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Otegha Uwagba

“Portrait of Curiosity” illuminates the passions and intimate musings of one fabulous woman of substance. In our seventh instalment, we talk to London-based writer and journalist Otegha Uwagba.

Otegha Uwagba is a journalist, speaker and two-time Sunday Times bestseller, she’s the author of the hugely successful, Little Black Book: A Toolkit for Working Women and Whites: On Race and Other Falsehoods. In 2018 she appeared on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Media list. A talented raconteur, her recent memoir, We Need to Talk About Money, shares candid and intimate musings on money, life and systemic inequalities. Her philosophy? That in normalising woman-to-woman discourse around a long-taboo subject, revolutionising how we relate to our finances and exposing success stories, common pitfalls and the impact of privilege, class, race and sexism, we all may induce change.

01 THE WRITER WHO HAS MOST INSPIRED ME IS

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I think she's an incredible thinker but also someone who wears her intelligence very lightly, which I really admire.



02 THE ONE THING I WOULD TELL MY YOUNGER SELF ABOUT MONEY

Try to relax and allow yourself to enjoy life a little more.

03 A STORY I FIRST FELL IN LOVE WITH

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. I read it as a teenager and fell in love with magical realism as a genre.



04 I'VE RECENTLY REDISCOVERED

"Girlfriends" on Netflix. I've heard a lot about this show over the years, but only just started watching it. It's a similar setup to Sex And The City, but focusing around a quartet of Black women - it's incredibly funny and well-written, so I'm pleased there are eight seasons of it to get through.

05 THE THING THAT SURPRISES PEOPLE MOST ABOUT ME

I don't think I'm anywhere as serious or intellectual in person as people often assume from my writing.



06 IF I COULD OWN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD IT WOULD BE

I'm currently sofa-less, so probably one of those*.

*Sofa image via Béton Brut.

07 I WOULD LOVE TO COLLABORATE WITH

a shoe designer - nothing thrills me more than a new pair of shoes so I think I'd actually love to work with someone on dreaming up something really cool.



08 THE INDEPENDENT BUSINESS THAT I ADORE

I rely on Momosan in east London to keep me stocked up on Peter Shire/Echo Park Pottery mugs - I first discovered them on a trip to Japan a few years ago and have become obsessed with collecting different colourways ever since.

OTEGHA'S FAVOURITE THINGS

01 Eating out in Soho.

*It's her favourite place to go out for dinner, especially during summer when you can sit outside and people watch.

02 Shoes! She currently has her eye on this delightful Prada pair.

03 Helen Frankenthaler's paintings.

04 Tracee Ellis Ross' sense of style.

05 The "Non-conformist" hoop earrings.

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