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Dr. Towunmi Coker is a writer and the
founder of Towunmi Coker Literary Initiative, TCLI.
In this @naijabooks interview, she talks about her book, ‘Promise of the Future’.
How
long have you been writing?
I have been writing since I could use a pencil on a
paper. I began in elementary school mostly after reading a book I did not like
the ending; so I wrote my own story on a jotter.
Tell
us about your book 'Promise of the Future'.
My book 'Promise of the Future' is about a young
girl, Ajoke, who was rechristened Celestina, by a woman she worked for. She was
from a wealthy family but a sudden misfortune on her family led her to live
with foster parents, where the madam of the house treated her as a maid. She
encounters some other obstacles in her journey through life and the unfolding
of twists lead us to some real life situations, and we wonder if the promise of
the future holds beauty or more pain.
What
is the motivation behind it?
The motivation steamed from two story ideas I had
for a long period of time. One was from my experience growing, where people
always say people always get a negative reward for every bad act. I realised
this is not true in reality and I always wanted to pen something on that
especially for negative acts people engage in unintentionally. The saying
ignorance is not an excuse, though true does not necessarily mean ignorance
leads to punishment. Another motivation was an experience during my first year
of clinical school as a medical doctor. A combination of these brought about
'Promise of the Future'.
Tell
us about Towunmi Coker Literary Initiative.
Towunmi Coker Literary Initiative is a nonprofit
organisation that effects needed societal changes through literature, arts and
culture. We organise a yearly creative writing competition among secondary
school students in Lagos State to promote reading and writing culture. We also
effect other needed societal changes such as a play we staged five times to
commemorate 2014 world HIV day. We have also collaborated with other
organisations to promote health awareness such as an awareness on hepatitis
which we did last year with #20dayson Hepatitis. Another of our collaboration
is with Yetunde Sarumi Collection, where mentoring for students occur. We also
have a project to build a community library in Lagos which can be viewed here; donations can also be made to support us.
Apart
from also being a medical doctor, you are an agropreneur. What do you do as an
agropreneur?
As an agropreneur, I am basically an entrepreneur
interested in agriculture. I am interested in making changes and watching
things grow. I believe agriculture is an important part of our lives and also
contributes immensely to any nation. So apart from being a medical doctor, I am
a farmer interested in contributing to individual and nations livelihood and
GDP through one of nature's best gift to mankind.
Where
can your book be purchased?
My book can be purchased through Rovingsheights on
Konga, Jumai and at Cafe Neo outlets in Lagos.