My stories are triggered by drama of life. - Zaynab Alkali

My inability to express myself well in spoken words. Perhaps this too may have been part of my training, not to be outspoken. I find spoken words unreliable, because once the words are out in the open, it is impossible to retrieve and edit them. I, therefore, discovered early in life, that writing is my best medium of self expression and a valuable tool of communication. This started with letter writing and graduated into fiction writing. In my days, letter writing was a beautiful form of communication. Courtship was elegantly done by the exchange of letters.

Education opens doors and gives an individual option in life.

I cannot, now, remember any particular book that had triggered the ‘muse’ in me, but I can remember some of my best novels; Arrow of God, by Chinua Achebe, The River Between, by Ngugi wa Thiongo and Woman at Point Zero, by Nawal el Saadawi.