Writer Adebayo (Famurewa) Ayobami

The Daughters.

While in residence, I hope to work on sections of a novel which is tentatively titled The Daughters. The Daughters' primary preoccupation will be with four sisters who take care of their mother in turns as she succumbs to degenerative eventualities of Alzheimer's disease. Through their narratives which will take the form of letters, diary entries and social media posts, the women confront their resentments towards their mother, each other and their only brother--their mother's favoured child who was murdered as a teenager. Although this novel will focus on the intimate details of a family’s grief and loss, it will also interrogate the preference for male children in quite a number of Nigerian families. At the moment, this project is in the conceptual stage as I’m completing another novel. However, by the time I hope to be in residence, I expect to have more clarity about its particulars and direction.