Toni Kan Opens Up...

I had a chat the other day with Toni. He was working on his first novel...yay!

I got to see the beginning and the end...I loved it but we'll have to wait to see the middle and how it all ties in together.

I also subjected him to the set of interview questions I had earlier emailed him. He willingly obliged.

As you know we are now both official arts bloggers for Bella Naija. This is from my first post; an excerpt from the interview.

1. Who is Toni Kan? Toni Kan is a father of two, husband of one and a “writist” who has published a few books like Nights of the Creaking Bed, Songs of Absence and Despair; Ballad of Rage and When a Dream Lingers Too Long. He has also won some award in the process and been shortlisted for some.

2. If you could be one animal what would you be? A dog, because dogs are such loyal creatures and can be great friends. And you know they can be frisky too.

3. Do you write better with a pen, a pencil or on a keyboard? Pen what? Keyboard, baby, all the time. I’m 21st century like that.

4. Who do your show the first draft of your work to first? Depends on where I am writing and how it’s tripping me. I just show somebody who I know will appreciate it. My wife, my friend David Njoku and a few others are usually the first to see my stuff.

5. What’s your view on the Nigerian publishing scene? It’s banging right now as musicians would say. I tell people that the publishing industry is going to blow up soon. It’s happened with music and movies and we are going to see it happen soon with publishing especially with the kind of books companies like Cassava Republic is publishing.

6. Any memorable moments at Hints? Hints magazine was a great experience in every sense of the word. I was young and I brought in my good friends whom could write too; Helon Habila, David Njoku, Ter Agbedeh, and Sam Umukoro and we had a blast. We wrote great stories, ran some wicked columns and had loads of fun.

7. If you were deserted on an island what three things would you take? My Bible, a laptop with internet connection and a book of poems by either T.S Eliot or Dennis Brutus.

Read the rest here.