a withdrawn kid from New England trying to fit into her lily-white landscape. It’s a poignant conversation between several generations of women grappling with expectation, fragmentation, and a desire for independence.

 

The book is out on January 15th. Order your copy here.  Read an excerpt here.

 

 

Why Faith? Of all things to write…

 

I wasn’t expecting to write this particular novel. But I think it’s important that this is the first book that was birthed. I was hoping that this book would have a more clear narrative structure, and would be more linear, easier to digest, and instead, I wrote a book where the characters are not so clear cut, there’s not a clear line, and there are so many jumps in time. There are even conversations between the living and the dead…so…to answer your question, I wrote this book because I needed to write it. It’s the book that popped out over years of putting stories together and trying to find a way to talk about identity, relationships, migration, and spirituality within an African context. So I wrote Faith, simply because I felt it needed to be out in the world, and that it had merit, and I’m hoping that someone, somewhere will relate to the book. I think people will…the structure and content in the book actually sums up so many experiences of immigrants, mothers and daughters, and those who have navigated broken relationships and systems.

 

Is Faith based on your life?

 

Yes and no. It’s a work of fiction for sure, but I think real life is such a great playground for writing, especially writing this kind of story. I gave the story the bones of my real life. It’s a fact I grew up in New England and have traveled to different places. I also have a similar narrative to many Nigerian-Americans and children of immigrants trying to navigate their parents’ expectations while defining their own. I also know that so many of us navigate complicated family dynamics, where we love our families but have a lot of tension existing inside them. I actually think this is one of the most defining attributes of our generation, the first-gens and immigrants coming to a new country, and so on…that idea that one can leave, must leave, to find a life. 

 

And why did you choose this title?

 

Well…I’m not the best with titles…in general. But when I really sat down and thought, What’s at the heart of this book, I mean, what’s it about…it’s about faith. Finding your faith, going against the faith (talking in a religious sense) you’ve inherited, and learning how to trust yourself, how to trust that the life you’ve been given can become what you make it.

 

To end this chat, when you’re not writing epic novels, what do you do for fun!?

 

I like to eat. I like to eat a lot.

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Itoro Bassey is a Nigerian-American writer, journalist, and storyteller. She was born in Houston, Texas, and raised in New England. She has received writing fellowships at the Vermont Studio Center, the San Francisco Writers Grotto, and The Edward Albee Foundation, among others. Her short story, To the Children Growing Up in the Aftermath of Their Parents’ War, won third place in the Glimmer Train Short Fiction Award. Some of her popular pieces of writing are Running, Anti-Blackness and the African Immigrant, and A Visitor in My Homelands. Currently, she works as a correspondent and producer at Arise TV.