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Breaking cultural barriers

Maureen Azuh

Wendy Hue, a new British author of Chinese origin, has broken cultural barriers by writing a children's book using a Nigerian protagonist. The book titled Tope Arrives is for children between ages seven and nine, and has already been selected for the Centre for Literacy and Primary Education Book Fair, coming up on June 24 in London.

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Surprisingly, Hue, a former Personal Assistant for Southwark Local Council, has never visited Nigeria. But in an online chat with her, she says, "My husband, Fitzroy, and I have a lot of Nigerian friends and also my children have many Nigerian friends. I've been to Nigerian churches, Nigerian christenings, Nigerian weddings and so on. You can't but learn about Nigeria when you live and work among people from here. Sadly, I have not yet visited Nigeria, but I have every intention of doing so in the future."

Tope Arrives tells the story of a Nigerian boy suddenly orphaned and has to leave the country against his will. He is confronted with the problem of settling down in England and is left feeling like an outsider in his new school. Tope has only his nimble football skills and a precious wooden boat to cling on to. Will these items help him to carve out a new beginning?

Tope Arrives is one of the stories written by Hue in the last eight years and has been endorsed by Richard Taylor, father of Damilola Taylor, the 10-year-old Nigerian child murdered on his way from Peckham Library on November 27, 2000, in South London. Incidentally, Hue has lived and worked in Peckham for over 20 years, where she says there is "an enormous and energetic, forward-thinking Nigerian community."

According to Hue, there has been an amazing response from the Nigerian community. "Nigerians in London have been absolutely positive and excited about my book as have many other minority groups and indigenous people," she says

But writing Tope Arrives did come with some obstacles. In terms of writing about a little Nigerian boy, Hue has written stories about lots of different ethnic characters who are the protagonists or hero in the stories. But according to her, this particular story kept getting picked up, sniffed at and dropped by mainstream publishers. She thus decided to publish the story herself because she felt passionate about Tope.

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