November 2021

Tola Rotimi Abraham in Conversation with Tirthankar Chanda

CUTola Rotimi Abraham is the debut author of Black Sunday, a novel about twin sisters who find and embody power on their own terms. Along with their two brothers, the sisters were abandoned by their parents after their father’s “sure bet” gamble falls through. The book deals with sex, religion, and power in contemporary Lagos, Nigeria, and the ways in which the patriarchy is never reprimanded for its unjust and oppressive behavior.

We interviewed Tola via email. We discussed women’s power, the patriarchy, and how Black Sunday might have been different if it was set elsewhere.

LTURE AS A URE AS A TOOL FOR CHARACTERIZATION

A DIALOGUE WITH TOLA ROTIMI ABRAHAMGUE WITH TOLA ROTIMI ABRAHAM

CULTURE AS A TOOL FOR CHARACTERIZATION

A DIALOGUE WITH TOLA ROTIMI ABRAHAM

This conversation took place via email, between Missouri, United States and the South of Algeria.

Saliha: Thank you for joining me, Tola. Your debut novel, Black Sunday, is a truly engaging and absorbing read. It explores themes of poverty, family and religion through intimate, complex lenses while offering readers a window through which they can look into modern Nigeria. Why did you choose to tell the story from the point of view of the siblings? Did you find it challenging to write from the children’s perspectives, especially considering the complex circumstances they found themselves in?