Listen to author and critic Erica Wagner in conversation with Nikki May, writer of “Wahala”, her first novel published by HarperCollins in 2022. Through Ronke, Simi and Boo, the three mixed-race heroines of her book, the writer explores interracial relationships, what defines multicultural identity and captures women’s evolving roles in home and work. They also evoke Nikki May’s early vocation as a writer and the late realisation of her literary career.

As part of the Rendez-vous littéraires rue Cambon [Literary Rendezvous at Rue Cambon], the podcast "les Rencontres" highlights the birth of a writer in a series imagined by CHANEL and House ambassador and spokesperson Charlotte Casiraghi.

(00:00 ) Introduction

(00:40 ) Presentation of Nikki May and her novel “Wahala” by Erica Wagner

(03 : 23) On the author’s vocation as a writer

(05:58 ) On dropping out of medical school

(07:35 ) The writers that inspire her

(09:25 ) On exploring her British and Nigerian identities

(11:53 ) On the publication process of her novel

(13:56 ) Reading an extract of “Wahala” by Nikki May

(16:14 ) On following an online writing course

(17:46 ) On the writing process of her novel

(20:24 ) Her first reader

(21:00 ) On writing unperfect life for her characters

(22:54 ) The most challenging aspect of writing and the author’s advices on how to overcome it

(24:59 ) On the reception of the book

(28:43 ) The ending questionnaire of “les Rencontres”

Nikki May, Wahala: A Novel, Transworld, 2022.

Wahala: A Novel by Nikki May. Copyright © 2022 by Nikki May. Published by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.

Nikki May, Overnight success 58 years in the making, 2023

© BBC.

© Comedy Women in Print New Voice Award in 2023.

© Kirkus Reviews.

Author Carole Bell, Publisher © National Public Radio. 

Liane Moriarty, Big Little Lies, Penguin, 2014.

Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven, Knopf, 2014.

Fred Vargas, The Three Evangelists, Vintage Books, 1995.

© Booker Prize Foundation.

Percival Everett, The Trees, © Graywolf Press, 2021.

Paula Hawkins, The Girl on the Train, Riverhead Books, 2015.

Emma Stonex, The Lamplighters, Penguin Books, 2021.

Beaches by Iris Rainer Dart. Copyright © 1985 by Iris Rainer Dart. Published by HarperCollins Publishers.

Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814