Julie Iromuanya

"But what I found in my research is that there were a lot of African immigrants who were resisting that very strongly. So they could be thought of more as sojourners: People who came here very invested in succeeding economically and otherwise but not as invested in the social fabric. … In many ways, that can create problems."

"The primary thing is to write. We focus on the publishing and the authoring part of it, which I think deals with business. The more you write, you begin to create a practice space for yourself. Even for those who have busy lives. It is important to carve out some time and space to write and practice.”"

"I always say I’m Nigerian and American, I don’t choose. This is homecoming for me. Home is where your roots are, where you have people who love you. This is where the generations past have been, elders have been here, people before them and I feel so connected to them. It’s a great honour to be honoured in this way."

"It was developed out of a lot of different family friends I knew about who were living two different lives: a life in America and a life in Nigeria,” she said. “ I was thinking about these dual identities and these dual cultures. During that time, I read tons of immigrant literature from different genres. I started to look more closely at their experiences, and think about what was unique about their experiences.”"

"My favorite place to write is at home in front of a window. I think the most important thing for me is to get comfortable, because it eases me into my creative space and the world of my characters."