A Letter Away From Asaba: A Novella

Product Information

With her recently published historical fiction novel, A Letter Away From Asaba, The Edinburgh Tab had the pleasure of interviewing her about her book, inspiration, and writing process. Thank you Retrospect Journal HCA for recognising the importance of this book and announcing it on your platform.

The University of Edinburgh has been home to numerous talented individuals, and second-year history and politics student Claudia Efemini is no exception. A massive thank you to Deborah Alhassan for organising the book launch and Paula Melissa Ugochukwu for hosting it. Put simply, it all started as an extended essay that I wrote in my last year of the International Baccalaureate diploma programme that I later decided to translate into a fictional narrative during my first year of university.It was extremely hard to put this book down and 10x harder to not think about the story and its characters throughout the day. International Women’s Day also gives us an opportunity to recognise the inner and outer work we all need to do to achieve gender equality for all women, regardless of where they come from. This story was so carefully crafted and I was so emotionally invested in the wellbeing and relationships of these characters. A second-year History and Politics student at the University of Edinburgh, Claudia is also one of the youngest published authors in Scotland.

You’ll hear from them in their own words about their experiences, ambitions, insights, and any advice they’d give to fellow women seeking to leave the planet better than they found it. This is not at all to say that my time in Edinburgh so far has not helped me cultivate ideas for this book. I did not know a lot about the Nigerian civil war before reading, and it honestly opened my eyes to the injustice censorship can cause. The two converse back and forth, despite the heightening threats to their lives, about Asaba and the severe censorship in Britain.A letter Away from Asaba is an emotional and intimate account of the Asaba massacre that occurred in 1967, Nigeria.

Claudia Efemini is an author and current History and Politics student at the University of Edinburgh.The article provides a deeper insight into why I wrote the book and what the book is about in brief.