Q&A with Allan Stratton
Allan Stratton is an award-winning and internationally published and produced playwright and novelist. His new novel, Chanda's Secrets, is written from the point of view of a sixteen-year-old girl whose family and friends are caught up in the HIV/AIDS pandemic of sub-Saharan Africa. (Annick Press, distributed by Firefly Books; March 2004).
Q: What drew you to the subject matter of the African AIDS pandemic?
A: Two things. First, I've lost a lot of friends to AIDS. A couple of years ago I provided palliative home care to a very dear friend who passed in the most horrible way possible. So the virus, the disease, and what it can do, weigh heavily on me.
Second, I've always traveled. I'm fascinated by world cultures and at how similar we human beings are in matters of the heart, no matter what our social and cultural contexts. Television reports tend to portray Africa as this strange "other" place. I wanted to write a book that would bring people into the human story of the African pandemic, to lower walls, and to make people think about Africa as "here."
Q: I read that in preparation to write this book you traveled to South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe, where frontline AIDS workers and agencies brought you into homes, AIDS organizations, and mortuaries in cities, towns, and cattle posts. Can you tell me about some of the most fascinating AIDS workers you met?
A: Soly Kamwendo! Great guy. Late twenties. He runs Ghetto Artists, a theater company that does street theater informing audiences about safe sex and testing. He took me to the cattle post where he grew up. There were no roads to the city, just cart tracks, when he was growing up. So here's a guy who started life herding cattle, with no electricity or running water-just like it was the 1800s or earlier-and now he's an Internet savvy theatre producer. He combines centuries of experiences in one life. Or Patricia Bakwinya and her sister Tebogoc. They run the Tshireletso Shining Stars AIDS Awareness Group, a kind of AIDS daycare for children who are HIV positive, or whose parents are dead or dying of the disease. As Patricia says, "They come here to prepare for orphanhood." Also, there's Roger Bande, who runs Francistown's "Coping Centre for People Living with HIV/AIDS." He's one of the only "out" gay men in the country. A bundle of energy in a blue blazer, sneakers, and a flamboyant happy-face tie. He's the one who introduced me to the phrase "behind the curtain," which in Botswana is the equivalent of "in the closet"-only instead of referring to hiding sexuality, it refers to people hiding that they're HIV positive. He told me only 7 people in the country were prepared to talk to media about testing positive, even though a third are infected-that's how strong the stigma and silencing are. There are so many others I could tell you about too, if we had the time.
Q: What about some of the people they introduced you to? Tell me about them.
A: I remember one young man, 18 now. He was 14 when his parents passed. He got his mama to write a will the night before she died to protect his home from relatives who wanted to sell it. So there he was, on his own, raising two brothers ages 8 and 10. Or there was the woman whose sister had died and she was looking after her six nieces and nephews in a one-room hut, with no way to pay the rent; she'd just been evicted from where she'd been living. Or the teens at PACT-Peer Approach to Counseling by Teens-who've lost parents and are acting as peer grief counselors to other teens. Or the bush pilots and bush guides I met who told me about things in the interior. Or, or, or . . . there were so many stories.
Q: What are a few of your most vivid memories of your time in Botswana?
A: Again, I could go on and on. I guess looking behind a curtain at a mortuary in Francistown and seeing coffins for infants going from floor to ceiling. Tiny, pressboard coffins with plastic liners, held together with finishing nails, with little tin handles glued in place. But I also remember terrific scenes of joy and celebration. It's hard to describe, but the camaraderie and generosity of spirit is every bit as strong as the desolation. Many of the most vivid images found their way into the book.
Q: You mentioned drawing parallels between AIDS in Africa and here. Can you explain that a bit further?
A: Around the world, here, or anywhere else, the connection between poverty and health is clear. So is the connection between poverty and the sex trade, especially the teen sex trade. And the way in which poor single mothers are often pushed into serial monogamy, simply to support their kids. There's also the breakdown of the traditional family unit as people migrate from farms (cattle posts) to cities, and what that does to family support structures.
Q: Is Chanda based on a real person?
A: (laughter) No. But that brings up an interesting story. I met a new friend at the Y this year, a refugee from Kenya who was working out on the cross-trainer machine next to me. We got to talking and she asked me what I was doing. I said I was writing a book about the pandemic. She was very interested so I asked if she'd like to read it. She said yes, and I ended up showing her the first half. The first thing she said to me was, "Allan, you have to tell Chanda to tell her mother such-and-such." I said, "I can't. She doesn't exist." My friend was puzzled. It took me awhile to convince her that I was writing fiction. She'd thought I'd transcribed the words of a real person. When she discovered it was a novel she roared with laughter: "Oh my God! How does a white man know all that?" It was the most wonderful thing anyone's ever said about my writing.
Q: One final thing. When people are finished reading Chanda's Secrets, what do you hope they walk away with?
A:At its core, Chanda's Secrets is about the love of parents and children; the loyalty between friends; the pain of fear, shame, and stigma; and the courage it takes to live openly with truth. Chanda is a character whose love for her mama, siblings, and friend Esther knows no bounds. She's a young woman of enormous courage, like so many people I met in the sub-Sahara. When people finish this book, I want them to imagine themselves in Chanda's shoes, and to keep her and her struggles in their hearts and minds.
Contributor: Annick Press
To return to the main feature with this author, click here.
Added 05/02/05
To stay up to date on new books by this author, consider subscribing to The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database. For your free trial, click here.
If you’re interested in reviewing children's and young adult books, then send a resume and writing sample to marilyn@childrenslit.com.