Marguerite Got On The Bus, And I Followed Him - An Interview With Simon Okotie

Simon Okotie's debut novel Whatever Happened To Harold Absalon?, released earlier this year by Salt publishing, is a detective story set almost entirely on a Routemaster bus. Marguerite is an unconcventional protagonist; the transport adviser to the Mayor of an unspecified city, he is investigating the mysterious disappearance of his predecessor, Harold Absalon. The book is remarkable for its detailed investigation of Marguerite's thought process, as he becomes increasingly implicated in Absalon's fate. Here, Mr Okotie spoke to me about his influences, working with editor Nicholas Royle, and his writing process. 

1) Your main character Marguerite doesn't fit in with the traditional image of the detective - was there anyone you drew on when you were developing his character?
Marguerite was inspired by 'Marigold', a black man who was often seen in Norwich during the ‘80s unofficially directing traffic on the inner ring road wearing yellow rubber gloves. I grew up in Norfolk (which I write about here), and Marigold left an impression on me and many other people in Norwich at that time: a benign, perhaps troubled, other-worldly figure.

2) What drew you to the Routemaster bus as a setting for your story?

All I can really say is that Marguerite got on the bus, and I followed him. 

3) While Marguerite's narrative is extremely digressive in relation to situations, he raraely gets beneath the surface of the characters he is following; is this a deliberate attempt to keep your characters' back-stories hidden from the reader?

I find the view that my novel is digressive fascinating. A digression is 'a departure from the main point; a part of a discourse not about the main subject', according to my dictionary. Wikipedia characterises digression as 'a section of a composition or speech that is an intentional change of subject' - something that, in Classical rhetoric, was a regular part of any oration or composition.' After setting out the topic of a work and establishing the need for attention to be given, the speaker or author would digress to a seemingly disconnected subject before returning to a development of the composition's theme, a proof of its validity, and a conclusion.' But what is the topic of a novel? What is its subject matter? If, as David Collard writes here, 'a work of art should not be about something, but be that thing in itself', then isn't the idea of a digressive artwork a contradiction in terms? But I am also aware that the more I try to argue Whatever Happened to Harold Absalon? is not digressive, the more I undermine my own argument!

In terms of the characters in the book, it's the same response as to your second question. I don't have much of a plan when I sit down to write - just a vague interest and direction. I much prefer to follow the characters and see where they lead me and what they disclose (if anything).

4) The novel reminded me of Oulipo writers such as Perec and Calvino - who would you say your main influences were? 

A few people have mentioned the Oulipo writers to me since my novel was published, and I have really enjoyed following that up, particularly Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style, which is also set (almost) entirely on a bus. I think that is one of the joys or writing - the suggestion of undiscovered reading threads to follow up. (I was familiar with Calvino, and love Cosmicomics.) The one novel that has had the biggest influence on me, and to which I return again and again, is Don Quixote - I think it has everything.

5) What was your experience of working with Nicholas Royle as an editor like, and how did it come about?

It was a joy working with Nick. It is wonderful when anyone takes an interest, particularly in a first novel, and I was so fortunate to have an editor of his calibre. I continue to find him an inspiration. The sheer amount that he does is impressive: teaching creative writing, being an agent, publisher and editor, as well as finding time for his own writing. He is also a champion of independent presses, something I feel passionate about.

I had sent my novel out to agents for about a year, before I saw Nick post a photo of this review of David Rose's 'Vault - an Anti-novel' on Facebook. (Nick and I had played football for 'the Kensal Risers' together in the 90s, but had not been much in contact since then.) I sent him a message to see if he would be interested in reading my own 'anti-novel'. Which, fortunately for me, he was. I thought, at the time, that he was a reader for Salt, that he might be able to recommend my book to them. So it was a quite a surprise when, a number of months later, he replied, saying that he loved the book, and would publish it. It was then that I found out he was Salt's commissioning editor for British literary fiction.

6) How many drafts did you go through when you were writing the novel?

I work on the Evan Connell principle: he said he knew he was finished with a short story 'when he found himself going through it and taking out commas and then going through the story again and putting commas back in the same places.' Actually, I've never read any Evan Connell - that was a quote from Raymond Carver's wonderful essay 'On Writing'. But I think that's right, and it's certainly how I like to work. I have twelve drafts of my book saved on my hard drive, but it was probably at lot more than that in practice.

7) What sort of surroundings and atmosphere do you like to write in?

 I like to write in busy cafes.

8) Which modern writers do you most enjoy reading?

I recently finished reading Sebald's Austerlitz, which I think is an absolutely life-changing book. I wanted to go back to page one and start it all over again. I have also been astonished by Eimear McBride's A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, which I think is an extraordinary, important novel. 

9) What are you working on next?

I am currently working on a novel inspired by Ursula Bahler, a homeless woman I used to walk past regularly in West Hampstead. This new book is also inspired by a cottage that my great aunt and uncle moved to, from London, in the late 60s. These threads have somehow taken me to the charge, by Virginia Woolf, that her half-brothers, George and Gerald Duckworth, molested her as a child and teenager. It is a much darker piece than Whatever Happened..., and I've yet to find a title.