‘I wrote my book sleeping in a car’
Seeking to spike a national awareness on the increasing divide that continues to marginalise the under-represented voice, Port Harcourt-based writer, and author of Twinkling Shards (2017), Cyan Frank-Hanachor recalls her journey in writing world, her latest book co-authored with her son, Emmanuel Frank-Hanachor: Behind the Gossamer Bar in this encounter with Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME.
How did the writing start?
Growing up in Benin City opened us up to creativity in the natural: a live-wire imagination, "fast" tongue that is encouraged as "fabu" and a propensity for doing right by your parents that fed off the nuances of a middle class family from Sabongidda-Ora. Being the child of retirees is tough luck. You are constantly broke, have to learn to make do; added to peer pressure, you are at the cusp of maturity, desperate for experience and eager to be part of a group. As the "middle” child in a large family, I sought solace in books.
Creative writing was inspired by Papa. At age six, he discovered I could neither read nor write and took me under his wings. The teacher put me through my paces and by the next summer, I had a new found love for reading. He encouraged me to write short stories, I never looked back since.
First encounter with the reading public.
As a teenager, Papa entered an article for an essay writing competition for which we received a parcel. To my abashed pleasure: “A Pristine Christmas Day” was published by celebrated writer and PR person, Toni Kan, who admirably built a stable of writers through “SUNDAY SUNREVUE”. My mentor and the Hon. Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State, Gbenga Omotoso, as the Editor of The Nation permitted “CYAN’S ORB” for a time.
You are an “unknown” in the writing world.
In 2004, a determined attempt to read law literally unleashed the gates of Hades. Persistent attempts to involve the Police failed. I resigned myself to a hobby I thoroughly enjoyed. I’m afraid our peculiar situation has limited not only our output but its content. We are yet to replicate the books that started us out on this path. I am promised to get through the backlog of work before starting on the real adventure of writing.
By your admission, your writing feeds off personal experiences.
My kids grew up with me running circles round them and my laptop, often writing into the night and waking up early in the mornings for editing. Like John Locke, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, we believe that “All men were born equal and all should be treated on the basis of their personal dignity and convictions”; yet we have endured a consistent pattern of systemic violence which is strangely incongruous with who and what we are. I had run the gamut of NGO's and legal aid institutions. I have been assured that the present administration has since shored up the channels open to people like me.
I got confirmation of an admission I had pursued for decades. For close to six months, I had a lump the size of a child's fist on my skull. After treatment at LASUTH, I had just the one outfit I had run out of the house with to sit in an air-conditioned lecture theatre in UniLag. Soon, that would be one of my sleeping corners in the expansive school asides from my “getaway” car.
Nobody knew squat about me, nobody cared. All I cared about was that my kids were out of harm's way, finally. It should have been the worst experience of my adult life. I should have been discouraged, broken or even dead. I determined to damn the odds. In the dead of the night when insomnia set in, I would put up my feet on the dashboard and drop words randomly. You would be amazed how much made it to our collection of poetry.
Regrettably, Twinkling Shards (2017) got mangled in publication. Warts and all, I entered it for the NLNG and ANA competitions, confident and comforted by the content. Of course, it was just an affirmation of our determination and a last ditch effort to establish my writing.
I would hibernate in my car and flip for "base camp" to enjoy my kids and the ambience of home. It was different from anything I had ever done. For the first time in fifteen years of marriage, I did not have anything to "fix" but me. It started to grate in the last three years but by then, I had caught my breath and rallied enough to get private lodgings whenever I had school. Painfully though, yet again, the attack had truncated any attempt to complete the work on a full-length novel.
Your current project?
Our new book Behind the Gossamer Bar will be out in the 1st quarter of 2025. It is a joint effort with my son, Emmanuel Frank-Hanachor. It is a social commentary on class, power, adolescence, education, relationship, cultism, gender, drugs and sexuality.
It was cathartic. The manuscript was completed as late as 2014 but in the past two years of hibernating in Port Harcourt we edited the work, this I thoroughly enjoyed. Its setting is no accident, though. Our work and life has been singularly impacted by the Niger Delta and its environmental issues. “Behind the Gossamer Bar” had been pencilled down as a possible commentary on the impact of environmental degradation but a brief hiatus with the people gave us a front row seat at the drama of the crux of the issue.
We rather quickly became targets of a system we thought to correct. Of course, yet again any attempt to involve the Police was scuttled. I'm afraid we had to belatedly realign our priorities to address a perspective close to home: bullying in the Nigerian public school system and its ramifications on a closed family setting. A few years down the line perhaps, we might come clean about our reality but just now, we are more comfortable sharing this much.
Of course, Twinkling Shards has evolved. It is been reissued as two volumes: Twinkling Shards and Wrinkles in the Puddle from the stable of Cyan’s Orb, our PR and publishing outfit. They are ideal gifts. A must-read for discerning parents.
Inspiration for Behind the Gossamer Bar.
Sadly, it literally wrote itself. Bullying is sickening. It is time to make it centre stage. I am a proud product of the public school system. I was singled out for punishment, bullied, scourged and broken…almost. Despite being very hands-on, unfortunately, so were my kids but I will always champion its cause regardless of its glaring inadequacies because of the reality of human nature and the horrific lapses in the private school in Nigeria.
Thematic content as a social commentary.
We have read widely, nothing serious, just beautifully crafted novels for young people that made us question the lackluster experiences outside of the campus in the '80's and '90's. Where is the adventure, challenge, stimulation and thrill of living in Nigeria?
We have witnessed some improvement in the past ten years in the parts of the country we have visited: Lagos, Delta, Rivers and Edo States but it must get better and quickly too. There must be a definitive plan to scale the environment, make it particularly attractive to a vibrant, youth population feeding on payTV and the internet. Nigeria is moving ahead in the right direction but we might pick up the pace if we veered off a humdrum construct of delivery instead of a fast-paced, multidimensional upgrade uniformly, statewide.
This project runs its vein through our work and underscores our preoccupation with education, parenting and attitudinal construct as it affects the mindset of a child. It has birthed our interactive, non-denominational, syndicated lecture poised to bridge the generational gap in lifestyle options, family values and interpersonal relationships in the home, school and workplace: "The 'Good' Lesson series."
Your work is centred on kids, gender and environmental issues.
Incidentally, my favourite poem is "He that is down need fear no fall" by John Bunyan. Wish we could say our books are stimulating, exciting and thrilling. They were borne of a desire to expose a system that condones endemic violence. They are definitely a no holds barred, thought-provoking discourse that impacts on the minutiae of society. There is a recurring decimal though, juvenile literature and a particular type of feminism in a patriarchal justice system.
We will always throw up the "Nature vs Nurture controversy". We have thrust several topical issues in the public domain in the past eleven years and are proud of the giant strides in the psyche of the Nigerian. We continue to hope for a humane element to drive the machinery of government. My biggest regret is that we were unable to replicate the environment we grew up in for our kids. Today, they rule!
Asides writing what are you actively engaged in?
Several attempts to engage the government in the backwoods of Port Harcourt on the fallen standard of education failed. Our presence in Rivers State motivated us to attempt to initiate a project in certain L.G.A's. as immediate remediation to address the hydra-headed monster through our most delightsome baby: the Papyrus Club.
The Papyrus Club is a community-based, aspiring writer’s and book club to create an exciting cross-cultural experience, sustain public interest in reading and explore writing in the inner-city by fostering an appreciation and respect for the environment. It is an interactive medium to change the rhetoric of the South-South by exploring the fauna and flora of the region to give the narrative back to the kids. It is a project close to our hearts. We have actively propagated it in our immediate environment since inception in Isolo, Lagos State, in 2004.
Cyan’s Project is another long-running community-based programme which we rested due to funds. Like everything we do, it is voluntary; in fulfillment of a father's dream for a much-loved, erring daughter's education.
For every book sold by Cyan’s Orb, 10% will be donated to "Green Fingers" – our research into environmental degradation, sustainable development, renewable energy and the best way to introduce an appreciation for the environment from the cradle.
When is the best time to start writing?
Sadly, I am in no position to answer that truthfully. In spite of the implosion in the net, I would rather delicately aver that we all cannot be brilliant writers. We all have intrinsic gifts, I should know, that is the tragedy of my life. Writing is instinctive. It is not drudgery or learned but a beautiful, timeless expression and flawless sharing that cannot be replicated no matter how hard or well you try. That’s why we have our masters: Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Hope Eghagha, J.P Clark, Femi Osofisan… But experience has shown that like in all things:”like the early bird…” soon as the seeds are sown. Trust me you will know when.
Favourite book or writer?
We are fickle. Always on the prowl for the next exciting find...my kids and I swap books. I have read several beautifully crafted books though we are open to explore as many as we come across in future but the one we might never forget I believe is the most recent flyaway copy of any author who incorporates adventure, passion, exciting people far removed from my present humdrum location and a repertoire to go with it.
Philosophy of living.
Undoubtedly, the creed of “The ‘Good’ Lesson series”: “using the little to achieve the most”. We are circumspect about living the “good” life. Frugality is a suit I wear proudly. We are content to watch for the future with grace and “good” sense.
Moving on
There is a startling increase in the fatality from bullying that we feel must be addressed. We have succeeded in raising the stakes as a nation, it is time to address the fabric of society. To reset the limits in polite society. To rewrite the code that governs our conduct and interactions as a people. There is no better time than now.
Parents in the past ten years have uniformly shown a maturity, an awareness of their responsibility in the face of the tough economic environment. They are to be commended. We must hold the school management accountable. We must hold the government accountable. We must hold the society accountable.
We have a story that bears telling. It is an indictment on social justice. It must be shared to ensure that the culture of violence is broken.
Plans for the future?
I have an extensive repertoire of Literature yet unpublished. I believe we have come to a crossroad, I have decided to create an avenue to further our primary job commitment.
We have decided to extend our influence to other pursuits we have actively developed behind the scenes: PR, community development, educational advocacy and our first love, publishing. Our experience and knowledge makes it imperative that we continue to engage government on its hegemony and the inherent lapses in our education-sensitive environment.
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