TimeOut with Diego

Odoh Diego Okenyodo is one of the 9 poets shortlisted for the Nigerian Prize For Literature. His collection of poems called 'A Poem to Its Creator' is Odoh Diego Okenyodo’s first book in Poetry. A member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), he has worked for “about a decade” as a journalist with the Weekly Trust. He holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the Ahmadu Bello University.
He took time out with us.

1. what does it feel like to be shortlisted for the NLNG Prize for Literature?

Mine to be chosen among some body works... That feels like a vindication for me! You know, I have been committed to writing for a long time and I was even expelled from the university for doing it. I also am not practising pharmacy, which I studied, just for the same reason.

People ask you questions about the prestige in being a pharmacist and why you chose to abandon it for some rather uncertain future in literature and journalism--literary journalism, to be precise--and I always really labour to explain it, telling them that it gives one satisfaction, and blah-blah. Again, you spend so much of your earnings trying to ensure that your writings are visible and packaged, and friends and family just tolerate that. Until it is announced that that little thing you always bothered about is now worthy of being considered for a huge amount of money. That is the feeling; vindication!

2. Do you have previous commendations and awards?

Not really. For some invisible contributions to the Association of Nigerian Authors' branches in Kano State and Niger State, one has had some forms of commendations and an award, but not for the creative product itself.

3. How many of your poetry collections have been published? Name them.

Just one, the From A Poem to Its Creator collection. I do not believe one should rush to publish. This collection had been almost in this form for near a decade, save for minor editorial changes

4. In your opinion, what are the attributes of a good poem?

A good poem should give the reader a new experience, either a new experience of words or a new experience of what live is or isn't. A good poem attempts to de-familiarise our experiences, and set us thinking, and reading it again. If you cannot want to read a piece of poetry again, it's likely to be failed poetry. It is not necessarily a complicated array of words; it is just that the way the poem either addresses its subject is such that you are led into a new hideout and shown what you never saw or knew. A good poem is some sort of tour guide.

5. When did you start writing poems?

I didn't start writing poems in the real sense of it; I have been very fascinated with words and how they are formed, so I have engaged in wordplay for a very long time. I come from a family of artists and we knew no bounds, creatively. We did (and still do) painting, music, play writing, and so on. In secondary school, I remember a childhood friend of mine Andrew and I entering a literary competition with a poem that

6. Do you write any other genre apart from poetry?

I write for children. I love writing for children. The world of innocence and lack of boundaries is one experience I enjoy. I have one or two short stories for adults, but I can't call myself a short fiction writer for adults.

7. Can you mention 5 foreign poets that you love to read. What makes them peculiar?

Well, is Jackie Kay Nigerian or British? She is not resident here, so I would call her British. She is one I love so much for humour hidden in her verses. Emm....who else? I can't recall immediately now, truly, because I am being distracted and I do feel like finishing this response.

8. Can you mention 5 Nigerian poets that you love to read.

Aaah! Easy. My favourite Nigerian poets are people you do not know so much about: I love Ismail Bala Garba's poetry; same with the Maiwadas--Dr Mu'azu Maiwada, who is my literary mentor; and his brother Ahmed Maiwada, who is my contemporary in a sense. Those are two, or three, right?

I read Obi Nwakanma and love the works. I love Elnathan John's rhyme schemes, which are usually effortless. And then there are works by the masters like Okara, Osundare, Okigbo, and so on. In truth, I am one that feels that poetry is such an experimental art that you can only select among a person's works and say, "This one succeeded", not that this author always writes good poetry. The fact that the poet wrote a good one today is no guarantee of his tomorrow.

9. Outline your daily activities.

Daily, I wake up late. Daily, I work till late in the night. Daily, I write proposals and poems, many of both unfinished, many of both on my phones or on my laptops, or online on Google Docs. Daily, I dream dreams of being everything. Daily, I remain me, misunderstood by even me!

10. Is the ability to write poetry innate in every human being?

No. We all have the raw materials for poetry, but not all of us have been blessed with the ability to capture it.