Tony Ekwoaba is a young lawyer, writer and ‘literary activist’ whose debut novel, Shadows’ tackles the malaise affecting Nigeria. In this interview with Sunday Trust, he talks about his writing and how Achebe and Grisham, two very different writers, inspire his works
When did your interest in writing start?
It started long ago. Actually, I got exposed to literature by a teacher I had in secondary school. I have always had interest in literature but when my teacher noticed that I read a lot she helped me with books. After school hours, she would call me into her office and give me private lessons in English.  I began writing poems. I lost a lost a lot of them, over 300…
How come?
I never published them and I can’t find them now. I also write drama and I have an unpublished manuscript. I never knew I could write prose. That interest started recently. I got into it and I think I am good. This is my first attempt at writing a novel and it came out well.
Tell us about your first book, Shadows, which was recently published?
Shadows is a book about Nigeria for Nigerians. It talks about the challenge of decent Nigerians struggling to live a better life, struggling to be better people in a system where corruption seems to be the norm; where to get to someone in an office, you have to bribe someone, where policemen are still on the street trying to collect N20 from road users, where a lot is not happening the way it should happen.
It is a book that talks about corruption, about cultism but majorly hammering on corruption and the need for us to fight this monster. It is fiction but when you read through it you will see that it is like the shadow of Nigeria, the shadow of the country we have. It has 36 chapters with Nigerian and American characters and it is set in Nigeria.
So do you consider yourself a moralist of sorts?
I won’t put a big title on myself. I consider myself a Nigerian who wants to have a better country, who wants to see things done right, who wants to see the resources of the country being utilized judiciously. It doesn’t seem the youth have the opportunity to get into the system to make an impact. So I am not a moralist, I have my frailties as a human.
So how do you think literature can help achieve all those things you want to see?
It will help because when you read through shadows you will see the tactics undermining this country exposed, you will see the tactics of 419 exposed. I didn’t call any names because this is fiction but when you read through you will know, you will see how this things work. It is a message for a better system. I am getting reviews from the US already. The more people read it, the more people get it. So I call it literary activism.
As a young writer coming up, who are the writers that have had the greatest influence on you?
John Grisham has been an influence. He never knew he would be a writer. He had a trial and lost and thought what if I had done it this way or the other and ended up writing a novel. He is a writer I admire and would love to beat him in terms of the number of books he has.
I also see Chinua Achebe as a mentor. He is a father and when you read his books you will see how he uses words. My third book is on Moremi, it is coming out next year and would be like most of Achebe’s work. It explores the Yoruba folklore.
The two main mentors I have who have influenced my works are Grisham and Achebe.
Grisham and Achebe are two very,  very different writers. How do you reconcile their influences in your own work?
Yes, they influence me not in the sense that I want to copy them but they inspire me, they don’t come up in my work because I have my own style that I have developed and I am still developing. So what they do is when I read their books I feel I want to be like them, I want to have a name like them in terms of literature in Africa and the whole world. Every writer has to develop his style ,his diction and structure and I have done this with my work but I have gained a lot of inspiration from them. I can never be them.
Most young writers have lots of challenges finding publishers for their works. What were the challenges you faced?
There are challenges. The publishing world is difficult for young writers who have not made a name. The process is you write a manuscript, you query agents. Most times they write back telling you that your book is not good for their market or that it is not for that particular time or they are not taking books like yours. You get a whole lot of rejections but you don’t give up. I got a whole lot of that when I started. How do you not give up? It is by ensuring that you work towards excellence so that when your manuscript is ready, you are proud of it and whoever you send it to, will be proud of it. The problem with most writers is that they want to do pesha, they want to do sharp-sharp work and get it out there. Decent publishers will not take half-baked works that is why it takes people like Chimamanda a whole lot of time to produce something that is near-perfect. So if you are an aspiring writer, you need to get editors to edit it several times, make sure it is error proof before you send it out. Keep sending it out, if it is good someone will take an interest in it. That is how JK Rowling got so many rejections before she made it. It’s about persistence. Rejection means you haven’t got there, it doesn’t mean you will never get there. http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/sunday/index.php/the-arts/20688-how-achebe-grisham-inspire-me[url][/url]