An interview with Erhu Kome Yellow. Read our review of her book, Dawsk here.

LE: Hello Erhu, please tell us a bit about yourself.

Erhu: I’m an Urhobo writer living in Asaba. I was born and raised in Benin City. Erhu Kome Yellow is sort of my pen name. Yellow was my mother’s name. It’s my way of honoring her. 

LE: What you do for a living? Is writing your full-time job?

Erhu: Writing is sort of my full-time job.

LE: When did you start writing and what prompted it?

Erhu: I started writing when I was in primary school. I loved cartoons so I wrote down what I watched in prose form. Especially the fairy tales. Cinderella and stuff. I don’t know what prompted my writing. I just know I loved writing. But I never really got serious about writing until some years ago. I first wanted to be a pilot, then a doctor. My fantasy career was marine biology ‘cause I love the water. It was fantasy because even as a kid, I knew I would have to go abroad to be the kind of marine biologist I wanted to be. Writing Dawsk made me think I could have a shot at this wonderful thing called writing.

LE: Are you currently working on any book and if you are, what is it about?

Erhu: I’m currently working on the third book in my young adult paranormal romance trilogy. I started writing the trilogy when I was in the university. Then I thought it’d just be a duology. But I always wanted to write a trilogy, so here I am. The story is about a Nigerian girl who is something Supernatural but doesn’t know what yet. Getting possessed by Ivwri, a spirit of aggression, and being compelled to harm anyone she considers a threat was not part of her plan moving to a new town with her mom and stepfather. Neither was falling for an Oracle of Amadioha. She would have to fight this spirit before it is too late. There’s a lot of magic and fighting and romance. It was highly commended by the judges of the Barking and Dagenham pen to print book challenge. An opportunity that could have had the book published if I lived in the UK. It’s very bittersweet.

LE: Lastly, what are your hobbies?

Erhu: I watch Anime in my free time. I’m currently watching Boku No Hero Academia. It’s epic. In between I watched Parasyte. You can quote me any day; the Anime world has the best storytellers. I also like to play video games. I just finished playing Uncharted 4. You can also find me making DIY natural skin care products. I’m pretty good at that.

Dawsk is Erhu’s debut novel.

She is on Twitter and has a blog.