BOOKS


The Black Issue 2022 Author Interview: Obioma Ugoala


For Obioma Ugoala, exploring how masculinity intersects with race and sexuality is vital for societal progress and understanding


Natasha Onwuemezi @tashaisblue


W


hen I first meet Obioma Ugoala, we are at The House of St Barnabas, judging one of the British Book Awards; we are both on the panel


for the new Discover Book of the Year. What strikes me is that Ugoala—who is affable, funny and articulate—really puts in the work. Alongside starring as Kristoff in “Frozen” on the West End, following a turn in “Hamilton” as the George Washington (a.k.a. the best character in the history of musicals), Ugoala has also read every book on the shortlist, made thoughtful pre-panel notes about each one and participates in the discussion with passion and consideration. I say this because it might be tempting for someone with such a busy schedule to phone it in, but that’s not Ugoala. For the past few years, Ugoala, who is of Nigerian and Irish heritage, has been focusing this work ethic on writing the book that would become The Problem with My Normal Penis, an exploration of masculinit and how it intersects with race and sexualit. While the idea of the book had been “percolating” in Ugoala’s mind for a long time, the seed really sprouted from a conversation he had in 2018 with a Black actor, who one day at dinner, asserted that Black men have a higher sex drive than white men. Ugoala was taken aback by this statement, because even at this early stage, before he started researching the book,


20 20th May 2022


As much as it’s a discussion about Black masculinity, it’s as much a discussion of masculinity as a whole and how we all interact with that


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