"My advice for young writers (and older ones, too) is to write what you want to write, be passionate about what you’re writing, read widely, embrace your experiences and persevere."

"No amount of reading about the nature of water can substitute for diving in, if one ever hopes to be an expert swimmer. Any form of human creativity is a process of doing it and getting better at it."

"Mauritius seems to be this inexhaustible matrix of creation. Talent is found in every corner, and it’s not performative. There’s this fascinating tension between marketing the country as a paradisiacal tourist destination and the actual real life of what the island is really about."

"The idea for the story I wrote came from one of the drafts. My grandfather fought in the Second World War, and even though he died before I was old enough to ask him about his experiences in the war, I have always wanted to write about the African soldier in the Second World War."

"Ghanaians from different parts of the country, including from the north, as well as immigrants from around West Africa, are all trying to eke out a living in here. These people bring in their stories, religions, lived experiences, struggles, cultures and identities into the one basket of Accra."

"In my story, a woman grieving the theft of her newborn son from the maternity ward takes matters into her own hands."

"Growing up, I saw many boys and girls give up so much to play top-flight football, which often didn’t work out as planned. To this day, it is still a dream widely chased on Nigerian streets and in underfunded football academies. I wrote this story to identify the struggles of these young people and let them know that their dreams are valid, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the pursuit of this career."

"I don’t plot extensively, but rather begin with the merest idea; for me, it’s the act of writing itself that unlocks the story. Once I’ve finished a story and submitted it, I feel that it is no longer mine alone, so I try not to think about it too possessively."

"That’s why South Africa’s case against Israel is very important and symbolic for the world. This is my opinion as someone from the global North: it demonstrates the possibility of real cosmopolitanism, the only answer to racism."