We recently caught up with Togba-Nah Tipoteh, the author of Pepperbird Bound For Freedom, and from what we’ve been told, many more books to come.

Below is a summary of the conversation we had with Togba-Nah:

Tell us, what inspired you to become an author?

I got inspired mostly to become an author when I found out that there are some literate people who are willing to explain what they read to people who do not know how to read and that there are illiterate people who welcome the teaching initiatives of the literate people. I became particularly inspired when I realized that these initiatives contributed positively to advancing the struggle for building sustainable democracy.

What message are you sending your readers through your books?

That all human beings have God-given rights to life and the pursuit of happiness and that my experience and the experiences of others indicate that there are peaceful ways to raise consciousness about these rights and utilize these ways to promote and protect these rights. These rights cover all levels of human endeavor: religious, economic, social, cultural and political.

Tell us a little about your most recent book and why it is a must-read?

My books are very helpful to the point that they contribute positively to the elimination of the use of the energy that comes from poverty-based frustration for violent purposes. The books help people to realize that they, individually and collectively, can use available resources to get out of whatever dismalities that they are confronted with. The books are helpful to the point that they convince people to know that their liberation from whatever suffering depends upon what they can do rather than on what others, especially the powers that be, can do. The books are promotive of self-initiatives and democratic participation in the realization that the solution to the people's problems comes from depending upon themselves rather than depending on the powers that be who not only brought the problems but benefit from the continuation of the problems.

Do you have any other books your readers can look forward to?

Yes, there are other books coming out shortly. Some people might recall my earlier book: Democracy: The Call of the Liberian People. For the immediate future, within a year, there are three volumes to come out on my writings related mainly to economic growth and development over the years.

Do you ever get writer's block and if so, how do you overcome that?

Not yet, and hopefully it will stay that way.

What book have you read that most influenced your life and why?

The Bible, especially the Book of James Chapter 2 Verses 14-16 which present the view that "Faith Without Works Is Dead". The books on the Life of Madiba Mandela continue to inspire me greatly in my work.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author?

That I am "stingy" in financial terms. I spend money but I do not allow money  to lead me. I lead money. I am not money-driven but I drive money. If I were money-driven, I would be a billionaire today, the richest  person in Liberia, having earned my PhD in Economics at the age of 27 and I am now 75. But if I were money-driven, I would be one of the main sources of the mass poverty in Liberia and other parts of Africa by supporting the poverty-generating system of the production of raw materials for export, leaving value addition with its attendant poverty-alleviation regime completely out of the picture.

Keep up with Togba-Nah on his Publish Wiz author page here.