M: When you come to America, do you feel that your work is politicized more because you are an African author? 
C: I don’t even know what it means to not have my work politicized. I think that, in some ways, when I come, I’m expected to represent Africa, to be Africa. Writing in the U.S., you can’t just be a writer. Your art can’t just be literature. Sometimes it’s exhausting. I dream about my work just being talked about as art, as a novel, as literature. 

M: I recently read that you are currently working on a book about the experiences of African immigrants in America.
C: I’m terrified. I’m thinking about it. But I don’t want to talk about it because I’m terrified of the prospect of writing it. I mentioned it in passing to one interviewer and somehow everyone else picked up on it. But the project isn’t a definite thing. 

M: Well it would make a really compelling read because I’ve often heard friends who are from Africa describe feeling a disconnect from black Americans when first moving to the States. 
C: That’s essentially a subject I’m very interested in. If I write this book, a lot of it is going to be about Africans and African-Americans, the stereotypes that most people have. I think on the other hand, African-Americans also have stereotypes of Africa as this dark continent. We don’t know enough about each other’s history. It took me a while to come to understand what American means and what being black in America means. 

M: What were specific ways in which the misunderstandings became apparent during your first experiences here? 
C: Well when I first came to the U.S., if a black person called me, “sister,” I would be annoyed. But now, I’m the one who happily calls everyone sister and brother. It’s come full circle. And I’m interested in that. And yes, there’s a huge gulf between the African and African-American community. 

M: When you come here for readings, what’s your immediate impression of your audience? 
C: I always have a much more diverse audience in New York. I have more Nigerians come to things that I do in New York. But usually my major complaint is that I wish more black people would come to my readings. But in New York, it’s more diverse than the other cities.