Authors are listed alphabetically by LAST name beginning with U
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Itua Uduebo
Your Name: Itua Uduebo
Genre(s) of your work: Millennial Fiction, Black Fiction, Humor, Slice Of Life, New York City Fiction, Political Fiction, Dystopia
Titles/Year of Published Work(s): Parade of Streetlights
Bio:
I was born in Lagos, Nigeria, reside in New York, NY, and graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in International Politics. I’m currently working in the financial technology industry. My writing journey began in 2016 and to date I’ve had several essays, articles, freeform poems, and short stories published online and in print. Partnered with Read Furiously Publishing on the release of my debut novel, Parade of Streetlights.
My focuses are new adult fiction, urban literature, science fiction, thrillers, politics, racial justice, culture, and global affairs. Currently working on my second novel manuscript and always looking to take on new creative challenges.
Why do you write in the genre that you do?
Everything I write and style I try, it’s always about crafting the life of the character. In my novel I explored the unique Black immigrant millennial experience and really dived into Kola’s story. What I’m working on now is a lot more about creating a character’s life in a setting that I’m very excited to build.
How has writing changed/altered your life?
Having a place to let my ideas breathe really centers me. Getting lost in plots and imagining characters in situations, the mundane and the more dramatic. It’s about the freedom for me, the purposeful escapes I can plot from everyday life. I also feel lucky that I get to share those moments with people and do my tiny part to inspire escapes of their own.
Who are your favorite authors and why?
Junot Diaz was my first and truest inspiration – he has this masterful way of painting life in his stories. There’s always enough humor in the tragedy, nothing feels overpowered. Like a fine stew, like the near-perfect dish from a five-star chef. I’ve found his characters to be richly composed and familiar.
Do you believe that audiobooks are the wave of the future, more of a passing fad, or somewhere in between and why?
I can’t listen to them unless I’m on a plane or in a car, so I might not be the best judge. Right now I’m listening to Neuromancer by William Gibson and just got through Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. Great experiences, great recordings, but took me a while to get through. I think that listening to a book will either unlock a deeper absorption of the story or fade out – reading text on the page is more stable, more even-keeled.
What have you found to be a good marketing tool? A bad one?
LinkedIn and Instagram are my favorite ones, and the only ones I’m any good at. I tried TikTok a few times but it’s not for me, Gen Z rejected me. I’ll stick with the old people.
Do you believe writing should be censored – that some topics should remain taboo?
No, never. Art is art and if it’s bad or offensive or completely evil it should be judged as such by those with sense and praised by those without. Societies have been impacted negatively by harmful art and writing—Birth Of A Nation was the dawn of the American cinematic tradition, and the Ku Klux Klan were our first superheroes—but once we accept that it’s within our ability to determine what expressions should and shouldn’t exist, we accept that art only exists to express shared values and ideas. We lose the desire to be challenged and attacked, to fully reflect on human experiences as the audience. It’s simply not worth the small measure of comfort we’d gain.
What is your opinion of Trigger Warnings?
I think it’s the responsibility of the writer to own the environment that they want to create for their reader. If you want people to feel a certain level of comfort or discomfort, then it’s a reflection of what you’re trying to do with your story, and any choice you make is the right choice. The readers will decide how they feel about the choice you made for themselves.
I don’t believe there’s value in forcing the use of these warnings if the purpose is to reduce works down to elements and sorts them into buckets of triggering vs. non-triggering. Much of the cultural conversation centers around people being offended by micro-aggressions or allusions to pearl-clutching, which is a whole dumb, terminally online can of worms, but traumatic experiences are real and people have real pain and they should be able to have authors and stories that create certain kinds of environments if that’s what they need. There’s nothing wrong with them, but they’re not for everything.
Do you find that you sell better in person (at events) or through social media (like a personal blog, website, or Amazon)?
I’ve definitely sold more from my in person events than online, and in person interactions at work and social events. Hell I sold a book on the subway one time. I feel like I should stand on a corner in Times Square and try my luck.
Sue Rovens 