Q&A with Chika Unigwe

 

Photo by Misan Harriman

 

Chika Unigwe is the author of the new novel The Middle Daughter, a retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth. Her other books include On Black Sisters' Street. Born in Nigeria, she teaches at Georgia College in Milledgeville, Georgia.

 

Q: How would you describe the relationships between your character Nani and her parents and sisters?

 

A: Loving. There's a lot of love in that family but there's also duty. When both intersect, it affects how Nani and her mother, particularly, interact.

 

Q: How would you describe the role of religion in the novel? 

 

A: I think more than the role of religion, I wanted to explore how religion (and trust) in the hands of narcissistic, selfish, greedy people can be weaponized against those who are vulnerable. I do religion. I go to church. I know that religion isn't the problem but those in whose hands authority is vested in. Someone like Ephraim, for example, uses religious power to feed his ego, to get his way and to numb his conscience.  

 

Q: The writer Helon Habila called the book “a meditation on the need we all share for belonging, and family, and love; a commentary on the journey we must all take in search of freedom.” What do you think of that description? 

 

A: I'm grateful for a description that captures the soul of the novel. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have a few projects that need dusting, and I've been thinking of writing a novel about the Igbo landing with a woman at the center of it.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Thank you so much.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb