HCAF STAR SERIES, May 2025: INTERVIEW – Fatihah Quadri Eniola

Question: The Hilltop Creative Arts Foundation is known for its central role of nurturing creativity in youths across the country. How has being a member contributed to your growth as an artist, and what opportunities or experiences have been most impactful for you?

Answer: Community is one of the cornerstones of success. Put this way, the night can get lonely when you walk alone, but when you navigate life with people, particularly people with whom you share the same goal, the night becomes short and easier to walk. Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation has always been my community. It is my community, and in all my struggle towards achieving creative excellence, I do feel that I am not alone.  Hilltop has facilitated my creative growth and has helped me navigate the path to my creative excellence. It is also a proficient ground to find support and opportunities. 

Question: What themes and experiences push the creativity behind your work, and what part of the creative process poses a challenge to you?

Answer: I have always been passionate about making social change. I am a believer in justice, and over the years, I have realised that justice is beyond the notion of retribution or just the execution of a court order.  It starts with advocating for change; it is taking action in your community without anyone forcing you to do it. It is helping others navigate equality out of inequalities. All these subjects my creative works have revolved around. My thirst and desire for justice have shaped my creative output, and a good proportion of my work always calls for societal balance, like a call for more representation of women, for the voices of children, and peace for refugees, among other calls to action. However, there are a series of challenges in the creative process, including but not limited to the problem of waiting, the problem of rejection, the problem of time, the block of inspiration, and the mind-money problem. 

Question: As a renowned creative, what advice would you give to emerging artists who are looking to balance the pursuit of artistic excellence with the desire for recognition and validation?

Answer: It is important to hold that creative excellence cannot be achieved without creative confrontations; however, the solution to any of these challenges is not to end your creative journey. When such a challenge pops in, remember your purpose. Someone is waiting somewhere to behold your creative horizon, and no matter how bad you think your work is, there is an audience for it. There is an audience for every writer. It is important to remember that in every part of this world, there is silence, and people are waiting for you to come. In that, you will find your true recognition and validation.

Question: What purpose fuels your creativity? 

Answer: It is also important to reflect on one’s purpose, and if I am to be genuine about what I choose to be my purpose in my creative writing journey, it is advocacy. It is the sacrifice of my voice, both in the writing and spoken form.

Question: Fifty years away from now, what do you want the literary world to perceive of your art?

Answer: I want my work to live on after me, amplifying marginalised voices, lonely voices, sad voices, and voices of men, women, children, and refugees. I want my work to arouse empathy and support. I envision a future where my creative work has brought more societal consciousness, inclusion and empathy. As a creative advocate, I want to leave a simple but loud creative legacy in the literary world.

Question: Is representation a priority for you, and do you see a need for your writing to reflect your background or ancestral links?

Answer: To write is one thing, and to write of ancestry is another. Ancestral representation does not pose a priority threat to my writing.  In fact, I believe that I do not necessarily have to write about my ancestry to be seen as a writer from such an ancestral background. For instance, I will say that a Nigerian writer does not always have to write about a series of ancestral practices or indigenous occurrences in Nigeria to be seen as a Nigerian writer. I believe I just have to truly write; however, where my ancestral representation is externally perceived by my readers, that means such representation writes itself through me, not with my intention but in the originality of my writing.