{"id":14102,"date":"2025-02-14T15:30:52","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T20:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/?page_id=14102"},"modified":"2025-03-03T10:49:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T15:49:45","slug":"itoro-bassey","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/itoro-bassey\/","title":{"rendered":"Itoro Bassey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Winner of the 2024 W.S. Porter Prize <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Photo credit: Nakiya Nash-Prince<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I\u2019m a child of the 90s. A fact of which I\u2019m proud. I listened to artists like Salt N Pepa, Aerosmith, Ginuwine, and Selena. I walked forty-five minutes to Friendlys and swam at the local YMCA. I watched the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air <\/em>and The Cosby Show<\/em>. I wore bell bottoms and frosted eyeliner. I read Sweet Valley High and Beverly Cleary books, until I stumbled upon writers like Alice Walker and Nella Larsen in my father\u2019s library and felt like I was getting closer to myself. I ripped the sides off computer paper before computer paper was what it is now. I lived in Southbridge, which was right next to Sturbridge, and about a twenty-five minute drive from Worcester. Some of the people who lived there could trace their roots to Puerto Rico, Belarus, Ireland, the Philippines and the Mayflower<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember that when we first arrived in town, a neighbor had knocked on our door with a tray of cupcakes to welcome us to the neighborhood. She had blonde fluffy hair and a congenial smile. Years later, on that very same street, someone would steal our mailbox and chuck it somewhere in the woods, not so congenial. We knew the person who had stolen the mailbox wasn\u2019t a particular fan of us, for many reasons. I\u2019m not so sure how I felt about it, but what I did know was that whatever happened, good or bad, we would likely endure it. My parents were committed to living on the street that was in a quiet and respectable neighborhood. They had already endured so much to live there, and this wasn\u2019t about the reality of our situation as the only Africans on the block, it was about a chance at a dream. For me, I couldn\u2019t fathom a life elsewhere. I had been born and raised in the US, I figured there would always be someone who saw us on some street and figured we belonged somewhere else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I got older, I\u2019d go on to encounter more people and systems with many contradictions, some congenial, some not. These encounters also led me to confront some of my internal contradictions, which to my surprise learned were also along the congenial to not congenial spectrum. The constant through all these life shifts was that  I always had my pen and paper in hand, writing. In every story I wrote, I tried capturing this precariousness I felt, this fragility in being alive.  It felt like we were all hanging onto life by a thread.  Some of us softened to this fragility, finding the possibility in it, while others hardened. This is what prompted my short story collection, Ajebutter Women<\/em>, after living three years in Nigeria and witnessing this fragility I felt bubbling to the surface again.  I was there at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the end SARs protests on Lekki Bridge. What I experienced living in the country of my parents birth was transformative, joyous, frustrating and at moments, incredibly cruel. Sometimes I wanted to harden myself to it all, but then, it would have been impossible to see the full breadth of a person, someone who laughs, cries, loves, and betrays. No one is exempt from doing life<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 in all its beauty and rancor, I guess.  And as I had met and learned from women like myself who had spent their formative years in the West and returned to Nigeria in search of belonging, I began doing what I do best, writing stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Itoro Bassey is an author and journalist at the BBC. Her short stories have been published in Prairie Schooner, Catapult<\/em>, and Hippocampus<\/em>, among others. She won second place in the International Literary Seminars Fiction Award for her short story, “How Eno Became Enobong,” and the piece is forthcoming in the literary journal, Fence<\/em>. She has received fellowships from the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study, the Edward Albee Foundation, and elsewhere. In 2018 she lived between Kenya, Nigeria, and Ethiopia for five years. Her debut novel, Faith<\/em>, was published in 2022 by Malarkey Books. In her spare time, she supports writers in the Washington DC area as a board member of The Inner Loop. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winner of the 2024 W.S. Porter Prize I\u2019m a child of the 90s. A fact of which I\u2019m proud. I listened to artists like Salt N Pepa, Aerosmith, Ginuwine, and Selena. I walked forty-five minutes to Friendlys and swam at the local YMCA. I watched the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and The Cosby Show. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-14102","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9DpGh-3Fs","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4158,"url":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/2019-acheven-book-prize-for-young-adult-fiction\/","url_meta":{"origin":14102,"position":0},"title":"2019 Acheven Book Prize for Young Adult Fiction","author":"Jaynie","date":"October 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Longlist Thank you to all writers who submitted their manuscripts for our inaugural Acheven Book Prize for Young Adult Fiction. Our longlist is as follows: The Prince of Infinite Space by Giano Cromley The Take-Over Friend by Carol Dines My Life with the Ragtag Whirly-Girlies by James Potter The\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/acheven2019.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/acheven2019.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/acheven2019.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/acheven2019.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14053,"url":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/steve-heller\/","url_meta":{"origin":14102,"position":1},"title":"Steve Heller","author":"Jaynie","date":"January 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I discovered I was going to be a writer when I was fifteen and my English teacher, Mrs. Villareal, accused me of plagiarizing a book report. The book was The Eddie Mathews Story, a biography of a Hall of Fame third baseman for the old Milwaukee Braves. Mrs. Villareal suspected\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Steve Heller","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Steve-in-Kahala.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Steve-in-Kahala.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Steve-in-Kahala.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Steve-in-Kahala.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":981,"url":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/lillah-lawson\/","url_meta":{"origin":14102,"position":2},"title":"Lillah Lawson","author":"Jaynie","date":"November 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Lillah Lawson has been writing since she was 8 years old, when she won a short story contest at her elementary school. The story was about a Princess who gets tired of waiting for the Prince to show up and saves herself. Once she saw her words printed in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Regal House author Lillah Lawson","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Lillah_Lawson.jpg?fit=798%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Lillah_Lawson.jpg?fit=798%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Lillah_Lawson.jpg?fit=798%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Lillah_Lawson.jpg?fit=798%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3368,"url":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/janet-graber\/","url_meta":{"origin":14102,"position":3},"title":"Janet Graber","author":"Jaynie","date":"June 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Born in the middle of WWII in Northern England, my playgrounds were Emperor Hadrian\u2019s Wall, built to keep the Scots at bay, ancient castles along the rugged coastline, similarly built to keep the marauding Vikings away, as well as wild moorlands and miles of golden sands.\u00a0 Early memories include gasmasks,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Janet Graber, Fitzroy Books author of Malcolm Mouse, Explorer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Janet-recent.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14393,"url":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/katherine-giuffre\/","url_meta":{"origin":14102,"position":4},"title":"Katherine Giuffre","author":"Jaynie","date":"September 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Winner of the 2025 Petrichor Prize I\u00a0was born and raised in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, where my family goes back for generations beyond memory. So I grew up hearing twangy mountain voices telling all those old stories while I was sitting with my grandmother at the beauty parlour or\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Katherine Giuffre","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/kg1-scaled.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/kg1-scaled.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/kg1-scaled.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/kg1-scaled.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/kg1-scaled.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/kg1-scaled.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12743,"url":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/katherine-scott-crawford\/","url_meta":{"origin":14102,"position":5},"title":"Katherine Scott Crawford","author":"Jaynie","date":"May 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Stories are the way I walk through the world. The truth is, I\u2019m trying to live as many lives as possible. I\u2019m an 11th generation Southerner, born and raised in South Carolina to a family of big talkers. My entire life I\u2019ve walked a swinging bridge between an unquenchable thirst\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Katherine Scott Crawford","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/KatherineScottCrawford_tempheadshot2_RHP.jpg?fit=877%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/KatherineScottCrawford_tempheadshot2_RHP.jpg?fit=877%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/KatherineScottCrawford_tempheadshot2_RHP.jpg?fit=877%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/KatherineScottCrawford_tempheadshot2_RHP.jpg?fit=877%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14102"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14137,"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14102\/revisions\/14137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}