My earliest reading memory
Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox, aged eight at boarding school in Norfolk. It was so wacky, fiendish and humorous. It didn’t patronise young readers, which I appreciated. I had just started my first term at that school, which was a period of great change in my life having moved from Lagos to England. I missed my parents but reading this gave me such joy. It unlocked my imagination; I caught the reading bug then never stopped.
My favourite book growing up
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides. It’s a mesmerising book. I love its exploration of complex familial ties; what living in a rigid, suffocating environment can do to adolescent minds.
The book that changed me as a teenager
Toni Morrison’s Jazz – the verve and audaciousness with which it captures the multiplicities of black lives. I was 14, back home in London on a break from school. To see black characters given such depth made quite an impact on me. It was so rich and complex I was deeply affected for weeks after reading it.
The writer who changed my mind
June Jordan, a bisexual virtuosic poet and activist ahead of her time, persuaded me that it was possible to move between mediums without compromising as a writer – that you could unapologetically be yourself. Her poem I Must Become a Menace to My Enemies remains seared into my consciousness. I read it whenever I want to kick some ass. It reminds me of the irrepressible power and spirit of black women.
The book that made me want to be a writer
Wild Seed by Octavia Butler. It was a gift from an ex-boyfriend during my 20s. The irony is that I avoided reading it for a while because of that connection. When I finally picked it up, it blew my mind. Butler’s imagination, the scope of the book as well as its daring themes and ideas showed me what was possible. Here was an ambitious black woman writing SF when black voices weren’t in that space, marching to the beat of her own drum and bucking expectations. She is truly inspiring.
The book I came back to
Ulysses by James Joyce. I found it too dense and slow as a teenager. I picked it up again in my 20s but I’m afraid I still put it down again. The quality of his writing is undeniable but I’m not a book martyr.
The book I reread
I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell. These essays about O’Farrell’s near-death experiences are astonishing and profound. I’m not only impressed by her guts but also her lack of sentimentality. It’s a book I often recommend to other women because it’s empowering in ways that aren’t immediately obvious.
The book I could never read again
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor. It’s an unforgettable young adult novel about a black family growing up in Mississippi during the Great Depression – told through the voice of a feisty African American girl protagonist, Cassie Logan, who must contend with the realities of racism. There’s no denying its power but it is also emotionally devastating. I would find it difficult to pick it up now. It’s an indictment of horrific histories, which don’t seem that long ago.
The book I discovered later in life
At the Bottom of the River by Jamaica Kincaid. It’s a superb work because it defies easy categorisation. Technically, this is a collection of stories set in Antigua, but not as you know it. The landscapes shift; some stories have a hallucinatory feel, others seem like paintings. I love that it flips notions around the masculine and feminine, presents inanimate objects like a table or a pen with a consciousness, and explores the role of memory in childhood, as well as the wonder and destructiveness of nature.
The book I am currently reading
I’m rereading Bernardine Evaristo’s incredible prose poetry novel The Emperor’s Babe. This lyrical, inventive work showcases exactly why she’s a force to be reckoned with.
My comfort read
Come Let Us Sing Anyway. Leone Ross’s terrific collection of short stories is strange, funny and sexy. I find the imaginative, sensual way Leone writes about bodies so refreshing. She’s a writer who excites me a great deal.
• Irenosen Okojie is the founder of Black to the Future. For tickets to forthcoming events and more information, visit blacktothefuture.space/events
