Cameroonian author, Massocki Ma Massocki granted an interview to Africa In Dialogue to discuss his latest book ‘BITÉK, He From Whom Death Ran’ which will be released on September 1st.
Africa in Dialogue is an online interview magazine that archives creative and critical insights with Africa’s leading storytellers.
The interview will be posted in the coming days. However, here bellow is an excerpt.
I would like to quickly say that, when I was done writting the first draft, my grand father Biték appeared to me, he was very happy and he was smiling a lot. From that moment, I realized that, he did not mind me at all telling his flaws, which even encourage me to detach myself from the story.
The book is fascinating only because the orator is great.
My father is one of the greatest orators I have ever come across. I don’t say that just because he is my father, anyone who had an encounter with my father can confirm this. That is why he is always requested to speak in traditional gatherings.
Back in the days, there was no TV and internet, so the favorite passtime for the youth was gathering around burning firewood to listen to fables and tales from elders. This is the era in which my father was born and raised. So, he was naturally endowed with the art of telling stories.
Listening to my father telling the story of my grandfather was amazing. I did not want him to stop. My father transported me back in time, he made live the story.
Achieving the story was very easy, actually I wrote the first draft within a week. There was no effort from me at all, I just transcribed what I was told by my however, the only difficulty was to make sure that the book remains centered on Biték as much as possible. Because as you mentioned in the bigining, the book transcends Biték’s life and cover many other topics. I tried my best not to go in depth into these topics otherwise that might shadow Biték. And at the same time, I had to cover those topics by giving at least background information so that the readers might understand.
For instance, Biték was born within a culture and we are shaped and conditionned by our cultures so it was impossible for me to write his story without giving at least background information in terms of his culture so that the readers understand the motives of Biték. To understand the way people act we should understand the culture in which they were born into.
Biték witnessed colonization and the liberation struggle of Cameroon. These events also influenced his life. So again, it would have been impossible to write his story without at least mentioning events that impacted his life.
As mentioned in the Author’s Note, ‘ While escaping from Nigeria in 1933, my grandfather left his two sons and he never saw them again. Through this book, my family and I hope to connect with our relatives in Nigeria who we have yet to meet’. This was mainly what compel me to write the book. Also, I was puzzled by the prophecy at Biték’s birth. What really intrigued me is that, the prophecy given at Biték’s birth was accomplished 78 years later.
So by writing the book, this was a way for me to question our preconceived answers on concept such as Destiny, life after death and so on.