Ayodele Olofintuade
Ayodele Olofintuade is a Nigerian writer, journalist, and feminist. She identifies as queer and non-binary in Nigeria, which is an anti-LGBTQ country. Born in Ibadan, Nigeria, Olofintuade grew up between Lagos, Ibadan and Abeokuta.They are a self-supporting, full-time writer whose works are focused primarily on feminism in Africa, Yorùbá spirituality (cutting across Africa and the Diaspora) the Nigerian LGBTQ community, and gender non-conforming persons in Nigeria. Olofintuade has two children.
Quotes
[edit]- Fortunately women who have gone before me have made that something I no longer fear.
- The first thing I figure out is the plot, and as it develops, the characters take shape. I believe the characters tell me their own stories.
- Playing with words, making up new ones, gifting your audience with a well written story is nothing short of magic.
- Turning an empty page into stories, making something out of nothing.
- The most challenging part in writing ‘Lakiriboto Chronicles’ was creating characters that are not flat, especially as the major one has mental health challenges. Also, being able to navigate the thin line between demonizing or worse still, caricaturing an illness that affects millions of people in varying degrees. I had to write and rewrite based on feedback from experts in the field of psychiatry and also readers. I wrote and rewrote the character for nearly two years.
- Lakiriboto in Yoruba means a woman who cannot be ‘mounted’. It is many layered. As with many words that are from traditional Yoruba world, many people misunderstand it. I chose the title because the book is about women who refuse to be mounted or controlled by the society. The book is about women who take charge of their sexuality, their finances and fates.
- My office. About two years ago I converted the dining area in my house to a mini office. I had a table specially made and it gives me a sense of isolation.
From everyday life. I get my inspiration from stories I hear on buses and from the women that surround me.
I can’t say precisely because I have been writing since I could string words together. My evolution, my becoming a full-time writer happened quite naturally.
Most of my writing is done at night, usually between 11pm and 4am. During school term I have to wake up early to take the children to school. I use daytime to rest and do less demanding work. Sometimes I write seven days a week, but sometimes I take time off to rest, to teach or go on short holidays.
I am always trying to reach out to children. It is not that I don’t write other genres, but I easily get across to children and I have written more children books. I have a 13 year old and when he was much younger, I use to buy him books. In the course of doing this, I found out there were a few good books out there. The books that were available were badly written and not interesting. That need ignited my interest in writing children’s books.
