The Power of the Pen In this issue and future issues, our hope is to feature writing, images, and art from women and girls. Our first featured short story, “Koche” on page 29 is written by Afabwaje Kurian, a writer who was born in Jos, Nigeria, and grew up in the US. She is currently working on her first novel, which explores love, marriage, and faith in a Gbagyi village. Below, we asked Afabwaje a few questions about her journey as a writer and how she plans to use her gift of writing to empower Black women and girls.
In this very moment in your life, what is the work that you are called to do and why do you do it? I’m called by God to be a writer and speak to the experiences of women and people of color through my fiction. Edwidge Danticat
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once said, “I would write if there was no public. If there was nobody reading, I would still write.” This quote gives voice to that inexplicable desire within me to put words to paper. I also write because I love creating and inhabiting new worlds and bodies. I love writing about characters that are partially like me in some way and simultaneously not like me at all. Though I might share a trait with a particular character, the character has traits, upbringings, and experiences that are completely unlike mine. Because of this, I have to push myself to see and experience the world as they would, and not as I would. Writing also allows me to go behind the scenes to “see” what is unseen. I’m a natural observer, and I’m always curious about what’s happening behind the veneer of a home, store, family,
