In writing the book, I drew on many sources. Words and phrases like “deity wives,” “ethereal entities,” and “medicine” draw from Nwando Achebe’s beautiful piece Igo Mma Ogo (The Adoro Goddess, Her Wives, and Challengers—Influences on the Reconstruction of Alor Uno, Northern Igboland, 1890–1994).
I would not have written this book without the support, encouragement, and love of friends and family.
I wish to thank my wife, Amaka, for her patience while I spend hours to myself writing; to my younger brother, Jonas, for helping with family bills when it mattered most; for believing and investing in me, Chris Ngwu occupies a special place in my professional life; and to Ejiofor Ugwu, for his early mentoring that changed my perception of art.
With gratitude, Robert Lopez, for your constant inspiration. Jeffery Renard Allen, Joy Baglio, and Mary Adkins: your support and motivation played a key role.
Special thanks to my agent Annie DeWitt for believing in me, to Leslie Shipman and Mary Alice Stewart, and everyone at the Shipman Agency. My editors, Kendall Storey and Molly Slight, for your competence and patience while we walked down the rigorous path of editing. To the Catapult crew: Wah-Ming Chang, Megan Fishmann, Vanessa Genao, Elizabeth Pankova, Dustin Kurtz, Na Kim, Nicole Caputo, Rachel Fershleiser, Kira Weiner, and everyone who had a hand in making this dream a reality, I say thank you. Whatever errors that are found in the book are all mine.
For the offer of a fellowship when it mattered, I am grateful to the IIE Artist Protection Fund and Arkansas International Writer-at-Risk Residency Program. Thank you, Alison Russo and Mary Margaret. Specially to Padma Viswanathan and her husband, Geoff Brock, for their incredible mentorship, for making my fellowship a valuable and memorable one.
I am grateful to my MacDowell and Vermont Studio Center friends: Rebecca Reuter, Greg Tebbano, Chaya Bhuvaneswar, Dennis McFadden, Kwong Kwok Wai, and Juleen Johnson.
Thanks to my friends in Fayetteville for making it my second home and always being there for me: David and Laura Jackson, Bill and Laura Spear, Gabrielle Idlet, Austin Wilkins, Laurie Marshall, Heather, Jody, Sharon and Charles. Elizabeth Muscari and Bill Spear, for always reading my drafts and giving inspiring feedback.
I got my first computer from MacDowell: they gave it to me when they learned I had never had one. Thank you, David Macy, for making my dream come true.
And in memory of Haruko Tanaka: rest in peace.