Why I wrote ‘The Weight of Silence’ in questions – Abubakar Adam Ibrahim

NLNG 2016 literary award winner, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, has said that he wrote his new short story ‘The weight of silence’ in questions because he wanted to explore other avenues of storytelling.

The award winning author of ‘Season of crimson blossom’ recently released a short story which explores childhood dreams, teenage angst and its impact on the lives of people. 

Adam wrote the sentences of ‘The weight of silence’ in questions format which was a total deviation from his previous collection of short stories ‘Whispering trees’.

“I was a little bored with the standard format of the narrative and simply wanted to explore other avenues of storytelling.

“I wondered if it was possible to tell a story through only questions. It was experimental and challenging and I wondered if I could pull it off. As a writer I think there is always that urge to challenge yourself and your readers,” he explained.

On the theme of the story, Adam said that he wanted to tell an exciting story that explored how childhood dreams and teenage angst could impact on the lives of people. 

He said “Often, out of anger, rejection or desperation, we do certain things that in our view are little but then the impact surprises us and impacts the lives of people in ways we never imagined. And also to interrogate how keeping secrets eat up the lives of people.”

He however clarified the question fans had been asking on whether this was a sneak preview of his next Novel, he said “No. It is not. It is just a one- off experiment. My next book is going to be completely different.”