How did “Saturday’s Song” originate? What inspirations did you draw on?

I had many inspirations. First, I’ve always wanted to write a sequel to “Wednesday’s Story” (also first published in Lightspeed Magazine, back in 2016), which ends with Wednesday, one of the personified Days of the week, having committed a crime. I wanted to follow up on that. On the consequences of her actions. But since the purpose of the personified Days is to tell stories, I knew I needed a story for them to tell within that larger story. I didn’t want to return to my old trick of using another reimagined children’s rhyme to frame the larger story around and so I went with an original story about love and grief and parenthood and magic which also serves in some way as one of the background inciting incidents for my novel Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon who appears in this story as a supporting character. Anyone who has read Shigidi will probably find a thin, but deeper layer to his personality after reading this story. The story also borrows loosely from elements of both Yoruba mythology and traditional Bori practice, a spirituality and belief system from the people of Northern Nigeria which features possession by spirits. I wanted to highlight this somewhat lesser-known traditional belief system from the country and this seemed like a good story to do that.

Lightspeed Magazine was the first and only place I submitted the story, and I was extremely pleased that editor John Joseph Adams immediately accepted this bigger, and (I think) more ambitious sequel. Publishing the story here feels right, like returning home.

Is there anything you want to make sure readers noticed?

As I mentioned, “Saturday’s Song” is a sequel to “Wednesday’s Story” which itself was a sequel to another story called “Thursday” (first published in The Kalahari Review in 2014. So, I guess it’s becoming a series now. I might keep returning to this world until I’ve exhausted all the days of the week. I just want to make sure that readers pick up on the fact that all these stories are themselves about the nature and power of stories in both the text (as is probably clear from reading it) and in their origins. They are an attempt by me to write a story that feels like it delivers the strengths of the traditional oral and communal storytelling style I grew up with as well as include my own many literary influences from the work of authors like Kurt Vonnegut and Neil Gaiman and Kojo Laing.

What are you reading lately? What writers inspire you?

I am inspired by many authors. You could say I’m influenced and inspired by almost every author I read. I already mentioned Vonnegut and Gaiman and Laing. I would certainly include Ursula K. LeGuin, Amos Tutuola, Isaac Asimov, Ben Okri, Carmen Maria Machado, Cyprian Ekwensi, John Steinbeck, Nnedi Okorafor, Philip K. Dick, Ted Chiang, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Sofia Samatar, Stephen King, Tade Thompson, Frederick Forsyth, Ken Liu, Cory Doctorow, and Lauren Beukes. Along with several others I am probably also forgetting.

I just started doing reviews for Locus Magazine last year and I read Flight From The Ages and Other Stories by Derek Künsken as well as Jackal, Jackal by Tobi Ogundiran for that. I also just completed Noor by Nnedi Okorafor and am now re-reading Exhalation by Ted Chiang whose short stories I find masterful.

Other than writing, do you have any other creative pursuits? What do you do to relax?

Oh yeah, I don’t know if they are creative pursuits but to relax, I love physical exercise. Especially boxing and kickboxing—mostly just bag work, no live sparring with people. I find it incredibly relaxing. I also really like running even though it’s hard. And I love scuba diving. I think it’s the closest we can come to being in outer space without actually going to outer space. The sense of floating, the pressure, the equipment required, the strange and wonderful and beautiful creatures that live under the sea, I really enjoy it all. Which is wild because I only learned to swim as an adult and started diving because I was, and still am, scared of water. But I like to face my fears. Now I am an advanced diver and also a certified rescue diver so if anyone ever runs into trouble on or below the surface of open water during a dive, I can help (I think).

What are you working on lately? Where else can fans look for your work?

Oh. Quite a lot actually.

Right now, I’m fully into the swing of things for the worldwide release of my first novel, Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon. I’m excited about that.

I’m editing a new anthology of stories set in the Sauútiverse, a fictional secondary world based on a blend of African cultural worldviews and inspirations that will be published in November this year.

I am also working on a new collection of short fiction that is due to be published next year in 2024. It’s not been officially announced yet so I can’t say what it’s called but if you enjoyed my first collection Incomplete Solutions, you’re probably going to like this one too.

And I am working on my second novel, a science fiction novel that takes place in Nigeria and South Africa which should be out in 2025 or maybe 2026. Readers can keep up with me on my blog or my Twitter (for as long as Twitter lasts anyway).

It’s going to be an interesting twenty-four months.