The Writer's Sauce: Recent Episodes
Ufuoma & Faith
The Writer's Sauce is a podcast focused on different gists, hot topics, and issues that concern writing and writers, especially in and from Africa. In today's world where the value of books seems to be thinning and people believe writing is not a "real job", The Writer's Sauce aims to correct that notion.
In the series finale, we sit with our very first guest of the podcast, Emmanuel Faith, but this time as a listener, as we reminisce on the beginning and end of the podcast.
We are grateful to you our listeners for going on this journey with us and we hope our conversations ignited and encouraged your passions for African literature and the creative industry.
In this exciting episode, Ufuoma and Faith sit with Jerry Chiemeke, UK-based Nigerian writer. Jerry shares his experience as a Nigerian writer living and writing in diaspora through this hearty and cheerful conversation.
Jerry is on Instagram x Twitter @j_chiemeke.
In this episode, we talk about the Caine Prize for African Writing and Ekemini's experience being on the 2023 Caine Prize 2023 for his story, Daughters, By Our Hands, published by Isele Magazine in 2022.
Ekemini is on X (formerly Twitter) @PiusEkemini and on Instagram @instagrimini.
In this episode, Ufuoma sits solo with Ghanaian-American poet and performer, Cynthia Amoah and talk about poetry as an art for activism, love and expression of self.
Cynthia is on Instagram @poetesscynthia.
Remember to share this episode with fellow poetry lovers.
We sit with the host of Story of the gods podcast, Olawoyin Olamide Samuel, and talk about hosting this audio experience rich in African folklore and culture.
Story of the gods is produced by Jamit (@jamitstudios) and is available on all listening platforms.
Follow the experience on IG @storyofthegods and on Samuel's personal page @unkleboo.
Faith sits solo with guest, Ucheoma Onwutuebe as they discuss the impact of MFA programs for African writers, dealing with rejections and owning an independent voice as a writer.
Ucheoma is available on X @ucheomar and IG @ uche__oma.
In this episode, Ufuoma and Faith have a heart-warming conversation about books, reading and influencing for books in the Nigerian literary space, with Amyn AKA Lipglossmafia (the Crazy Book Lady).
You can find Amyn on IG (@lipglossmafia) and Twitter (@lipglossMAFFIA)
Tomi Adesina, award-winning writer best known for Hakkunde, The Wait and Kasanova sits with Ufuoma and Faith and shares her experiences, thoughts and knowledge of screenwriting and opportunities for writers in the Nigerian film industry.
Tomi Adesina is a screenwriter, fiction writer and PhD researcher. She is on Twitter @tomi_adesina and IG: @tomiadesina.
In this episode, Faith and Ufuoma discuss the ups and downs of being a book seller and distributor in Nigeria with Engr. Enita Okonkwo, the founder of online bookstore and market, The Bookmarket NG.
Kindly follow The Bookmarket NG on Instagram @bookmartketng and remember to subscribe to this podcast and follow us on IG @thewritersaucepodcast and on Twitter @thewritersauce.
On this episode, Miracle Emeka-Nkwor chats with Ufuoma and Faith on her writing process for her debut YA novel, What Happened to Janet Uzor.
What Happened to Janet Uzor is a crime thriller that follows the lives of four friends as they try to unravel a crime - the suspected murder of another friend, Janet Uzor.
This book is published by Masobe Books and available at bookstores near you.
Follow Miracle on social media @miraclenkwor on IG and @miracle_nkwor on Twitter.
Remember to subscribe to the podcast and follow on us IG @thewritersaucepodcast and Twitter @thewritersauce.
In this episode, Ufuoma and Faith discuss her latest book and second work of historical fiction, Saro with Nike Campbell (@nike_campbell on IG).
Saro is a mutigenerational tale of betrayal and restitution, love and war, inspired by true events that will take the reader from the rocky terrain of Abeokuta and burgeoning city of Lagos to the lion mountains of Freetown and Hastings of Sierra Leone from the 1830s to the 1850s.
This book is available in bookstores near you.
In this episode, Ufuoma and Faith talk about their expectations for the new season and give the audience insights to the guests and topics for season 3 of TWSPOD.
Thank you for listening. Kindly follow us on IG: @thewritersaucepodcast and on Twitter: @thewritersauce.
Kindly also follow Faith's project aimed at sharing the joy of books with young children in Nigeria @bookdriveafrica
In the season finale, the TWSPOD team - the hosts, Ufuoma & Faith, the audio editor, Ayanfe Aina and the promotional content designer, Winner Umeh sit down and reminisce over the last twenty-five episodes of the show and discuss the outlook for the coming season(s).
Follow the team on IG:
Ayanfeoluwa Aina @ayanfeoluwaaina
Winner Umeh @wnrgram
Ufuoma Bakporhe @uf_oma
Faith Nwani @fideiiii
Remember to follow the podcast across platforms and share our episodes. We are on Twitter @thewritersauce x IG @thewritersaucepodcast.
Our email thewritersaucepodcast@gmail.com awaits your messages and our DMs are always open.
In this penultimate episode of the season, we sit with Nicole Asinugo, Scriptwriter and Storyteller. Nicole jointly won the 2020 Africa Magic Viewer's Choice Award for Best Writer in a movie or TV Series for her debut screenplay, Living in Bondage - Breaking Free. She has written other screenplays after, most recently, Rattlesnake - The Ahanna Story. Nicole talks about the intricacies of screenwriting and her expectations of the Nigerian film and literary industry for writers. She also talks about the good work her team is doing at her writing community @thewritersroom.ng.
Nicole is on Instagram @nicoleasinugo. She also hosts a podcast for writers @thestorieswetellpod.
Our guest on this episode is performance poet, Iyanu Adebiyi. Trained and called to the Nigerian Bar, Iyanu has carved a niche for herself in performance poetry, epistolary writings and making a business out of her craft. Iyanu advocates for the rights of women and youth through art. In 2020, the award-winning artiste released her album, “Wonder”.
We talk about poetry, advocacy, self-love, healing and her love letters, Ifeleta. Iyanu is on Instagram @iyanuadebiyi. You may also shop and subscribe to the newsletter, Ifeleta here.
In this episode, we sit with Edwin Madu and talk about writing, editing, music, loss and love and meaningful art.
Edwin "Dwin the Stoic" Madu is a Nigerian writer, editor, poet, and musician. He is one-half of the music duo, Ignis Brothers. Edwin currently sits as the Editor-in-chief at Zikoko Magazine. His works have been published across different literary journals including Jalada, AFREADA, Brittle Paper, Litro, Contra, and The Kalahari Review to mention a few.
Edwin enjoys the art of storytelling regardless of the medium being prose, script, poetry or music. He is an alumnus of the Farafina Trust Creative Writing Workshop (now The Purple Hibiscus Workshop).
Edwin is on Twitter x IG @dwinthestoic.
We return from our hiatus with the awesome, Chimeka Garricks, author of the acclaimed collection of stories, A Broken People's Playlist and novel, Tomorrow Died Yesterday. Chimeka shares with Ufuoma his writing process, challenges, what his forthcoming UK and US publishing feels like and what his reading audience should look forward to from him.
Chimeka Garricks is available on Instagram @mr.garricks.
Remember to follow us on IG @thewritersaucepodcast and on Twitter @thewritersauce.
Also vote for us in the APVA Awards 2022 for Best FICTION podcast via https://apva.africa/votings/
Faith sits solo with Nigerian-American writer, Chinedu Achebe. Chinedu is the author of the novel, The Miseducation of Obi Ifeanyi. On the episode, Faith and Chinedu talk about the book, where to find it, reviews and what to expect in the future from our guest.
Do you think our guest is related to Chinua Achebe? Take a wild guess before you listen.
The Miseducation of Obi Ifeanyi is available in bookstores in Nigeria including Rovingheights and Okadabooks. You can connect with the author @chineduachebe across social media platforms.
In this special episode, courtesy of @podparlour x @apva_official, we sit down with the Oriade of Lagos, and the king of books, Michael Inioluwa Oladele. Michael is a writer, poet, essayist and book reviewer. Michael aspires to be a well-known writer and influencer in the literary space. In this episode, we talk about his works, future plans of publishing and acquiring an MFA in Creative Writing, vulnerability and transparency in writing and his love for books.
You can connect with Michael @books.mercury where he reviews books and @oriadeoflagos on IG. He is on Twitter @michaelinioluwa and blogs at https://michaelinioluwa.com/
On this episode, Faith and Ufuoma sit with Michael Afenfia, author of the critically acclaimed novels, When the Moon Caught Fire, A Street Called Lonely, Don’t Die on Wednesday, The Mechanics of Yenagoa and Rain Can Never Know. His sixth novel, Leave My Bones in Saskatoon is scheduled for release in the fall of 2022. We talk about writing, the ups and downs, the metamorphosis of TMOY from a blog series to a novel and other interesting facts about our guest.
Michael has a blog, WriteNow and also has a short story podcast, Write Out Loud where he writes and reads short stories to his audience. Michael Afenfia lives and writes from Saskatchewan, Canada and is a member of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild. Connect with him on IG and Twitter @michaelafenfia.
On this episode, we sit with Dami Ajayi, Medical doctor, critically-acclaimed poet, writer and music critic. He is the co-founder of the magazines, Saraba, The Lagos Review and Yaba Left Review. Dami is the author of three collections of poetry, Clinical Blues, A Woman’s Body is A Country and the latest, Affection & Other Accidents.
Dami shares hearty laughs with us as we talk about his favourite things - music, poetry and co-founding. Dami is available on Twitter @JollyPaps1 and on Instagram @jollypaps. Do sign up to his newsletter here and grab a copy of his book, Affection & Other Accidents here.
On this episode, we sit with Eritrean-Ethiopian-American writer, Luwam Tesfaye, author of the historical fiction novel, Between Two Worlds. Luwam is a personal fitness trainer, and life coach. She is also a blogger on Luwame, and a Podcaster on Inspired by Luwame. We talk about her novel, life as a coach, blogger and creative personality.
Luwam can be reached on IG @luwame_.
You can also check out her works and get a copy of the book here.
Ufuoma sits solo with Nzube Nlebedim, Writer and Editor. Nzube Nlebedim is a Nigerian writer, editor, and critic. He is the Founding Editor of The Shallow Tales Review literary magazine and also Editor-in-Chief of Afrocritik, a critic magazine. We speak about his job as an editor, founding and running TSTR since 2019 and working with Afrocritik. Nzube shares how he manages being an editor and a creative writer as well as being a critic.
He can be reached on Twitter @NzubeNlebedim. Kindly follow TSTR on Twitter and Instagram @ShallowTales x @theshallowtalesreview and Afrocritik @afrocritik.
In this episode, we sit with bestselling author and actress, Damilare Kuku. We talk about her love for books, writing and her debut book, Nearly All the Men in Lagos are Mad, a collection of twelve short stories centered around love, Lagos and it's hazardous dating scene. Damilare talks about the reasons behind these stories and the need to tell them. We also talk about Damilare's future writing plans and her typical genres.
You can connect with Damilare on Instagram @damilarekuku and Twitter @thedamilarekuku
Nearly All the Men in Lagos are Mad is available across bookstores in Nigeria.
Ufuoma and Faith welcome their listeners (AKA Saucers) to the new season of the podcast and inform them of the amazing line of guests and juicy conversations.
In the season finale, Ufuoma and Faith look back at the exciting episodes so far and speak about the future and possibilities in a returning season. They share their best moments and lessons from the season so far and share words of advice with writers and the listening audience. Until next time, it is goodbye for now and thank you for an amazing 13 episodes of TWS.
On this penultimate episode, Ufuoma and Faith sit with content creator and copywriter, Solomon Nzere who shares his journey to copywriting, digital marketing and content creation.
Solomon is on Twitter as @paidnoisemaker and Instagram as @solomonnzere
In this episode, Jewel Owolana of the Fit & Proper Podcast joins Ufuoma Bakporhe of the The Writer's Sauce as they speak with Olaoluwa Oni, lawyer and writer, about her book, 'The yNBA', her new podcast and her life across law and literature. The yNBA mirrors the life of the average Nigerian lawyer and the struggle between the old and the new.
In this episode, we sit with Achalugo and talk about playwriting, stage, photography, acting, producing, and visual storytelling. She speaks about her journey from working in a law firm to going into full entrepreneurship and working in the film and entertainment industry.
Achalugo shares advice to young writers and intending actors on how to keep going and to trust the process of the art. She shares what she does at the Story Station and speaks about future projects.
Achalugo is a writer, actress, producer, author, and lawyer. She is author of the play, 'Daughter of the East', the winner of the third Beeta Playwright Competition (BPC). Her debut novel is Mmirinzo (The Ones Who are Rain), a fantasy novel on a breed of rainmakers and water-benders. Achalugo also produces at the Story Station and sits as the Creative Director. She has worked in radio, film, and stage.
In this episode, we sit with poet, Tayo Akinbola and talk about Nigeria on its independence and how it serves its citizens and creatives, especially writers. We also discuss one of the latest editions of the Scratch Poetry Magazine which is themed, 'Voice of An Age' and how it focused on telling the story of EndSARS 2020, the Lekki Tollgate shootings and generally how poetry lends a voice to people.
Tayo also shares what it means to have a community and how he thinks the government can do better for its citizens and its creatives. Tayo Akinbola is a lawyer, writer and the author of 'Chiefs of Ordinariness', a short collection of poems published in February 2019. Tayo is currently a corps member serving in Ekiti State of Nigeria.
He loves writing and reading books, especially poetry and his favourite writer is Charles Bukowski. Tayo is the co-founder of Scratch Poetry Magazine, a literary magazine for young, up and coming poets & writers from different walks of life. The first edition of the magazine was published in January 2020, and at the moment currently has seven issues with well over 6,000 downloads.
On Facebook, he is Oye Tayo
On Twitter - https://twitter.com/oyetayoakin
On Instagram - https://instagram.com/oyetayoakin
You can download the Scratch Poetry Magazine via this link https://linktr.ee/ScratchPoetryMagazine
To listen to EP#4 - Poetry & Flowers with Karimot Odebode
Listen to EP#6 - The Experience Episode
In this episode, we talk about:
how Chinaza cuts her time across medicine and writing, which she chooses to do currently, her plans to focus on psychiatry in the future being a scriptwriter and a scholar at the Ebonylife Academy her experience on the Arts in Medicine Fellowship her general experience as a writer in the Nigerian film industry how Robert Greene's 'Mastery' influenced her decision to choose her career as a writer
Chinaza Eziaghighala is a medical doctor from Lagos, Nigeria. Chinaza is an alumnus of the Arts in Medicine Fellowship 2019 Cohort and was also nominated by the US Embassy Nigeria to be on the University of Iowa's International Writer's Program Digital Learning Project in June 2021. Chinaza is a storyteller and scriptwriter. She is currently a scholar at Ebonylife Academy and works as a communications intern at Creative Africa Nigeria.
In this episode, we talk with Joshua Chizoma about winning the Awele Creative Trust award in 2020 and he shares with us his experience as a young writer, what winning feels like to him, how he deals with his rejection, managing his time between and writing and what he thinks we can do to make the Nigerian writing community better for young writers.
In this episode, Ufuoma and Faith share their individual journey, experiences, and thoughts on and about writing. The discussion covers things like the influence of Ufuoma's father on her writing (Ufuoma published her first book at age 17, now she's 24), and the influence of the Creative Writer's Niche on Faith's writing; how they deal with rejections and keeping writing interesting. To learn more about the Creative Writers Niche, you can find them on Instagram at www.instagram.com/creativewn You can follow Ufuoma on Twitter - www.twitter.com/uf_oma and on Instagram via www.instagram.com/ufuomabakporhe Faith is also social on Twitter - www.twitter.com/fideiiii and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/faithywanny
In this episode, Ufuoma Bakporhe has a chat with YouTuber Voke Etefe. Their conversation covers the following:
inspiration for Voke's love for books and her decision to make something out of it state of reading culture in Nigeria her experience with reviewing books how her reading habit has impacted her writing skills how writers and authors react to criticism her thoughts on book to film adaptation paperback, ebook, or audiobook
Voke Etefe is a book reviewer and vlogger on her YouTube channel, 'Sweet Escape With Voke' -https://youtube.com/channel/UC4ufk7H7sT5_W6wG4sKPb0Q You can find her on Instagram at www.instagram.com/sweetescapewithvoke and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/withvoke NOTE: This episode was hosted by just Ufuoma as Faith Nwani was unavoidably absent and difficulty in rescheduling
This episode features Karimot Odebode, poet, youth and gender rights advocate, and feminist. In the discussion, she tells Ufuoma and Faith what poetry means to her, her belief in art as a form of activism, whether every poet can make a good spoken word artist, and how art helped her become who she is today. She also closes the episode with a poetry rendition titled, 'Like a Flower'. You can find out more about her and her work at www.karimotodebode.com Karimot is a two-time Youth Champion for ONE Campaign. You can find them at www.one.org. She also mentions being inspired by Dike Chukwumerije, the spoken word artist, performance poet, and author. You can find out more on him via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dike_Chukwumerije
In this episode, Ufuoma and Faith talk to Oluwaferanmi Ogundare, a successful freelance writer, developer, crypto investor, and founder of Caesar, a story sharing platform that connects readers and writers. He tells us about he got involved freelancing, the struggles with freelancing in Nigeria, dealing with trust issues, the -profitability of freelancing, how to break into the space and dealing with writer's block. He also tells us about Caesar (www.caesarwords.com), his startup, the value it offers to users, and plans for the coming years. You can follow him on Twitter @feran_dc
In this episode, Ufuoma and Faith talk to the Emmanuel Brothers: Michael Emmanuel and Emmanuel Faith. They are both prolific writers in their own right. Emmanuel Faith is an HR practitioner with a fast-growing fintech company, an author and poet. Michael Emmanuel works with several literary magazines and also published. The discussion covers their writing process, how they got into writing, their reading culture, thoughts on the writing industry, breaking in, and dealing with imposter syndrome. They also talk about what inspired their recent joint project, "Adulting in Nigeria" and Bookathon. You can find Bookathon on IG @the.bookathon Michael Emmanuel is on IG at @the_mike_emmanuel On Twitter, he is @mikey_emmanuel Emmanuel Faith is on Twitter and IG as @themmanuelfaith "Adulting in Nigeria" can be accessed via bit.ly/AdultingNG, while "Lagos doesn't Sleep" can be gotten from www.wrr.ng/download/lagos-sleep-emmanuel/
Welcome to The Writer's Sauce Podcast, hosted by Ufuoma Bakporhe and Faith Nwani. In this episode, our hosts give a preview of what's to come. To sign up for the newsletter and get notifications as we release new episodes, follow the link at bit.ly/TWSPOD You can follow the podcast online on Instagram via @thewritersaucepodcast. On Twitter, we are @thewritersauce