About The Author
My name is Yvonne Awosanya-Adefajo, I am proudly Nigerian, young, creative and a passionate wordsmith.
I believe that words are a powerful tool and the way we use this tool shapes the world around us.
I am married to a fabulous and amazing man, and I am blessed with wonderful parents and three lovely sisters.
Hi Yvone, I just read the first chapter of New Eyes on the more than novellas website. I was initally impressed I think you can write, however I am perturbed about two things.
The first is the description of the character Jane as light skinned. I have no problem with having a ‘light skinned’ character but there appeared to be an overemphasis on the colour of this character. I definitely think you she could of been described differently, as honey or spice coloured if it was at all needed. We already know that the character is black. This light skinned character also happened to be beautiful, highly educated and rich. Doesn’t this perpetuate the notion of colour( or the lack of it )for many black people as a passport to success?
The second issue I would like to mention is the lack of any refence to God. I’ve noticed that some IF writers on the site pay only lip service to God in their stories and I hope this will not be the case. Probably this comment is premature since this story is still a work in progress but I hope as this is a Christian short story a greater focus will be on our Master.
As I said I think you write well and I would love to read more.
I think the description of Jane in ‘new eyes’ as light skinned didn’t give the impression of its making her somewhat better than the next darker skinned person. In Nigeria, and I should think most of Africa, while we’re all black, complexion varies, and the first attribute used to describe a person is their complexion – just like it is hair colour among the whites. The fact that this light skinned person also happened to be beautiful, rich etc. was just a question of chance. She could just as well have been dark skinned and it wouldn’t have made a difference. In our society, there are so many very dark skinned peolpe who are beautiful, educated, rich… it really is not considered as having anything to do with their complexion. I honestly don’t think that Nigerians (one of which I am) consider that the lighter skinned they are, the more their chances of success. As it is, the thought never crossed my mind before now, and I am as dark skinned as they come.
When will be get the next installment of New Eyes? I have been waiting for almost 4 months. I’d like to read more please.;-)
I was pleasantly suprised to see a Naija author on an oyinbo site.keep it up.when are we to expect more chapters, as I find Janes character quite interesting.cheers