The young Nigerian writer talks about her third novel White is for Witching
When Helen Oyeyemi told her parents that her first novel was going to be published, they thought she was joking. They could not believe she had written a book whilst working towards her A levels, which produced a raft of straight ‘A’s. At the time, the papers reported that Helen had received £400,000 for a two book deal. Although this figure was wildly inaccurate, the money that she did actually receive from her publishers meant that she was not an impoverished student whilst at Cambridge University and could concentrate on her writing during the holidays. Now 25, Helen has just published her third novel. She joins Jenni to talk about her work which is influenced by the writings of Edgar Allen Poe and has been described as ‘magic realism’.
‘White is for Witching’ by Helen Oyeyemi is published by Picador ISBN 978-0-330345814-6
