The Inspiration And Process Of Writing The Returnees

The Returnees was the answer to a question I had asked a documentary photographer for the interview series, YAMI (Young And Making It) I was running on my blog in 2014. 

I wanted to know the philosophy behind his alternative take on documentary photography at a time when most of his contemporaries in the Nigerian photography industry were focused on capturing weddings. His response was so profound that I immediately had a vision for the idea of my novel as I listened to him speak. Right there, I had my eureka moment. 

Only a few months prior, I had graduated with a degree in Psychology and Sociology and had come to the scary realisation that I wanted to pursue a career in writing instead. I hadn’t an idea of what I wanted to write about, but I knew that it had to be something meaningful and not just for entertainment.

So listening to him speak about documenting African stories and traditions through his visual art got me thinking about the impact I also wanted to make with my writing. Right then, I knew that my first novel would be about documenting our current experiences as well, because we had lost so much of our history through colonisation.

I wanted to write a fiction novel as a means to archive what living in present day Nigeria is like. I wanted to tell a story that would capture the heart of the people, their sentiments, traditions and culture so that hundreds of years from now, it would become an important avenue for the future generations to understand the past. I wanted The Returnees to be the scroll that they could use to turn back time and learn of their ancestors. 

As the weeks went by and I was filled with bursts of excitement to tell this story, I wrote down everything that came to mind as I began to conceptualise the plot. The day I had initially had the idea, it came in a vision of three characters who were leaving everything behind in London to start a new phase of their lives in Lagos, Nigeria’s mega city. As someone who had grown up in Lagos before migrating to London at the age of 17 years, I wanted to explore the journey that a returnee from the diaspora would take to feel at home in a new country, albeit it being their country of origin. 

I was inspired by the transformations occurring in Lagos and awed by the talents being highlighted in the burgeoning fashion and entertainment industry, and knew that I wanted to capture that metamorphosis. At the time, social media was growing into a formidable globalisation tool, and as such opened a portal from which I was able to see young people like myself working and exceeding at their various crafts, and all of these excited me. 

I wanted to capture these developments and used my three protagonists as a means to tell a story that can easily be about any of the number of people who are currently circumventing this path.

The Returnees explores the fashion industry through Osayuki Idahosa who flees to Lagos after a terrible breakup. The music industry is explored through Kian Bajo who is bent on becoming the next great Afrobeat star out of the continent; and finally, the Nigerian National Youth Service (NYSC) is explored through Cynthia Okoye, who’s been exiled to the country by her parents who are fed up of her nonchalant attitude towards her future. This novel is very much about Lagos as it is, the lives of the three characters. 

Coming from a social science background, it was very important for me to undergo thorough research if I was to depict the realities of people in the country. I travelled to Lagos for 2 months in late 2015 for my research, living as a returnee in the city to get a sense of the journey my characters would have had to take, as well as interviewing graduates who had undertaken the NYSC programme.

I returned to London in 2016 with my research notes and a concrete plot. In March 2016, I officially began writing The Returnees. I worked at it every day as one would a 9-5 job. I’d wake up in the morning, have a shower and eat breakfast before walking to my local library where I’d write for hours only breaking for lunch. 

By August, I was in full swing and had written more than half of the manuscript. However, due to personal circumstances and finances, I took a break from writing full time. In the months thereafter, it was a struggle to write consistently while juggling a corporate full time job and other responsibilities. But alas, with renewed determination to achieve my dream of becoming an author and continuing with my purpose in writing, I returned back to it in July of 2017 and finished writing at the end of August. 

As writers, we create incredible worlds that can take us years to conjure. And it is through discipline, determination, self-belief and support from loved ones that we’re able to accomplish this feat. 

Working on The Returnees was all of this, and I’m proud to finally have it in the world, and humbled that it has resonated with so many people since its publication. I’m forever grateful to my editor Francine Toon who selected my novel from 750 submissions in Hachette’s Future Bookshelf initiative to publish more underrepresented writers. The Returnees was published on 6 August 2020 by Hodder & Stoughton.

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Elizabeth Okoh is a Nigerian Writer and Photographer with a penchant for storytelling and wanderlust. She holds a degree in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Sussex. Her work has been published in online and print magazines such as Positive News, as well as curated in exhibitions internationally. Her debut novel The Returnees was published on 6 August 2020 by Hodder & Stoughton. She’s currently working on her second novel and empowering women through the art of boudoir photography. You can find her on all social media platforms @Lizeokoh and her portfolio at elizabethokoh.com

THE RETURNEES

The Returnees is a contemporary novel about the first year experiences of three British-Nigerians who leave London to move to Lagos.

Cynthia Okoye is a 21-year-old recent graduate who’s laissez faire attitude to life has become her undoing. Unsure of how else to help put her life back on track, her father banishes her to live with his brother in the capital city where she’s required to attend the National Youth Service Corps.

Kian Bajo is a wanna-be Afrobeat star who’s left everything he knows in London to make it big in Lagos. Enthralled by the international success of young artists from his motherland, he will go to any lengths to conquer the Lagos music scene.

After the plane lands at the Lagos airport, they all go their separate ways but their lives will intertwine again and change the course of their lives forever.

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing