‘I wanted to start a caversatia’

As Buki Papillon publishes her astonishing debut novel, An Ordinary Wonder, she talks to Anna Bonet about gender and collecting stories

An Ordinary Wonder follows Oto, an intersex child growing up in Nigeria. Where did the idea for the story come from? It was really the character that came first. When I did my creative writing MFA, I delved into Nigerian culture and one day, Oto’s voice just appeared crystal-clear in my head. Everything came together from there; building up into this incredible story about what it means to be intersex, and about the universal experience of coming of age, but within a culture that is trying to tell you who you are supposed to be. Oto is brought up as a boy by her family, despite her heartfelt belief that she’s a girl. Why did you decide to examine the concept of gender? I had an experience when I was young that really…

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Red UK (Digital) - 1 Issue, May 2021

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