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Tag: poetry

  • Me and my Books: My poetry is all about profundity

    Me and my Books: My poetry is all about profundity

    Denja Abdullahi, a poet and award-winning writer is the vice-president of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). His collection of poems include Mairogo: A Buffon’s Poetic Journey Around Northern Nigeria, Abuja Nunyi, The Talking Drum, A Thousand Years of Thirst, among others. In this interview with Edozie Udeze, he says that poetry is the mother of all genres of literature

     

    Who are your favourite authors in the world and why?

    The writing world is diverse with unique styles, subject matters and brilliance that it is difficult for me to have favourites. Let us just say all good writers I have read are my favourites, and even those I am yet to read but hopeful of eventually reading.

    What sort of books do you like most?

    Books that explore people’s historical and cultural experiences in an epical sweep; whether poetry, plays or novels. I like profundity when it comes to books. Profundity of theme and style. There are too many books out there on the shelves and online begging to be read; anyone that catches my attention must have something unique about it.

    When you read a book, what are the salient things you look out for?

    What it says about the human experience, the underlying hilarity, the power of language in freshening even stale old concepts and larger-than-life characters that are in reality often life-like.

    When and where do you like to read?

    I read whenever and wherever I can have some moments to myself, away from work, family and the fulfillment of the rigours of existence. Those moments are getting fewer by the day, I must say. I read before going to bed, on the verge of sleep, in transit; by road and air, when I am not the one doing the driving or piloting (that is even when the journey is bereft of recklessness and turbulence) and whenever I am out of station, away from my usual habitué.

    What is your preferred literary genre?

    I have written more of poetry, so should I say poetry is my preferred genre? I love all the genres, I do not discriminate in my choice of genre.

    As a child, what books tripped you most?

    As a youngster, the pacesetter series greatly influenced me to contemplate the infinite world of the imagination. They were very realistic portrayal of life and living on the African continent in the popular sense. The stories and characters of that series, including even the authors, were engraved in my adolescent memory for such a long time that I penned one myself but I later lost the manuscript. The titles of the series still echo in my mind till today: The Undesirable Element, Stop Press: Murder!, Bloodbath at Lobster Close, Sweet Revenge, Sisi, Evbu My Love, Christmas in the City, etc. I later on discovered the African Writers Series and feasted on the titles accordingly.

    What book or books have had the greatest impact on you; why and how?

    Roots, by Alex Haley, for its epical sweep of the trauma of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. I was angry about the plight of the black race as I read the book. And this feeling was aggravated as I read the book at the time the TV series was first shown on national television. The African Night Entertainment, by Cyprian Ekwensi, with its quest motif, dreams, magic and expose into the northern Nigerian clime also was definitive in my reading career; so also the phantasmagoric world of D.O Fagunwa’s novels.

    At what point in your life did you begin to nurse the idea of being a writer?

    In my first year in the university, after experiencing a culture shock with the almajiri system at the Jos Main Market some many years ago; though my writerly sensibility goes way back before that encounter.

    How has writing shaped or moulded your life?

    It has made me conscious of the fact that words are double-edged, they build and destroy; their employment for either purpose is what our lives are all about.

    If you met your favourite author(s) face-to-face, what would you ask him/her?

    How did you get to do that? What the hell was going through your mind?

    Of all the works you’ve read, which character strikes you the most?

    Many are swirling in my head right now, but I will readily pick Mohun Biswas in V.S. Naipaul’s A House For Mr. Biswas. He is such a comically tragic character in a struggle of existence, like that of the average man who does not want to die in obscurity.

    What do you plan to read next?

    The much-hyped The Accidental Public Servant by Nasir El-Rufai, I just want to get it out of my reading view and of course the dashing account of the Nigerian Civil War as executed by the Third Marine Commando in Alabi Isama‘s The Tragedy of Victory. Of course if you ask me the one I would like to read first, I will go for Isama’s.

    Are you a re-reader and how often?

    There are so many good books out there still unread than to indulge in the luxury of leisurely re-reading. I only re-read strictly for academic or research purposes, and this takes various forms.

    How do you arrange your books in your private library?

    Mercifully on the shelves in the office; books for research on their own, unread stuff together in their own territory and already read ones that can be loaned out to curious friends and acquaintances at their own end. Of course, one does not have the resources of the Library of Congress. So, many other books, more than the one on the shelves, are in re-enforced Ghana-must-go bags at a dedicated depository at home, competing with other bricks and bats and getting on the nerves of madam all the time.

    What does writing mean to you?

    Writing is my alternate career that has in its way defined my main career. Writing takes you above the ordinary; it confers on you a sage-like quality and raises you above the common throng. If you are lucky to have written anything good, be sure it will endure and confer on you immortality.

    How do you get your inspiration to write?

    I am inspired most to write not by solitude or a serene atmosphere that most writers cherish, but by great activity around me, market place noises, festive music and other such ambience. When people and things are uninhibited, I derive inspiration from that and that is where I hit on some great writing ideas.

    You have written more of poetry, at least the published pieces. Why?

    It is so because poetry is the mother of all literary forms. Let me deal well first with the mother before I start dealing with the sons and daughters. I write other genres too which are largely unpublished. There was a time I declared in a published interview after my last published poetry collection A Thousand Years of Thirst that with that I had paid my debt to poetry, meaning I want to take a break from poetry. Niyi Osundare, the renowned poet who I have had an over two decades relationship with, which began with him being my subject of research as an undergraduate, read that interview and sent me a private email saying “Denja, how dare you!” He was more like, you cannot pay the debt you owe poetry. I replied that I was only joking literarily; that I was only expressing my wish to bring out my writings in the other genres and that poetry will always be part of me. Presently, I am working on a play and another collection of poetry; this time with a religious theme.

    What was the most important book to you in 2012 and which one for 2013?

    There Was a Country by Chinua Achebe for all the reiteration of the role of the writer in the society contained in it and for the issues it raised regarding the dynamics of perspective in narrating lived experiences. For 2013, none yet.

  • Touching lives through poetry

    Touching lives through poetry

    It was a sober reflection as guests watched the written words come alive through various performances of resonated the lines of Chinyere Darline Ezeigwe’s poems.

    Poetry came came alive as Chinyere unveiled her book,Parable of Deeds, last Saturday. The thought-provoking collection advocates against societal vices, violence, politics, religion sex, incest and quandary of choices.

    A critic said the collection tends towards “sad thoughts”. Chinyere said his words aptly describe the mood the poems evoke, adding: “It was written during a critical time in my life when the mishaps around me seemed to scream at their loudest and they flowed through my pen.”

    The book reviewer, the sensual poet, Ayeola Mabiaku, said the collection, which is reflexive, is an improvement on the previous one entitled: Beads of Essence. The language used in this collection, she observed, is “simple, understandable and clear”.

    Reading the poem Drug to illustrate her review, she said: “There is an evolution process every poet must go through, a time to hone ones skill, I can see this development in this work. And I see that Chinyere is maturing like vintage win in this collection. Although sometimes the very essence of a poem is lost when needless words are used, this is one area the author should look into for her future works. The imagery created is of a dramatic monologue as one visualises the speaker with the result that the particularity of the situation is evident.”

    On his part, the former the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Lagos chapter chair, Chike Ofili, reiterated Mabiaku’s words, saying that the author has reinvented herself.

    The performers including Iquo Eke, this reporter and AJ House of Poetry, took the genre beyond the intellectual confines, giving life to the words on stage. The AJ House of Poetry performances was especially electrifying accompanied with equally touching songs. They touched the creative essence of the audience, particularly that of veteran journalist and fashion exponent Edozie Onaka, with their dramatic interpretations of Priestly Confession, Not Me and Across the road. Eke captured the attention of guests with her rendition of One Piece and The Place to be.

    Touched by the lines and the dramatic interpretations, Onaka said: “This is a revolution. It is taking poetry from the intellectual confines and connecting it to everyday experiences. I am quite impressed by the wisdom imbibed in her words. Politicians think of the next election but leaders think of the next generations. Chinyere is a leader.” Mrs Ikem Okoro, a marriage counselor and author of Enriching Marital Sex, said the atmosphere triggered in her poetic essence. But for the author, it was meant to provoke the thoughts. But Chinyere has refused to dwell only at the level of intellectual rigor alone. She also formally unveiled her charity project called of Our Generation Africa Foundation.

    “I didn’t mean to sadden you. I meant that stimulate thoughts as you go through it about the mishaps happening around us, the menace and the rise of societal vices, its causes, how we see ourselves in the nearest future. Think: “if these are what confront us what are we, individually, going to do about them. This has given birth to Our Generation Africa Foundation, inspired by the poem, Across the road.

    “Our vision is to see more young people discovering themselves, developing their talents or skills to the point where it provides them with a source of livelihood. This, we believe would reduce the unemployment rate as well as the number of nuisance around us. When we are robbed, raped or move through the red light districts, their actions affect us and pathetic still is that they grow up from streets thugs to becoming political thugs and that is why politics is said to be a dirty game. I have mixed with these kids and feel their pain and that is why aside unveiling the book, the foundation is equally important,” she said

    As its maiden project, the foundation will be reaching out to youths at Ikota, come December. She called for volunteers as friends, counselors and mentors, urging that the move would spell a revolution in the lives of many who were born or living in various conditions of hopelessness that ignites vices in the youths. She praised the mentorship efforts of current chairman of ANA Lagos, Dagga Tolar in breeding young creative minds such the ones featuring in the AJ House of Poetry. “When I was going to watch them practice their performance, I saw some of the people we are talking about. And I thought what would have happened to them if Dagga Tolar had not engaged them where would they have channeled their energies. Thank you for giving them these opportunities.”

    And as a parting note, she urged guests, saying: “Remember, there are some people somewhere wishing to be better but do not how to go about it. As you walk down the road, there is someone walking past you thinking of suicide or where or whom to bomb.”