http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/arts/article01/Wednesday, September 23, 2009
By Anote Ajelurou
AT the CORA event held last Sunday, which was designed to acquaint Nigerians with the nine shortlisted writers out of which one is expected to win the prestigious $50,000 prize money as Nigeria's laureate, the turn out was simply explosive. Not for a while now have Nigerians shown so much interest in the arts, especially Literature with such huge number in attendance. For those in the rather obscure culture sector, it signaled a rekindling of hope that all was not yet lost.
Apparently impressed at the large crowd, one of the conveners of the event and, art and culture advocate, Mr. Jahman Anikulapo was so moved he asked the gathering to applaud "the creative enterprise of Nigerians, that staying power that never gives up; there is no Literature prize that the Nigerian has not won globally; we have to applaud that staying spirit of the Nigerian". The applause he sought, he said, was not for Nigeria as a country because she was a huge disappointment.
He then informed the gathering that as he was speaking, one of his colleagues at The Guardia, Mr. Bayo Ohu had been shot dead in his Lagos residence by unknown gunmen, who would apparently not be found in view of Nigeria's antecedent in tracking murderers. This news was greeted with sad sighs.
However, it was momentary as a festive mood soon prevailed all through the 4-hour event to celebrate Nigeria's nine star poets. Toyin Akinoso was the first to read an excerpt from The Yacouba Building, a novel by an Egyptian, Alaa Al Aswany.
Then star performing artist, teacher and self-styled 'Otunba' Tunji Sotimiri, set a sombre yet exhilarating tone to the event when he re-enacted the quintessential activist harangue of the establishment by the late civil rights campaigner and social critic Chief Gani Fawhehinmi. Sotimiri captured so vividly the mannerisms of late Gani as he was popularly called to the point of emotionally collapsing in tears as a way of emphasising the deep pain he shared with ordinary Nigerians for the travails they are made to undergo in the hands of those who claim to lead them. It was a tribute to a man, who, all through his life fiercely fought for ordinary folks and sharpened the sensibility of most Nigerian writers to literary activism through his outspokenness of the state's oppression and repression of Nigerians from attaining their God-given endowments.
Thereafter, three reviewers gave the audience firsthand knowledge about the contents of some of the works by the nine writers. Oke Ikeogwu reviewed Litany by Omo Uwaifo, Songs of Odamolugbe by Ademola Dasylva and Songs of a Dying River by G'Ebenyo Ogbowei. Ikeogwu said Litany is poetry of commitment as it lamented Nigerian woes during the civil war, and how the poet was personally catch up in it.
In Songs of Odamolugbe Ikeogwu finds a poet tracing the journey of Nigeria and Africa using mythological inferences. He describes it as experimental poetry composed in an unusual way that affords the reader a revolutionary way of seeing the world. There is beauty of lines in Songs of a Dying River, according to the critic, such that the devastation in the Niger Delta is vividly captured. The poems, he says, are lyrical as they show a poet with a good handle in lyrical enterprise to capture the suffering of the people.
For Akeem Akiniyi Dr. Hyginus Ekwauzi's Love Apart maintains a lyricism, which is mellifluous enough in singing about love. He praises the poet's ability to journey through phases with his poems that are sometimes about love and sometimes about problems encountered on this journey, which the poet embarks with, and for, his wife for whom he sings. In Fossils Akiniyi says there's controlled writing that is very academic and intellectual. The poet, he argues, employs diverse imageries to realise his various themes.
In Eaters of the Living Abidemi Alli-Odunsi sees a poet with a strong perception about his country, his society, which he portrays. It is poetry at the service of society as the poet is on a quest to better the decadence and absurdities in his society. And, in From a Poem to its Creator, Alli-Odunsi sees a shy poet, who would not be flashy, who wants to be silent about his statements; who chooses to be obscure rather than be noticed. According to the critic, the poet celebrates the beauty of creation in his work.
But before inviting the nine poets - eight were in attendance as Uwaifo was still away on holidays in London - moderator Deji Toye read 'Hurray for Thunder', an excerpt from Christopher Okigbo's collection The Passage. After the eight poets had sat down, Chief Frank Okonta remarked about women being 'marginalised' this year as there was no female poet amongst the shortlisted writers, saying that it did not make for the democratisation of literary writing.
Nevertheless, this issue was given due prominence later in the programme when a lady in the audience again raised it. Writer after writer stressed that they were not the judges that selected the nine works shortlisted and so could not provide explanation other than that no woman's work was considered worthy enough out of the over 160 entries. However, Lindsay Barrett consoled those concerned about the absence of female writers, saying that last year a woman, Kaine Agary won the prize with her Yellow Yellow, a novella.
The veteran journalist, critic and writer commended Nigerian women writers for the tremendous efforts they were making towards the growth of Nigerian writing. She singled out Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Seffi Ata and new entrant Bimbola Adelakun, whose Under the Brown Rusted Roofs, a novel about Ibdan, he considers one of the best novel to have come out of Nigeria in recent times from home-grown writers.
In responding to questions, Nengi Josef Ilagha, who has been a speech writer in government in his Bayelsa State, said though he was on the periphery in government, the experience gave him insight into how policies are articulated within government circles. He, however, disagreed that such endeavour had not served as a distraction to his creative sensibility as a writer. As he put it, "bubbles of poetry were still bubbling inside of me all the while", and he did not hesitate to vent them when he could.
Ilagha sees life as a sojourn, and as a sojourner, "one should be able to record the phases of the journey". He remarked that his current work for which he was shortlisted January Gestures was part of a larger literary, somewhat epical in nature, project as it is part of a 12-month calender where each month bears it own creative testament as an act and celebration of faith in God for opportunities life gives.
For Dr. Ekwuazi, one time director general of Nigeria Film Corporation, there is a "big similarity between film and poetry because film is about imagery just like poetry", which makes them seamless movements for him as he transits from one to the other. He also maintains that his new work is largely experimental and a departure from the normal.
Also as a lawyer, Ahmed Maiwada does not see his foray into Literature a strange one as most people will assume. So, he says, "if you don't know Literature you cannot practise Law". For him "it's just a natural marriage between Law and poetry". He also argues that it was writing that made a great lawyer as a lawyer that cannot write stood no chance at all.
Maiwada also sees his poetry as experimental as Fossils is delivered in the present tense "to heighten the drama", and as he insists, "I don't write surface poetry to be seen in literal form; I love symbolism".
Ogbowei sees writing as a natural inclination, an urge that needs to be fulfilled, pointing out that a writer does not set out with a view to win prizes but merely to express a creative consciousness. "One writes because it's natural to write like a musician can't help but sing, a painter but to paint. I write because I have to write", he says.
Barrett says he has never been one to seek prizes in his 40-year long career as a writer and would not submit his works for awards except his publisher does. He states that it was his wife that submitted A Memory of Rivers when she saw the advertisement and did not tell him until much later almost in passing because she knew he would have discouraged her. Then his son Igoni Barrett, also a writer, later called to inform him about the nomination.
He stated that some of his fellow shortisted writers were people who looked up to him as mentor, some he even taught at the University College, Ibadan in the 1960s. For him winning the prize would not be the high point as the shortlist showed a cross-generational divide of old and young writers. He said he would be happy if he won; but that he would still be a contented man if any one of those he mentored won the prize because he also would have won on both sides. He asserted that though he enjoyed writing, journalism was for him a job with which he fed his many wives while creative writing was a passion.
The Nigeria Literature Prize may have done something really tangible for poetry in putting it to the domain of public discourse rather than mere academic exercise. This was Dr. Ademola Dasylva's view as he responded to certain issues. He maintains that with the prize the "complaint about inaccessibility about poetry" was being effective erased just as it should be for poetry to properly play its role as an art form that people could relate to as a part of their daily lives.
He says, "poetry should be seen as something that can be used for public entertainment and for poet's knowledgeability to be used to impact to others to make a living". A member of Folklore Association of Nigeria, Dasylva (author of Songs of Odamolugbe) "the best I can discover myself is through poetry". His aim as a teacher and writer of poetry is how he can "make poetry more attractive" so that the generality of the people can derive satisfaction from it just as he affirms, "I identify with the masses".
Odoh Diego Okenyodo says his poetry is self-discovery as it is a trip through which he is just realising who he is as a writer, as a person. So that his collection From a Poem to its Creator is one long question mark about creator and the created. So, he asks, "Did we as creations of God behave in ways that pleases God? And, does not the created have the right to question his creator, why he is the way he is, the purpose for which he is created?"
These are questions that bother this poet who would not take creation's explanations as universal-given merely on their surface value. His work veers somewhat on irreverence just like the pottery asking its maker why it is the way it is made. But they make for a kind of sustained conversation on the motive for creation, why man is on this side on not somewhere else, the egotism of the creative process and why poets and writers alike feel swollen-headed about what they have created, and why they feel it is worth being inflicted on public sensibility.
For Musa Idris Opanachi (author of The Eaters of the Living), winner, ANA/Cadbury prize for poetry 2009, "things in the world are destinies and destinies are accidents", and so he publishes out of frustration. Opanachi sees writing as something that excites in him as "interest, hobby and to photograph my society".
One area that was almost a sour point of the intellectual and entertaining CORA outing was its stage manager, so to say. The moderator, Deji Toye, turned out the black sheep as every foot he took turned out a mis-foot. As a lawyer, he was so far from anything articulate. He literally stammered his way through the entire programme as he annoyingly belaboured his questions.
More than this, he also would not get any background information on virtually any of the writers right. For a moderator, it was clear he did not research his subjects and each time the poets had to correct one piece of his ignorance after another. CORA secretary Akinoso admitted his multiple errors and promised to rehearse future moderators for flawless delivery.
For the entertainment of the faithful audience, all the poets read or performed from their works for maximum effect. Ogbowei read 'Walking these starving streets', while Ilagha performed a piece from his collection. Barrett also read 'Old River' just as Opanachi read 'Crush me' and 'I want to marry'. Dasylva read 'Anthem for doomed youth' and 'Globalisation' from his collection.
However, Maiwada stirred the hornet's nest when he insisted on what he described as good poetry consisting of something fresh and devoid of local proverbs, which would amount to fraud on the part of the writer. He further went to declaim whatever was called 'African Literature', which he said was non-existent but rather a global literary narrative of consciousness. But he was roundly silenced by such well-informed and lettered men like Dr. Dasylva and Dr. Ekwuazi, who insisted to the effect that globalization was a new concept that does not preclude literary output from the African continent that is uniquely African and markedly different from, say European Literature.
He was referred to conferences in Africa on African Literature that had put paid to vague and uninformed speculations as he had engaged in. Mr. Barrett, an eminent resource fellow on African and world Literature also pointed out that there is a known consciousness or sensibility that is also uniquely African as to make possible the existence of a thing such as 'African Literature', which is acknowledged in global literary discourse.
On whether the rot, corruption and under-development in the country have not been over-thematised in literary outputs from her writers, Dr. Ekwuazi said perhaps. For him it would seem that the rot has had an overdose of attention from Nigerian writers. But on another level, the teacher of dramatic arts stated that writers could go beyond the rot to create something different but emphasised that the rot was what was most current in public consciousness, and so would continue to receive attention in the Literature being produced.
Opnanchi added that variety and polarity were constituent parts of the world, and that Literature would continue to reflect these polarity and variety otherwise the world would not be the way it is.
The ascendancy of Niger Delta literary consciousness
By Anote Ajeluorou
Like previous occasions literary consciousness from the Niger Delta region has shown remarkable strength as it continues on the ascendancy. Last year Kaine Agary's Yellow Yellow won the prestigious $50,000 prize money. It was a narrative from the Niger Delta. And, someone jokingly remarked that the region was not being marginalised in terms of Literature as it was in other areas of Nigerian life.
This year alone there are four writers from the region as co-contenders for the prize. However, while three writers espouse issues that have perennially been headaches in the region, one writer Omo Uwaifo does not. His area of concern predates current agitations in the region for development, justice and equity.
But the other three writers are not apologetic about their creative preoccupation. Nengi Josef Ilagha might appear somewhat muffled in his writing about the issue but not necessarily because he has been in government circles as he turns his literary consciousness on the gift of life as an act of faith from God. G'Ebenyo Ogbowei is vociferous in his literary militancy. Yet he is modest about it. The CORA outing gave him vintage outlet to vent his spleen on issues about the region.
Ogbowei insists he is not necessarily the voice or mouthpiece of the Niger Delta but the pains he feels are palpable as he speaks about the ills in the region. He points out that a lot of people forget that they are from the region for which he is so much troubled. Living as he is in the heart of the region, he has a rounded view of issues there and those fomenting trouble. For him government's complicity in the entire saga is a universal-given and need not be spoken about.
However, he says certain elements in the region, including the chiefs (he rejected being made a titled chief as a form of protest against the bastardisation of that once noble institution), whom he described as thieves in disguise. He insisted that for him, "poetry was more important than being a chief there. Chiefs foment trouble; youth foment trouble. We have a band of thieves from within and outside the Niger Delta. Until we fumigate the region and the entire Nigeria of these vermin, there will be no peace in Nigeria.
"We have abandoned our responsibility to our children. Our elders have been part of the problem. Federal Government is the enemy of the Niger Delta. Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged based on a plan from the Federal Government. I'm not a spokesman of Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND); MEND is fighting for us but I'm not MEND."
For elder statesman Barrett, the Niger Delta evokes a different kind of emotions entirely. As a member of the Africa Diaspora, who had the guts to come down to the Motherland from the Caribbean in the 1960s to settle in a spiritual and physical reunion, the region's turmoil has a continuity rooted in history and so was a baffling one.
He says that the "Niger Delta was the gateway through which his ancestors were taken into slavery to form the Africa Diaspora. It has hardly changed from the gateway of exploitation through oil exploitation and the neglect of the people to result in suffering and multiple devastations. But people have been blinded to the beauty of the place. It has given life to so much."
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Rise and rise of Niger Delta literary consciousness
(Courtesy http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/friday_review/article06)
(September 25, 2009
By Anote Ajeluorou
WITH the introduction of the Nigeria Prize for Literature by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) company, literary consciousness from the Niger Delta region has continued to grow from strength to strength. At the awards ceremony last year, Kaine Agary's Yellow Yellow won the prestigious $50,000 prize money. It was a narrative about self-awareness from the Niger Delta. And, someone jokingly remarked that the region was not being marginalised in terms of Literature as it was in other areas of Nigerian life.
This year alone, there are four writers from the region as co-contenders for the star prize. However, while three of the writers espouse issues that have perennially been headaches in the region, one writer Omo Uwaifo does not. His area of concern predates current agitations in the region for development, justice and equity.
But the other three writers are not apologetic about their creative preoccupation. Nengi Josef Ilagha might appear somewhat muffled in his outing this year about the issues but not necessarily because he has been suckled into government circles. Rather, he turns his literary consciousness on the gift of life as an act of faith from God worth celebrating with his January Gestures.
However, G'Ebenyo Ogbowei is vociferous in his literary militancy. Yet he is modest about it as he uses it to reflect on universal issues about oppression and abuse of rights of peoples all over the world.
The book party organized by the Committee for Relevant Art CORA held on Sallah day at the lagoon-front premises of the German Cultural centre, Goethe Institut, gave him vintage outlet to vent his spleen on knotty issues about the region.
Ogbowei insists he is not necessarily the voice or mouthpiece of the Niger Delta but the pains he feels are palpable as he spoke about the multifaceted ills being perpetrated in the region. He pointed out that a lot of people forget that they are from the troubled region with their indifferent attitude to the region's plight. Living as he does in the heart of the region, he has a rounded view of the contending issues and those who have been fomenting trouble. For him, government's complicity in the entire saga is a universal-given and needed no further comment.
However, he said certain elements in the region, including the chiefs (he actually rejected being made a titled chief as a form of protest against the bastardisation of that once noble traditional institution), whom he described as thieves in disguise. He insisted that for him, "poetry was more important than being a chief there. Chiefs foment trouble; youth foment trouble. We have a band of thieves from within and outside the Niger Delta. Until we fumigate the region and the entire country of these vermin, there will be no peace in Nigeria.
"We have abandoned our responsibility to our children. Our elders have been part of the problem. Federal Government is the enemy of the Niger Delta. Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged based on a plan from the Federal Government. I'm not a spokesman of Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND). MEND is fighting for us but I'm not MEND."
For elder statesman, writer, critic and journalist, Lindsay Barrett (author of A Memory of Rivers), the Niger Delta evokes a different kind of emotions entirely. As a member of the Africa Diaspora, who took the bold steps to come to settle down to the Motherland from the Caribbean in the 1960s in a spiritual and physical reunion, the region's turmoil has a continuity rooted in history, lamenting that nothing had been done to bring peace ever since.
He stated that the "Niger Delta was the gateway through which his ancestors were taken into slavery to form the Africa Diaspora. It has hardly changed from the gateway of exploitation. Now, it's through oil exploitation and the neglect of the people, which has resulted in suffering and multiple devastations. But people have been blinded to the beauty of the place. It has given life to so much."
Barrett argued that the region's dark slavery history has a correlation with current oppression but that its richness in other areas was being abysmally neglected. He stressed that the Niger Delta has given life to so much yet all that counted for so little in the nation's consciousness. He read 'Old River' from his collection. He also commented on the significance of the river as a 'living being, something that is alive' in just the same way Wole Soyinka sees 'the road' as a living being in one of his works. He urged people to look more at the river for its many manifestations as a living being capable of yielding more than can be imagined.
Clearly, just as the region's issues continue to dominate political discourse, what with militancy, the amnesty deal and all that, it has also been the preoccupation of literary consciousness. So that whether any of the three writers from the region with focus on issues about the region wins or not, it would still be credit both to the writers and the region that they are in the limelight. And that until the region's issues that now dominate Nigeria's political and literary discourse get satisfactorily resolved, the region will continue to be an open sour on the conscience of the Nigerian nation.
(September 25, 2009
By Anote Ajeluorou
WITH the introduction of the Nigeria Prize for Literature by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) company, literary consciousness from the Niger Delta region has continued to grow from strength to strength. At the awards ceremony last year, Kaine Agary's Yellow Yellow won the prestigious $50,000 prize money. It was a narrative about self-awareness from the Niger Delta. And, someone jokingly remarked that the region was not being marginalised in terms of Literature as it was in other areas of Nigerian life.
This year alone, there are four writers from the region as co-contenders for the star prize. However, while three of the writers espouse issues that have perennially been headaches in the region, one writer Omo Uwaifo does not. His area of concern predates current agitations in the region for development, justice and equity.
But the other three writers are not apologetic about their creative preoccupation. Nengi Josef Ilagha might appear somewhat muffled in his outing this year about the issues but not necessarily because he has been suckled into government circles. Rather, he turns his literary consciousness on the gift of life as an act of faith from God worth celebrating with his January Gestures.
However, G'Ebenyo Ogbowei is vociferous in his literary militancy. Yet he is modest about it as he uses it to reflect on universal issues about oppression and abuse of rights of peoples all over the world.
The book party organized by the Committee for Relevant Art CORA held on Sallah day at the lagoon-front premises of the German Cultural centre, Goethe Institut, gave him vintage outlet to vent his spleen on knotty issues about the region.
Ogbowei insists he is not necessarily the voice or mouthpiece of the Niger Delta but the pains he feels are palpable as he spoke about the multifaceted ills being perpetrated in the region. He pointed out that a lot of people forget that they are from the troubled region with their indifferent attitude to the region's plight. Living as he does in the heart of the region, he has a rounded view of the contending issues and those who have been fomenting trouble. For him, government's complicity in the entire saga is a universal-given and needed no further comment.
However, he said certain elements in the region, including the chiefs (he actually rejected being made a titled chief as a form of protest against the bastardisation of that once noble traditional institution), whom he described as thieves in disguise. He insisted that for him, "poetry was more important than being a chief there. Chiefs foment trouble; youth foment trouble. We have a band of thieves from within and outside the Niger Delta. Until we fumigate the region and the entire country of these vermin, there will be no peace in Nigeria.
"We have abandoned our responsibility to our children. Our elders have been part of the problem. Federal Government is the enemy of the Niger Delta. Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged based on a plan from the Federal Government. I'm not a spokesman of Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND). MEND is fighting for us but I'm not MEND."
For elder statesman, writer, critic and journalist, Lindsay Barrett (author of A Memory of Rivers), the Niger Delta evokes a different kind of emotions entirely. As a member of the Africa Diaspora, who took the bold steps to come to settle down to the Motherland from the Caribbean in the 1960s in a spiritual and physical reunion, the region's turmoil has a continuity rooted in history, lamenting that nothing had been done to bring peace ever since.
He stated that the "Niger Delta was the gateway through which his ancestors were taken into slavery to form the Africa Diaspora. It has hardly changed from the gateway of exploitation. Now, it's through oil exploitation and the neglect of the people, which has resulted in suffering and multiple devastations. But people have been blinded to the beauty of the place. It has given life to so much."
Barrett argued that the region's dark slavery history has a correlation with current oppression but that its richness in other areas was being abysmally neglected. He stressed that the Niger Delta has given life to so much yet all that counted for so little in the nation's consciousness. He read 'Old River' from his collection. He also commented on the significance of the river as a 'living being, something that is alive' in just the same way Wole Soyinka sees 'the road' as a living being in one of his works. He urged people to look more at the river for its many manifestations as a living being capable of yielding more than can be imagined.
Clearly, just as the region's issues continue to dominate political discourse, what with militancy, the amnesty deal and all that, it has also been the preoccupation of literary consciousness. So that whether any of the three writers from the region with focus on issues about the region wins or not, it would still be credit both to the writers and the region that they are in the limelight. And that until the region's issues that now dominate Nigeria's political and literary discourse get satisfactorily resolved, the region will continue to be an open sour on the conscience of the Nigerian nation.
Partying with men of Words
(As appeared in The Guardian, Sunday, 27 September 2009)
As part of preparation for its 11th lagos Book and Art Festival, LABAF, 2009 9nov 12-15), leading art and culture advocate group, the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), launched its two-month Book Season last Sunday with a near 6-hour Book Party, which served as a platform to acquaint Nigerians with the nine shortlists poets in the 2009 Nigeria Prize for Literature. Endowed by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, the Prize is expected to produce one of the nine as the Nigeria Poet Laureate for the the 2009/2010 season. The winned will earn $50,000 prize money plus other incentives that would be unveiled at a grand award ceremony in Abuja next month.
Those present at the Goethe Institut, Lagos, venue of the event, had more than enough to chew from eight of the nine poets that attended. The turn out was massive. Perhaps, no literary event in recent times, in Lagos, has commanded so much enthusiastic audence who sat for almost half of the day listening to the poets give insight into ther creative efforts. For those in the rather obscure culture sector, it signaled a rekindling of hope that all was not yet lost.
The event was billed for between 2 and 6pm, but it ran late into about nearly 8pm. The Secretary General of CORA, Toyin Akinosho was the first to read an excerpt from The Yacouba Building, a novel by an Egyptian, Alaa Al Aswany.
But it was star performing artist, teacher and self-styled ‘Otunba’ Tunji Sotimiri, that set a sombre yet exhilarating tone to the event when he re-enacted the quintessential activist harangue of the establishment by the late civil rights campaigner and social critic Chief Gani Fawhehinmi. Members of the 2008 Star Quest- competition winning band, Diamond and the Spectrum were on the bandstand.
Thereafter, three reviewers gave the audience firsthand insight into the contents of some of the works by the nine writers. In responding to questions, Nengi Josef Ilagha, who had been a speech writer in government in his Bayelsa State, said though he was on the periphery in government, the experience gave him insight into how policies are articulated within government circles.
For Dr. Ekwuazi, one time director general of Nigeria Film Corporation, there is a “big similarity between film and poetry because film is about imagery just like poetry”, which makes them seamless movements for him as he transits from one to the other. He also maintains that his new work is largely experimental and a departure from the normal. Also as a lawyer, Ahmed Maiwada does not see his foray into Literature a strange one as most people will assume. So, he says, “if you don’t know Literature you cannot practise Law”. For him “it’s just a natural marriage between Law and poetry”.
Ogbowei sees writing as a natural inclination, an urge that needs to be fulfilled, pointing out that a writer does not set out with a view to win prizes but merely to express a creative consciousness. Barrett says he has never been one to seek prizes in his 40-year long career as a writer and would not submit his works for awards except his publisher does. He states that it was his wife that submitted A Memory of Rivers when she saw the advertisement and did not tell him until much later almost in passing because she knew he would have discouraged her. Then his son Igoni Barrett, also a writer, later called to inform him about the nomination.
The Nigeria Literature Prize may have done something really tangible for poetry in putting it to the domain of public discourse rather than mere academic exercise. This was Dr. Ademola Dasylva’s view as he responded to certain issues. He maintains that with the prize the “complaint about inaccessibility about poetry” was being effective erased just as it should be for poetry to properly play its role as an art form that people could relate to as a part of their daily lives. Odoh Diego Okenyodo says his poetry is self-discovery as it is a trip through which he is just realising who he is as a writer, as a person. So that his collection From a Poem to its Creator is one long question mark about creator and the created.
For Musa Idris Okpanachi (author of The Eaters of the Living), winner, ANA/Cadbury prize for poetry 2009, “things in the world are destinies and destinies are accidents”, and so he publishes out of frustration. Opanachi sees writing as something that excites in him as “interest, hobby and to photograph my society”. All the poets read or performed from their works for maximum effect. Ogbowei read ‘Walking these starving streets’, while Ilagha performed a piece from his collection. Barrett also read ‘Old River’ just as Okpanachi read ‘Crush me’ and ‘I want to marry’. Dasylva read ‘Anthem for doomed youth’ and ‘Globalisation’ from his collection. — CHUKS NWANNE
http://theguardianlifemagazine.blogspot.com/
As part of preparation for its 11th lagos Book and Art Festival, LABAF, 2009 9nov 12-15), leading art and culture advocate group, the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), launched its two-month Book Season last Sunday with a near 6-hour Book Party, which served as a platform to acquaint Nigerians with the nine shortlists poets in the 2009 Nigeria Prize for Literature. Endowed by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, the Prize is expected to produce one of the nine as the Nigeria Poet Laureate for the the 2009/2010 season. The winned will earn $50,000 prize money plus other incentives that would be unveiled at a grand award ceremony in Abuja next month.
Those present at the Goethe Institut, Lagos, venue of the event, had more than enough to chew from eight of the nine poets that attended. The turn out was massive. Perhaps, no literary event in recent times, in Lagos, has commanded so much enthusiastic audence who sat for almost half of the day listening to the poets give insight into ther creative efforts. For those in the rather obscure culture sector, it signaled a rekindling of hope that all was not yet lost.
The event was billed for between 2 and 6pm, but it ran late into about nearly 8pm. The Secretary General of CORA, Toyin Akinosho was the first to read an excerpt from The Yacouba Building, a novel by an Egyptian, Alaa Al Aswany.
But it was star performing artist, teacher and self-styled ‘Otunba’ Tunji Sotimiri, that set a sombre yet exhilarating tone to the event when he re-enacted the quintessential activist harangue of the establishment by the late civil rights campaigner and social critic Chief Gani Fawhehinmi. Members of the 2008 Star Quest- competition winning band, Diamond and the Spectrum were on the bandstand.
Thereafter, three reviewers gave the audience firsthand insight into the contents of some of the works by the nine writers. In responding to questions, Nengi Josef Ilagha, who had been a speech writer in government in his Bayelsa State, said though he was on the periphery in government, the experience gave him insight into how policies are articulated within government circles.
For Dr. Ekwuazi, one time director general of Nigeria Film Corporation, there is a “big similarity between film and poetry because film is about imagery just like poetry”, which makes them seamless movements for him as he transits from one to the other. He also maintains that his new work is largely experimental and a departure from the normal. Also as a lawyer, Ahmed Maiwada does not see his foray into Literature a strange one as most people will assume. So, he says, “if you don’t know Literature you cannot practise Law”. For him “it’s just a natural marriage between Law and poetry”.
Ogbowei sees writing as a natural inclination, an urge that needs to be fulfilled, pointing out that a writer does not set out with a view to win prizes but merely to express a creative consciousness. Barrett says he has never been one to seek prizes in his 40-year long career as a writer and would not submit his works for awards except his publisher does. He states that it was his wife that submitted A Memory of Rivers when she saw the advertisement and did not tell him until much later almost in passing because she knew he would have discouraged her. Then his son Igoni Barrett, also a writer, later called to inform him about the nomination.
The Nigeria Literature Prize may have done something really tangible for poetry in putting it to the domain of public discourse rather than mere academic exercise. This was Dr. Ademola Dasylva’s view as he responded to certain issues. He maintains that with the prize the “complaint about inaccessibility about poetry” was being effective erased just as it should be for poetry to properly play its role as an art form that people could relate to as a part of their daily lives. Odoh Diego Okenyodo says his poetry is self-discovery as it is a trip through which he is just realising who he is as a writer, as a person. So that his collection From a Poem to its Creator is one long question mark about creator and the created.
For Musa Idris Okpanachi (author of The Eaters of the Living), winner, ANA/Cadbury prize for poetry 2009, “things in the world are destinies and destinies are accidents”, and so he publishes out of frustration. Opanachi sees writing as something that excites in him as “interest, hobby and to photograph my society”. All the poets read or performed from their works for maximum effect. Ogbowei read ‘Walking these starving streets’, while Ilagha performed a piece from his collection. Barrett also read ‘Old River’ just as Okpanachi read ‘Crush me’ and ‘I want to marry’. Dasylva read ‘Anthem for doomed youth’ and ‘Globalisation’ from his collection. — CHUKS NWANNE
http://theguardianlifemagazine.blogspot.com/
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