Alice Eze, creator of acclaimed written works, explores humour, humanity, and imagination through every page. Co-founder of Renew Africa Foundation and Gigatron Creatives, she merges diverse experiences into narratives that connect across cultures, disciplines, and forms of expression.

Her story ‘How to Marry a Prince in Ten Business Days’ features in THE BARE BONES BOOK OF HUMOUR. It is about a woman who turns to a self-help course to find herself a royal companion. 

The anthology’s editor Ankit Raj Ojha interviewed Alice to learn more about her literary influences.

Tell us about your perspective on humour and its place in writing and in life.

Humour is how I stay afloat. Life can be ridiculous, and laughing at it feels like taking back control. In writing, it helps me say serious things without being too heavy. In life, it keeps me from shouting at people who deserve it. I think humour is proof that we’re still paying attention, still alive enough to notice the absurd. 

What are the things, works, and authors that have influenced your writing? 

Chinua Achebe for how he made simplicity powerful. James Hadley Chase for the way he built tension. Lola Shoneyin for her courage and wit. I’m also shaped by everyday Nigerian chaos (bus conductors, gossiping aunties, neighbours who never mind their business). Real life has more rhythm and comedy than most fiction. 

Is there any image, phrase, idea, place, person, or memory that became the seed for ‘How to Marry a Prince in Ten Business Days’? 

‘How to Marry a Prince in Ten Business Days’ began as a joke. I saw one of those “manifest your husband” posts online and thought—someone is definitely trying this for real. From there came Uju, a woman doing everything the internet tells her to do, hoping something sticks. The story grew from that mix of desperation and hope that feels both funny and familiar.