11 books Butter Honey Pig Bread author Francesca Ekwuyasi loved reading
Roger Mooking is championing Butter Honey Pig Bread on Canada Reads 2021.
Francesca Ekwuyasi is a Halifax writer, artist and filmmaker born in Lagos, Nigeria. Her work explores themes of faith, family, queerness, loneliness and belonging.
Her writing has appeared in the Malahat Review, Guts and Brittle Paper and she was longlisted for the 2019 Journey Prize. Butter Honey Pig Bread is her first book.
Butter Honey Pig Bread tells the interwoven stories of twin sisters, Kehinde and Taiye, and their mother, Kambirinachi. Kambirinachi is convinced she was born an ogbanje, a spirit that plagues families with misfortune by dying in childhood to cause its mother misery. When the estranged women meet years later, they confront their past and find forgiveness through food from their childhood.
Butter Honey Pig Bread was on the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist. Chef, recording artist and TV host Roger Mooking is championing Butter Honey Pig Bread on Canada Reads 2021.
Canada Reads will take place March 8-11. The debates will be hosted by Ali Hassan and will be broadcast on CBC Radio One, CBC TV, CBC Gem and on CBC Books.
"In my life, books have been my comfort, friendship, and a healthy form of escape," Ekwuyasi told CBC Books. "I feel reading ignites my imagination. It offers hope for future possibilities. I think of storytelling as a way to comfort us through weird times and to help us imagine other futures. When I read a book, I like to feel I'm being teleported to wherever the writer takes me."
Ekwuyasi told CBC Books about some of the books she loves.
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
"I read Purple Hibiscus when I was about 14 or 15. It was the first book I read that was about a life I knew immediately — because it was a summer that took place in places I knew in my own personal life. It was about a young woman who was my age.
Reading this book was just so close to my own experience. It was really empowering.
"Up until then, the books I'd been reading were either British or American or Nigerian folklore books that took place in rural areas, or had heavy magical realism.
"And so reading this book was just so close to my own experience. It was empowering. It made me realize I could write what I knew. Before that, my short stories were always about white people; this book really opened my mind."
Everything Good Will Come by Sefi Atta
"Sefi Atta is another Nigerian woman writer. Everything Good Will Come is inspiring because she was writing about the neighbourhood and era I grew up in.
Everything Good Will Come is inspiring because she was writing about the neighbourhood and era I grew up in.
"She also writes about the past when my parents had been growing up, and about places I knew intimately, like the Jazzhole, which is a music and bookstore in Lagos.
"And again, I was learning that I could write what I knew."
Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe
"Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe was written, I think, in the 70s or 80s, so I wasn't born yet. But the characters were so relatable.
It is about young people during a time in Nigerian politics. They are just trying to make sense of where their place was.
"It is about young people during a time in Nigerian politics. They are just trying to make sense of where their place was. I was so moved by it."
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
"I read White Teeth when I was a teenager. I read it again in my 20s because it's a fairly dense book, but it was amazing. It's about twins. It's about London. It's about Blackness and race."
There's something about the first book, where you're not following any rules.
"It was Zadie Smith's first book. I think there's something about the first book, where you're not following any rules.
"I'm sure now I can look back and see she was clearly following rules. She writes in the tradition of Beckett and other British and Irish writers, but it meant so much to me."
The Opposite House by Helen Oyeyemi
"Helen Oyeyemi is one of my favourite writers. She writes magical realism and folklore. She reworks fairy tales. It's just incredible what she does. The Opposite House is a story about a young woman named Maja, who's a Cuban immigrant. It's also about a Yoruba deity named Yemaya. I just love the way she uses magical realism.
I love work that isn't necessarily plot driven, but more about the mundane elements of the main character's lives.
"Helen Oyeyemi is a prodigy. She wrote her first novel as a teenager.
"The Opposite House isn't really plot driven. I love work that isn't necessarily plot driven but more about the mundane elements of the main character's lives. There are two parallel stories: it's dense with beauty and about internal worlds and anxiety and identity. It's incredible."
Open City by Teju Cole
"Open City is a slim book, but it literally took me years to finish because it's so dense with cultural references to art and music. It's mostly references to European art and music and it's very reflective of Teju Cole, from what I know of his life. I just know that he's an art historian.
Open City taught me how to write with the world and write with references to art that exists in the world.
"I hate the main character of this book. It's not plot driven, but it taught me how to write with the world and write with references to art that exists in the world.
"This book puts you, as a reader, in a specific place, which I adore. And I learned that from Open City."
Her Body and Other Parties & In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
"Her Body and Other Parties is excellent. It's a collection of short stories. The theme is about the body horror experiences of women. So it's very much a feminist lens around deep body horror, around assault, around being vulnerable, but also around rage.
Each chapter is a different genre and Carmen Maria Machado is a master of her craft. She's an incredible writer.
"Her memoir, In the Dream House, came out last year. I had a hard time with it emotionally because it just shows the insidiousness of emotional abuse, but with a queer relationship.
"There's all the stereotypes about how abuse between women is not real between queer people, but this book just shows you it. Each chapter is a different genre and Carmen Maria Machado is a master of her craft. She's an incredible writer."
Said the Shotgun to the Head by Saul Williams
"Said the Shotgun to the Head is a poetry collection by Saul Williams, who is a Black American musician and poet. It's just one long love poem, and I love it.
It's just one long love poem, and I love it.
"I read it when I was 22 and it was just the right time for me to be moved by it. I'll read it again this year to see if I'm still moved by it. But I really love it and Saul Williams is so cool. I enjoy his music and his activism."
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
"I read The God of Small Things a few years ago and it was devastating. It takes place in India and it's about twins.
Arundhati Roy is a legend.
"Arundhati Roy is a legend. And I think this is her first book as well. I always love to read about twins."
Citizen by Claudia Rankine
"Citizen is a collection of essays and musings about anti-Black racism in America. It uses pop culture references. It's devastating.
Claudia Rankine is in a league of her own in the way she writes about racism through art and through pop culture.
"Claudia Rankine is in a league of her own in the way she writes about racism through art and through pop culture. It's still very human and very painful. I cry whenever I read the book."
Francesca Ekwuyasi's comments have been edited for length and clarity.
The Canada Reads 2021 contenders
- Rosey Edeh champions The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk
- Scott Helman champions Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee
- Devery Jacobs champions Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
- Paul Sun-Hyung Lee champions Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
- Roger Mooking champions Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi
