The Paths We Tread Together by Charis Odoki is the winner of the 2021 Author of Tomorrow, 16-21 years.

The Paths We Tread Together: Mr Akech regularly takes the central line to Stratford to preach the gospel with his friends Dongo, Oyet, Harris, Nigel, and Caleb. When a priest interrupts their sermon, his disapproval will awaken a story that Akech has kept buried; one that had fuelled his faith and will allow him to mourn his past. 

An Interview with Charis: 

WNSF: What is your favourite book? 

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. It goes in waves, but it is a beautifully poignant story of redemption. 

WNSF: Who is your favourite author? Or one who has inspired you and why?

I don’t know. I bounce around when reading. I recently read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. That had beautiful imagery. Vaguely reminiscent of Tolstoy. Well captured. 

WNSF: What was your favourite subject at school? 

English literature – especially in A-level; we did an amazing module called The Paris Anthology that had a myriad of different experiences of Paris. It was magic. Simply magic. That taught me about the importance of places, specifically the memory of them and how to craft space with significance. 

WNSF: What does ‘adventure writing’ mean to you? Why did you choose to try your hand at an adventure story?

For me, adventure writing is about people up against challenges. How do we push past fears, traumas, obstacles? How do we embrace excitement, new culture, opportunity? 

WNSF: If you could ask an author anything, what would you want to know?

How to keep momentum when writing and not regret every sentence you’ve just written. Things may make sense to me but then someone reads it and says, ‘sorry I just don’t get it.’ I would like to know how writers battle that anxiety. 

WNSF: Who would you consider one of your heroes and why?

John Milton. Not so much as a hero but rather someone’s writing that affected me deeply. I read Paradise Lost for my first year of my degree. I loved the depiction of pandemonium and Satan. What spoke to me most was the way he described light. For a blind man to have such vivid metaphors and similes in verse about something he was utterly devoid of is, to me, something quite extraordinary. I will always love ‘the eyes as the dungeon of the soul’ in Samson Agonistes. Just a perfect example of his ability to craft a perfect metaphor. 

WNSF: Where do you find inspiration for your stories?

I take great inspiration when visiting museums and heritage sites. There will be stories lined up in the history displayed and your mind can wander far and wide in the spaces that people across the ages have loved, lived and died in.

WNSF: What is the most adventurous thing you would like to do, or place you would like to visit and why?

Outer Space. It’s becoming a reality for the mega rich at the moment and I couldn’t imagine staring at our earth with all its people – how small I would feel and how the vast the universe would appear. 

WNSF: If you could time travel, where would you go and why? 

Oh the 20s. Paris. All those writers in one place. What else could I say? 

WNSF: What three words would you use to describe your story?

Layered. Thought-provoking. African.