Claudia Efemini

A Letter from Asaba is History and Politics student Claudia Efemini’s debut novel. We spoke with Claudia about publishing, the history behind the story, and the importance of learning about colonialism and its ongoing effects.

When did you first learn about the Asaba massacre, and what were your main motivations to write a novel about it? What wider themes does it represent in history?

I first read a book by two American scholars, The Asaba Massacre: Trauma, Memory and the Nigerian Civil War w

As a second-year History and Politics student at the University of Edinburgh I am currently in the midst of editing my debut novel A Letter Away From Asaba, set to be published in spring 2023. It is a book that I wrote during the course of my first year at Edinburgh and I am still quite shocked that it will be transformed into print next year. Nigerian history is something that I am greatly passionate about and looking through a degree programme that makes little mention of Nigeria sparked a bur