Episode 274: Navigating Creativity with Wana Udobang

Greetings Glocal Citizens! As we hit the halfway mark on 2025 our treat this week is a thought-provoking conversation with Wana Udobang, a multifaceted writer, poet, performer, curator, and storyteller based in Lagos, Nigeria. I met Wana last year during the Pa Gya! Literary Festival in Accra where she faciliated her own unique writing workshop - “Comfort Food” a storytelling and poetry workshop that uses food as a conduit to explore memories, history, joy, and healing which was born out of her culinary quality time during the pandemic. In this lively conversation we cover Wana's extensive body of work which encompasses her journey of becoming a creative professional in Nigeria, her spoken word albums and how she has honed her craft building a framework for entrepreneurship using various storytelling platforms. 00:00:23 Introduction and Opening Remarks 00:04:02 A Short Story About ECG 00:07:56 Introduction and Background 00:11:53 Wana's Creative Journey and Achievements 00:16:00 Life in Lagos and Cultural Insights 00:19:42 The Art of Storytelling and Poetry 00:23:38 Why the Where: Career Path and Returning to Nigeria 00:27:32 Comfort Food Workshops and Creative Collaborations 00:31:43 Glocal Speak 00:35:31 Organizing for Success: Tools and Techniques 00:39:27 Balancing Creativity and Economics 00:43:22 Mindset Hacks as an Ethos 00:47:30 The Role of Fellowships in Professional Growth 00:51:20 What's New and Next? 00:55:15 Reader, Watcher, Listener? 00:59:25 Final Thoughts Where to find Wana? wanaudobang.com (https://www.wanaudobang.com/about) On LinkedIn (https://linkedin.com/in/wana-udobang-16063776) On Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/mswanawana) On YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/misswanawana) What’s Wana reading? Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun (https://sarahladipomanyika.com/work/like-a-mule-bringing-ice-cream-to-the-sun-book.html) by Sarah Lipado Manyika All Fours (https://mirandajuly.com/all-fours/) by Miranda July The Big Leap (https://hendricks.com/resources/big-leaps/the-big-leap/?v=0b3b97fa6688) by Gay Hendricks What’s Wana watching? Conclave (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conclave_(film)) The Substance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Substance) What’s Wana listening to? Florence and the Machine (https://florenceandthemachine.net) Other topics of interest: About the Ibibio people of Nigeria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibibio_people) Def Poetry Jam (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Def_Poetry_Jam) About Nnedi Okorafor (https://nnedi.com) and Akata Warrior (https://www.instagram.com/p/DJhM9rQJxFr/) as seen in the new Forever series on Netflix (https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/forever-judy-blume-show-announcement) Special Guest: Wana Udobang.