March is here, and our writer of the month is Ernestina Aggrey!  She snagged the spot right at the end of the month with her history-inspired fiction piece, “Castles without Royalty”.

Born in Accra, Ghana, Aggrey is a law graduate from Lancaster University. She decided to become a writer after a mentorship experience with novelist Cesca Major through the Black Girl Writers initiative. Aggrey is an alumnus of HarperCollins Author Academy and is also working on her first novel, Missing but Not Missed. Besides her story published on Brittle Paper, her work has appeared on Sweetycat Press, Entropy, and The Feminine Collective.

Now that you’ve met Aggrey, join us as we talk to her about her journey as a writer.

 

Brittle Paper

Ernestina, congratulations on being March Writer of the Month! As our readers have come to expect, we will starting off with the origin story. So, tell us, when did you first start writing, and how did you become inspired to take up the craft?

Ernestina Aggrey

Thank you so much! I’ve always been an avid reader, so my love for books started from a young age. This love for reading inspired me to write my first book in 2017. I didn’t complete it, though, because I later learnt that a novel with a similar plot already existed, but my drive didn’t stop there, and I kept developing my craft over the years.

Brittle Paper

I love hearing from all of our writers that their passion started from reading and writing as kids. So, despite that little hiccup which we will come back to, you persevered and continued writing. Was there an author who you drew inspiration from and/or still do?

Ernestina Aggrey

Yes, I’ve always admired Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Zadie Smith, and Yaa Gyasi. I think they have such a way with words and their books are an absolute delight to read.

Brittle Paper

Before the more intense questions start, I always ask our writer to select a book, series, or movie category and then list their top 3. You can also choose to follow in Linda Thotho and Mariam Baldeh’s footsteps and select all of the above.

Ernestina Aggrey

I think I’ll give you one of each. My favorite movie is Game Night. I love its humor, witty dialogue, and its surprising twists. My favorite series has to be Desperate Housewives. I’ve watched it a few times, but it feels new with every rewatch. And my favorite book at the moment has to be Caleb Azumah Nelson’s Open Water for its lyrical prose, as well as its exploration of grief. The theme of loss drew me to the novel, and I related to that as that is something I experienced recently.

Brittle Paper

That’s a good range of favorites! Speaking of favorites, I love “Castles without Royalty,” your story published on Brittle Paper. Ever since reviewing it, I’ve had questions. So, I am thrilled about this opportunity to ask them. What is the motivation behind the piece?

Ernestina Aggrey

I was reading Homegoing at the time, and I kept thinking about previous trips to Elmina Castle. My first visit there happened to be during a school excursion. I was quite young at the time, and I remembered entering a dungeon and feeling as though it were haunted. It was an eerie and harrowing experience, and I wanted to put that into words. I also didn’t understand why it was called a castle when such atrocities occurred there, hence the title “Castles Without Royalty”. I wish it had a name that was less than royal, a name that reflected its dark history.

Brittle Paper

As you mention above, “Castles without Royalty” is a fictional short story that is grounded in very real historical context. You manage to capture and balance both the experiences behind historical-and-contemporary, and national-and-personal. Do you often focus on socio-political topics in your work?

Ernestina Aggrey

Not necessarily, although I would love to do so. I do, however, enjoy writing about the black experience and feminism.

Brittle Paper

On that note, our readers will be reading your new piece, “Akosua Must Stay”, on Friday. Is there a synopsis you can give to show the readers what they can look forward to?

Ernestina Aggrey

It’s a story about family bonds, and the title is a reference to the Ghana Must Go bag. It touches on a painful Ghanaian history and deals with the topic of grief.

Brittle Paper

While we are on the topic of new work, you are currently tackling the daunting task of writing a novel. Your upcoming novel is titled Missing but Not Missed. How has the writing process been, and how are you finding the shift from short stories to novels?

Ernestina Aggrey

Missing but Not Missed is a work in progress, and I’ve enjoyed writing it for the past few months. Actually, I only started writing short stories and flash fiction recently. I did try my hand at it last year, but I only really got serious with it this year. I’ve always written longer stories, so I guess my transition is quite the opposite. The writing process has been interesting. Writing this novel has taught me a lot, particularly developing character voice, structure and plot outline. I try to write at least 400 words a day, but usually, it’s a lot more than that. Part of the process involves working with several beta readers, and the feedback I receive helps me polish and refine my work.

Brittle Paper

You seem so familiar with the short story form, so it’s surprising that you only recently took it up. I guess that’s just another testament to your talent. You mention having mostly worked with longer texts, and earlier you mentioned the novel you stopped writing. I am curious about this unfinished novel.

Ernestina Aggrey

The plot of that novel revolved around twins that were separated from birth. At the time, I told a friend about my idea, and she informed me that the plot was similar to the novel The Lying Game by Sara Shepard, which also happened to be a series. As an aspiring writer, I knew my idea had to be fresh, and I didn’t think it was best to write something that was already done. It’s funny because my plot was very similar to that novel, from the murder down to the twin pretending to be her sister. I decided to focus my attention on another story once I learnt about the similarities.

Brittle Paper

That’s such a bizarre coincidence. Is there anything else you want to tell our readers before we close our conversation?

Ernestina Aggrey

Yes, I do have a website where they can read more of my stories. Follow this link. I also want to thank them for reading “Castles without Royalty”, and I hope they enjoyed it.

Brittle Paper

Thank you, Ernestina, for this interview and for being such a wonderful contributor writer to Brittle Paper.

 

For more of Ernestina’s work, be sure to check out Friday’s story, and for more interviews on our writers, check our last month’s with Mariam Baldeh.