This Woman Writes: An Interview with Uju Asika

Interviewed by Megan Willis

Uju Asika is a multi-award nominated blogger, screenwriter and creative consultant. Her mission is to tell stories that help people feel seen.

Uju is the author of Bringing Up Race: How to Raise a Kind Child in a Prejudiced World, published by Yellow Kite (Hachette UK) and Sourcebooks in North America. Her latest book Raising Boys Who Do Better was published on June 1, 2023 by DK (Penguin Random House). A former journalist, Uju’s work has featured in The Guardian, Salon.com, Time Out and the Daily Times Nigeria. Her poetry is published in select literary anthologies including the landmark collection IC3: The Penguin Anthology of New Black Writing in Britain.

Today, Uju mentors writers through Black Girl Writers. She is set to launch the UJU Writers Space, a creative studio and consultancy for developing writers.

You can keep up with Uju at her parenting blog babesabouttown.com and @babesabouttown across social media.

Thank you so much for talking with me today. Let’s jump right in: at what point did you decide to pursue writing, and what did the beginning of that journey look like for you?

I’ve always been a writer, at least ever since I could hold a pen. I grew up in a house filled with books, so I fell in love with words and stories at an early age. As a child I wrote poems, songs, short stories, picture books and even a couple of novels (in exercise books). I kept journals throughout my childhood and early adulthood.

I went on to study English Literature at university and my first published poetry appeared in an anthology when I was 22. After uni, I started working for a small Black newspaper in Brixton, part of The Voice group. I covered arts and culture, attended press events and interviewed lots of celebrities. It was a fun time.

You’ve said in the past that your mission is telling stories that help people feel seen. Who are the writers that made you feel seen growing up, and how have they influenced your writing?

As a young reader, I identified with quirky, strong-natured or quietly rebellious female characters like Jane Eyre and Anne of Green Gables. In my teens, the first author who really made me feel seen amongst all the White characters of mainstream literature was Maya Angelou. I inhaled her work along with that of Toni Morrison and Alice Walker. Later, I loved authors like Zadie Smith, Helen Oyeyemi and Chimamanda Adichie. I think what these writers gave me was permission to write in my voice, to add my cultural flavour, and to believe that my experiences and insights as a Black British Nigerian-born woman were worthy of being centred too.

What does your writing routine look like?

I don’t really have a routine (I wish I was that focused). But when I have a major deadline coming up, what helps me is getting into a writing rhythm. I’ll aim to write for a set time, often two stretches of 90 minutes. Or else a rough word count. Then I’ll try to start my workday with writing, rather than getting distracted by email and social media. I’m not always successful at this, which is why I’m often crashing and burning into my deadlines, but I guess that’s just the way I’m wired!

You write everything from personal essays to poetry, journalism to narrative non-fiction, celebrity interviews to blog posts, short stories to novel manuscripts, screenplays to children’s books. Do you have a favourite medium? And when an idea comes to you, does the form come with it or do you ever experiment with the best way to tell a particular story?

Hmm, good question. I’m not sure I have a favourite medium although my first love was poetry. After I graduated, I fantasised about becoming a professional poet but I didn’t have the stamina or the discipline. Plus, I quickly realised it wasn’t going to pay me much back then! Some ideas do spring to life in their own form, but I also like to blur the lines. One of my most powerful blog posts is actually more of a poem and my children’s book has a lyrical quality to it because it was originally written in rhyme. I’ve been told that my non-fiction books read like page-turning fiction, which is a huge compliment. Sometimes I have commitment issues though. Like, I have several half-finished ideas that still can’t decide whether they’re meant for the page or the screen!

Can you tell me about some of the challenges you’ve faced in your creative career?

Unfortunately the phrase ‘creative career’ is still something of an oxymoron: it’s not easy to have a thriving and sustainable career as a creative. So while I enjoy a rich and meaningful relationship with my work and with the creative arts at large, I’m still waiting for the serious money to start rolling in! I feel grateful that people are willing to pay me to do what I love. However, I wish there was more support and more equity across the board, and that the current government wasn’t so dismissive of the arts.

As a Black female creative, I’ve battled with imposter syndrome. I’ve also had to deal with the visible and invisible barriers that Black writers face in an industry run mostly by people who don’t look like us. I’d add that having kids and trying to fit my creative work around them has been a challenge. However, my kids are also a source of great inspiration and feature hugely in my blog and books.

Your latest book, Raising Boys Who Do Better, was recently published. Why did you think it was important to write this and share it with the world?

I’m the mother of two teenage boys and a stepmother to a young man in his twenties, so it’s a deeply personal topic. The idea first came to me after the murder of Sarah Everard and all the conversations people were having about men, boys and what they could be doing better. I wanted to explore what it takes to raise boys who are compassionate and accountable as well as happy and healthy within themselves.

Once I got into it, there was so much to cover from sexism and power and privilege to technology, mental health, sex education and consent. When you look at stories about Luis Rubiales (the former Spanish football federation president who kissed World Cup winning player Jenni Hermoso by force) and Russell Brand (the UK comedian accused of multiple sexual violations), those are just some examples of why we need to reeducate and change the culture for the next generation.

What is the most valuable piece of writing advice you’ve been given?

Keep your hand moving. That one comes from Natalie Goldberg who wrote two of my favourite books on writing, Wild Mind and Writing Down the Bones. The idea is just to free-write by putting pen to paper and writing faster than your internal editor can catch up. It’s the best way to get your first draft down and then you can go back and fix up what needs to be fixed.

Finally, do you have any advice for new and unpublished young female writers?

Your voice is necessary. Your stories are worthy of being told. So read as much as you can, learn from other writers and keep practicing your craft. Don’t stop writing. You never know who needs your words or which readers are waiting for your particular brand of magic.