Ifeanyi Okenwa, Poet and Copywriter

Author's Hang-Out with Zizi

If you don't give up on your dream, your dream will come to pass.

Ifeanyi Okenwa is an author, writer, copywriter, deep thinker and Poet. I followed his writings on Facebook with interest because, despite his physical disability, he churns out engaging content that shows his intellectuality and creative brilliance.

He has proven that physical disability does not equate to an inability to dream, chase your dream and live it. Ifeanyi Okenwa's successful furore in creative writing demonstrated that as long as you are not mentally retarded and as long as you’re focused and determined, you can break limitations to achieve your goals. He set out to be a writer and today he is, with a published poetry book and many yet to publish books in his name.

Ifeanyi is an inspiration to many especially Persons Living with Disabilities, as a Disability Rights Advocate, he has been featured on Solid FM 100.9 Enugu to discuss the Rights of Persons Living with Disabilities. He is a member of the Human Rights Volunteer Corp (HRVC) He was recently honoured by The Super Achiever Foundation with the Staff Matter Business Award 2023. 

Ifeanyi Okenwa with his achievement changed our perception of how to treat Persons with Physical Disabilities in society. He aptly writes in one of his poems in his book: PARADOX OF A DREAM AND OTHER POEMS, that he should not be pitied but encouraged because there's always ability in disability. He always ends most of his writings with “no life is without compensation.”

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Ifeanyi Samuel Okenwa. I hold an OND and HND in Mass Communication From Osisatech Polytechnic Enugu. I'm a freelance copywriter.  I help businesses to make money, by crafting copy that helps power their business to make sales. As a person whose heart beats for Persons Living with Disabilities, I'm a Disability Rights Advocate. I have spoken on a radio station on Solid FM 100.9, Enugu, as a guest to talk about issues on People living with disabilities.  I'm a registered member of the Human Rights Volunteer Corp (HRVC)  I am a Creative Writer, Poet, Author and Deep Thinker.  I am the author of PARADOX OF A DREAM AND OTHER POEMS, My recently published work. I have other unpublished books.

 How and when did your writing journey begin?

My writing journey begins as something of introspection. Let me explain. I'm the kind of person who reflects a lot. One day, I was reflecting on my habits of reflection, and I told myself I wanted to be a writer. Looking inside me I know I have what it takes to write a book and become a published Author. After that thought, I swung into action and started writing. The first book I wrote was a novel. I have not published the novel. I wrote that novel in my Secondary school. So my writing journey started in secondary school.

 What genre do you write?

My writing genre varies, I have dabbled in writing Prose and poetry. I have an unpublished novel. It might interest you to know I have written a non-fiction book, a motivational book precisely. Though the book is yet unpublished. So I'm a fiction and non-fiction writer.

 Where and how do you get ideas for your writing?

The ideas that inspired my writing come from so many avenues. Sometimes from my Quiet moment, and sometimes, I got the idea for my writing while taking my bath. Let me share a brief story to show you how I got the idea to write one poem in PARADOX OF A DREAM AND OTHER POEMS.

The title of this poem I'm talking about is DO NOT PITY ME ENCOURAGE ME!

I got the idea to write that poem while listening to the radio. It was one radio station in Anambra state, I can't remember the name of the station. There is one bus that conveys visually impaired students. In one school like that, the bus has an inscription written on it “DO NOT PITY ME ENCOURAGE ME.”

The words appealed to me, so I picked it up. Before then, I wanted to write a poem that would convey the challenges people living with disabilities are passing through, but I was looking for a suitable or catchy title that I would use. So immediately I heard about that inscription, I had to take it up, to write a poem using that inscription. Just like Chinua Achebe's immortal book Things Fall Apart was inspired by W.B Yeats's poem titled The Second Coming. So I get my ideas from the happenings in society, reading books and meditation.

 Is there any author or book that influenced you either growing up or as an adult?

I have read a couple of books ranging from fiction and non-fiction books. But talking about the books that influenced me, I will say Chinua Achebe books. Most especially Things Fall Apart. That book will forever remain a classic. Other authors are Cyprian Ekwensi, Wole Soyinka and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

 What are the challenges you encountered in getting your first book published?

The challenges are merely finance. Initially, the book I wanted to publish was my novel. I aborted the idea because of a lack of funds at the time to publish the book. Even while I was in secondary school, and after I was through with Secondary school. While in high institution, I tried to publish my poetry collection, but the publisher I met at that time gave me a fee I couldn't afford which was in 2017. All efforts to seek assistance from people to raise the money to publish the book didn't work out. In 2019, I made another effort to raise the 260,000 Naira charged by another publisher, but still, I couldn't raise the money. All this while, I wanted to publish the book as a hard copy but the fund to do that was not there. So I have to leave it. It was in 2023 that I finally published my book PARADOX OF A DREAM AND OTHER POEM as an E-book even though it took me time to raise the money to publish the book as an e-book.

 Tell us about your recent poetry book, PARADOX OF A DREAM AND OTHER POEMS and what inspired the collection of poems in the book.

PARADOX OF A DREAM AND OTHER POEMS is a fourteen-poems collection that's well crafted and arranged for easy understanding and comprehension.

It is a collection of poems with thought-provoking and highly philosophical poetry that will leave you deep in thought.

Like a thread, the poems in the book touch on many aspects of life that are of utmost importance to man.

Some poems will make you smile.

Some poems will make you think and ponder. 

Some poems will make you see this life from a new perspective

Some poems will make you think about legacy and let you know that all our achievements, wealth, and what have you only ended here on earth. 

PARADOX OF A DREAM AND OTHER POEMS is a mixed-grilled collection of poems that will set you up for deep introspection.

Many things inspired the Poems in the collection. Like Societal injustice, reflection on the moral decadence in the world. Reflection on this very Earth that we are living in. Like the poem in the collection titled, The Gluttonous Earth. When you read that poem, you will see the reason I said the Earth is gluttonous.

 How long does it take you to write a poem?

To write a poem takes me up to 5- 7 days at a maximum. I don't rush my writing. I like to take my time to craft a piece that would interest readers. My poems are long, maybe that informed the reasons it takes me up to 5 -7 days to come up with one. I have to think deeply and critically about whatever I'm writing.

 What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in your writing journey?

In my writing journey, the most important lesson I have learnt is that it pays to have a perseverance spirit inside of you and never give up on your dream of whatever you want to achieve. I’m saying this because I remember when I wanted to publish my poetry collection, and there was no money, I contemplated selling the manuscript out of frustration. But I have to say No. I promised myself to publish this book no matter how long it took me to achieve it. Today, I'm a published Author. If you don't give up on your dream, your dream will come to pass.

 Give us an interesting fact about the writing of your poetry book, PARADOX OF A DREAM AND OTHER POEMS.

Hmm, interesting fact. I started writing this poetry book immediately after I finished secondary school. I completed my secondary school in 2009. Between the period I was writing JAMB and looking for admission to a high institution. I was writing the poetry book, and by the time I got admission in 2015 to Osisatech Polytechnic Enugu, the book was ready to be published. Just like I narrated my attempts to get the book published in 2017 and 2019 all failed, the book was finally published in 2023 through my perseverance.

 As a copywriter, how do you get your content?

As a copywriter, I get my content from reading other people's content as it pertains to copywriting, reading books on copywriting and reading articles from Quora. All these serve as inspiration that enables me to craft my content.

 How has being a writer helped your personality growth, and where do you see yourself in the coming years with your writing?

Being a writer has helped my personality grow in so many ways. It has made me more reflective about things, calmer in how I relate with people, and take personal development seriously. Where I see myself in the coming years with my writing, I would like to see my work in the hands of many readers, and I would also like to earn money from writing.

 What are your other interests besides writing?

Outside Writing, I would like to venture into the real estate business one day. Everything about real estate investment interests me a lot. Another interest is entertainment. Let me not divulge my plan for this entertainment idea. 

 What challenges do you face as a writer with a physical disability?

As a writer with a physical disability, I face so many challenges like inaccessible environments; it is not every place that my wheelchair will access. People’s attitude and lack of understanding, some see physically challenged people as beggars. Unemployment is higher for people living with disabilities. I graduated in 2019 and tried looking for a job but there was none. I wrote a letter to the Ministry of Gender Affairs and Social Development and Enugu state Government in 2021, I submitted the two letters by myself to the Ministry of Gender Affairs and Social Development and Government House. Till today, I have not gotten any response from the Government House or the Ministry. I have a copy of the letter I wrote to the Government House, specifically to the Governor. 

 As a Disability Rights Advocate, what would be your advice to people with physical challenges in life?

My advice to People Living with Disabilities is that they should be strong in the mind, even though they are weak in the body. Wherever they find themselves, they should allow their innate abilities to shine forth. Show more abilities even when people see more of your disability. Let me say it, your disability does not in any way cancel your innate skills. You can succeed despite your physical disability. Don't permit anyone to tamper with your self-esteem.

 You’re a member of the Human Rights Volunteer Corps (HRVC). What is it all about?

Yes, I am a registered member of Human Rights Volunteer Corp(HRVC) the organization founded by Larry Oguego to educate people on their Fundamental Human Rights and how to defend themselves using the instrumentality of the law as their weapon. You know not many people know their rights in this country, even when their rights are enshrined in the Constitution. That's why you will see the police intimidate people, lock people up unnecessarily, and later collect money for bail. When you enter the police station, you will see the bold inscription BAIL IS FREE. We all know how police in this country have turned that assertion upside down. But to get bail for free, you need to know your rights and be steadfast in defending them. When you come to HRVC, the organisation will equip you to know, and defend your rights. I have learnt so many things since joining the organisation. You know the law enforcement officers use intimidation to subdue people because most Nigerians do not know their rights. Even those who know their rights do not have the patience to defend themselves in the eyes of the law. 

 What’s your family's reaction to your writing career?

My family's reaction to my writing has been a positive one. Even though they are not that financially buoyant to finance my writing dreams, their moral support has been encouraging. They give me a conducive environment to write whenever I want to write.

 What else are you great at that few people know about?

On this very question, I will say that I am very quick-witted, in a flash, I can come up with thoughts that can wow you. I can come up with thoughts that are highly philosophical and make sense to anyone who listens to it. If you read my Facebook posts, you will attest to that. My username on Facebook is Ifeanyi Okenwa, in case you want to check me out on Facebook. I'm highly philosophical in my conversation. One of my friends gave me the nickname Philosopher. I can wax philosophical at times.

 What’s your favourite music/film?

I love music and film very much especially interesting and educative film and music. I love Tuface music, Asa music, highlife music, Rhythm and Blues music and Jazz music. I love action films and historical films. 

 How do you relax, and what are your hobbies aside from writing?

I relaxed by listening to cool songs, watching football, and wrestling. Some of my hobbies include reading and playing Ludo.

If you want to get a copy of my book, here are the links.⬇️

SELAR:

https://selar.co/Paradox

OKADABOOKS:

https://store.okadabooks.com/book/about/paradox_of_a_dream_and_other_poems/54401

Tares Oburumu(A Poet and Playwright)

Author’s Hangout with Zizi

Tares Oburumu is a poet, a cut above his contemporaries. As someone wrote of him, “Oburumu is a poet whose language stirs the senses.” Oburumu laces words into poems with passion and profound fluidity of imagination. You have to consume and digest his poetry slowly to appreciate the meaning behind his words or suffer poetic indigestion.

I have read some of his poetry chapbooks and I’m not surprised Oburumu’s manuscript, Origins of the Syma Species, won the 2022 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets. 

In this interview, Tares Oburumu talks about his journey to becoming a poet and bares his heart out on his travail, hardship, turbulence, frustration and fascination with water, a recurring theme in most of his poems. And also, his ordeals as a single father to a wonderful daughter.

Tell us about yourself? 

I am Tares Oburumu. I am from Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State, a few kilometers away from Warri. I studied philosophy at the University Of Benin. 

How and when did your writing journey begin? 

I can’t tell when exactly the journey started. All I can remember, quiet vividly, is the time I was in primary school. I can’t tell the class I was, maybe three, maybe four, when I had a fierce scolding from an uncle, never to get close to his dictionary; Oxford Advanced Learners which had several missing pages, dog-eared and dusty. He said I was too young for it and not too bright either at that young age to make anything of it. 

Before then, I was fascinated with the usage of words and I couldn’t help memorizing a few to be used in daily conversations with not just my peers. To memorize them, I had to own an exercise book for the purpose of writing them down. The form they took on the notebook excited my young sensibilities at the time, so I started writing; composing a few sentences of my own out of the words I had on the pages of the notebook. 

This became a habit and it continued to have me tethered to my father’s small cupboard size library where I exposed myself to novels among other books. I read a lot of them, I can’t remember now. It was during and towards the end of my secondary school that I  began to write poems just after reading the poem “ Building The Nation” by, I think, a Ugandan poet. Nothing held me more spellbound in such times for such longer hours than poetry. Then there was Christopher Okigbo, Wole Soyinka, Gabriel Okara, John Pepper Clark and T.S Eliot. I started my idea of putting poems into book form around 2014. 

Why did you choose to write poetry?

 Poetry chose me. Looking back in my formative years and how exposed I was into books, it is more convenient to say poetry chose me. I read a lot of books, not just Literature. Not only books on Philosophy, nor science books. I was drawn in prose in a way that was more taxing in the manner I learned from it than poetry. Oftentimes, I write down a novel, like transcription, word for word in a notebook. 

If I am writing poetry today more as I do write any other genre, I think it’s because I later found poetry to be more concise on the part of poetry and laziness on my own part due to personal traumatic experiences, that I found the prose genre too long and sedentary an art. Sitting long months to get a novel done, was too taxing for me amidst the trauma. Poetry gives a sort of balance, or it’s a balancing of trauma. A kind of antidote. 

Where and how do you get ideas for your poems? 

Everything I can see and imagine. It could be a boy running down the street, a cloud forming, a personal experience which I trust more than anything else. It could be a line or word from a book. It could be smoke in the air, questions people ask; it could be anything. 

Is there any author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult? 

Christopher Okigbo cleared a road and I had no choice than to walk on it until I learnt that I could clear a forest, make a road of it and walk my own path. He was phenomenal to my formative years. 

Tell us about the challenges in getting your first book published? 

My first book is still not published. Around 2015 before or perhaps after the birth of my daughter, Sasha, the idea of publishing a collection of poems formed most haphazardly. The idea intertwined with an obvious intention or an inner statement of some sort; to raise money to feed my daughter. 

I believed, among other things, not knowing the rigors involved, that I can publish a book and make money from it. This intention or sole responsibility towards my daughter after I lost my job with the Delta State government and the subsequent experiences of being lugged into single parenthood, after Sasha was abandoned by her mother to make my trauma more of a tragedy than a psychological evaluation of my life as a nomad, I brought the ambition of publishing a book to light. It was a collection of about two hundred poems running to about three hundred pages. With it, I approached a number of publishing firms, and it was agonizing to know that I needed about 1m (a million Naira) to publish the book. 

At that time, I was looking for a paltry sum of #50, 000 to start a business that could feed my daughter and myself. Someone asked me to divide the book into three parts without a moment’s hope of getting it published. After the excruciating task of dividing the volume, nothing came out of it. I traveled long distances, met friends and people who had the luxury, but none of them could help me. It turned out to be an odyssey; a long walk to publishing a book. That book is still unpublished as I type. 

How do you market your work? 

What avenues have you found to work best for you and has it been rewarding? I live off such markets and avenues because I couldn’t publish a book. I think one can only have a knowledge about such if one has published a book and has the privilege the market and such avenues offer. 

Your recent poetry book, Chatham House is a brilliant feast of words. What inspired the writing?

 I wanted to crowd Nigerians around the question, why vote? I was born at a time elections were annulled in this country and I have witnessed quite a good number and having studied the history, the electoral history and the electoral behavior from the postcolonial Nigeria, I personally think a democracy practiced on any electoral system in this country will not work. A change is possible, but not through the votes. There’s a lot to the Nigerian problem that we do not see, or don’t want to see. The truth is there. It can’t be sullied no matter how much denial is thrown at it. It goes beyond us as a people. 

If you look closely at the events that brought us into being even in the colonial days, you will understand the British and the powers that are Northern, or what we can call the powers of the unknown. You will understand why we are poor and why the mental state of the rich and the intelligentsia are one and the same thing. 

I wrote Chatham House for a people that do not know why they are Nigerians and will continue to be Nigerians if they do not dream of facing the truth. And it’s as I predicted in the course of writing it that Nigerians do not read and they do not understand, not even the intelligentsia, believe me. 

How long does it take you to write a poem? 

Minutes. Seconds. Sometimes a year or two. It all depends on what I want to achieve, the readers and the state of my mind. 

Do you intend to write any other genre apart from poetry? 

Essays, plays and a few novels.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing? 

I take one line at a time, one day at a time. I don’t rush things. I only trust the process. 

Did your environment and upbringing influence your writing style?

 My childhood was traumatic. I had no childhood save a few moments of being here or there with a father that was doing well at that time. My mother was all I had. My grandmother was amazing. Fishing was what we survived on. Farming too. And these became for me, a modus operandi. My poetry is just about where I come from, the people that matter and the experiences I had growing up. It’s impossible to separate me and water, being the past, the present and the future of my art. I am fascinated by origin and when I write, I seem lost in it.

How many poetry books have you written? Any favourite and why? 

I have not written any serious book. I have written six chapbooks of poems and each came as a response to national questions and about how I grew up with my mother; a single parent, who raised me in a manner I have yet to come to terms with. How can a woman of no education bring me up in such an amazing way. I could have been a local uneducated fisherman, or farmer, but my mother made sure I don’t go to bed without reading a book. 

What are the challenges you face as a poet? 

One of the funniest things I don’t understand about myself is how I have been able to read and write without a laptop, even now. By this I mean, I don’t have, I lack the basic things every writer needs to succeed. I don’t, and have no laptop, as I type. Everything that a writer should have, I lack. I have nothing. How I have survived is a miracle to me. 

Besides reading and writing, how do you relax? 

I go out with a few friends, eating and drinking a little, go home to bed. 

In your writing journey what are the most important lessons, you’ve learned?

Writing is hard. Patience is what makes good writing. 

Give us an interesting fact about the writing of your poetry books? 

I don’t sleep at nights. I finished my chapbooks of poems in a week or less than that. All the chapbooks I have written. I don’t see this as an act of genius. I needed to write them and I needed food on my table. I had to finish them in such a space of time, so they don’t get in the way of my daily bread. 

What do you consider your best accomplishment? 

The Sillerman prize for African poets, no doubt. 

What was your reaction when you were announced the winner of The Sillerman Prize for African Poets? 

I have always dreamed of being a poet. A poet with little or no recognition. I always see myself in that light. I had no expectations. No ambition. I just write. And I relish the written word I put down even if it’s not published by some ambitious journals or magazines, or publishing firms. I just write. 

Also, I am not someone who loves sending out works to be published in online journals and magazines. I don’t have the energy and money to enter my works for literary contests. Even now,  so I just write. I would have pulled down the building the night the email came in that I have won the Sillerman prize. I screamed in a way that could have ruined a few eardrums if they were that close. 

How has winning the prize impact your writing career? 

It has made me believe and accepted the fact that I can be a poet. 

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk? 

I read a lot before writing. Prior to writing anything, I pick a lot of poems, essays, or books before writing a single poem. This way, I don’t rest when I start. I’m a workaholic. 

What’s your family reaction to your writing career? 

My family doesn’t even know that I have won a prize. And even if they know, they won’t understand how important it is. They live far away from Literature or the literary world that they can’t make anything of it. 

How has being a writer helped your personal growth and where do you see yourself in the coming years with your writing?

I expect nothing. I don’t like expectations either. I will continue to write and make plans as necessary, but wherever I find myself, so long as I am teaching and writing poetry or any kind of book, I will be satisfied with my life. Writing has placed me above my wildest dreams. It has shaped me, no doubt, into a man. 

What advice will give to aspiring writers, especially in your genre? 

Don’t give up. 

Tares Oburumu's Poem

Title

Guitarist & The Audience, In A 2022 Van, Driving Through The City Cut

Into Two; On One Side Is The Body Of A Girl Burnt For The Beliefs She Once Wore

As Jewelries, On The Other Is A Time Bomb Seen As A Flower Growing Under

The Tuft Of A Flag Stained With Defeat: The Cry Of Mothers Called

The Elegies Of Beethoven. 

For Beauty

The word MERCY, I am like you,

soft as the freshwaters of Syma.

I am filled with rose

petals; brittle blessing – broken into pieces of

forbearance, then grace.

To confect, to put yourself together,

you grow into a single beet flower; the scent

is assertive, the colors – each carries honey,

each is seductive. Where can we breed the bees?

Over & over again, I sail toward my apotheosis

elfin or garden, poring the shoreline,

which the waters measure with the length my heart

can carry.

I paddle my mind away from the sea

I have known for days, too blue not to be true.

I needed a plot of sunlight & solitude to sit down &

to think, to reckon the hours till the country becomes

usable again. Yes, home is just a thought you

trump up as roof over your head; an ache

trying hard to glorify you. I sail toward my poise.

I have never been unhappy, watching you

in the split, glassy on the TV.

You spill, as color, all over the national news.

What can the small talks, possibly say?

Today, I stand in the grapevine holding on

to the emeries, where we can rebuild what has been

destroyed by hearsay.

They say you are the door I have been opening,

to enter the revolution the house keeps closing.

The things you would die for, do they believe in you?

Does God believe in Alain Borer enough for him

to believe in God?

Of sedition, there’s more to dying than the affirmatives.

In the corner of an inflammable street,

the rituals of surrender tiptoe over the tripwires.

A scope of arms spreads, briefly, within limits & loss.

I could see burnt courages, dreams shot in the heart.

A toy-car, too, in a plastic dump.

The weight of a hummingbird’s wing is heavier

in the nest than when it floats down the wind,

ascending in protest.

I am thinking, now, about my hands buttercups

rested on my lover’s thighs the night before;

long symphonies sang over the need to reinvent

the bedroom,

then the guitar: the strings come as clear as

daylights when you touch your own soul.

The music becomes Lilian Eze's mirror.

See how we preen ourselves in her notes,

vulnerable, yet outfoxing the pockmarks

added to the orchestra by way of a historical cult.

Her hairs float in us. The van has already

become an instrument. We strum the roadmap.

The traffic is sick. It is difficult to say it’s separated

from the governorate. The drive is long, & longer

is the will to reach the revolution; isn’t that word the horizon,

the image of the second coming of our lord, Jesus?

Love the little Nigerian that being a bum deals you.

& sing it as your own, says the emigrant.

What do you know about a nomad, a desert crossing robin?

Here is the city he left behind, & a sister raped by fire.

Here’s the epitaph & everything the aquarellist

says she is: beautiful, beautiful.

Even as a girl living now under a heap of blasphemed

stones.

The tweets die, too. Almost a practice. But mostly,

I wondered: how does a hand flaunting a vote

save the dead? Or a flag shot in the head?

Here she lies, six feet below the internet. Facebook allergies.

Time or apple on the wrist of a Miss can do nothing

but to be beautiful. She was infinite as the universe

on the pages of Forge Literary Magazine.

In the hands of the young Williams Blake, ticking away

in his photograph, hung above my bookshelf.

A wound always in the shape of all I have ever read.

I am the kind of inventions that would have

made him rich; ache drowned in the prints; words

intensifying the almighty love, endless in the way

the sky sings of its expanse.

In the warmth of my own silences, I walk into the center

of my mind & stare at all the wannabe poems.

I ask, do you want to be born in these hard times?

Tares Oburumu

Winner of  2022 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets.

Olusola Sophia Anyanwu (Author & Poet)

Author's Hangout With Zizi.

As I went through her profile on Twitter, the word “loves to encourage.” was a glaring testament to her love for others. From reading more about her, I discovered that indeed, Olusola Sophia Anyanwu is not just a woman with a large heart but one who touches lives tremendously with her hand, pen, and word.

She gives lifting hands to authors by buying, reading and reviewing the books she reads. When she said she is a reader and a reviewer, she is.

She is also a good poet, a romance writer and with heart-touching Christian books in her kit. 

One of her books, The Captive’s Crown, which she graciously sent to me, made my day. I couldn’t engage in any other activity until I finished reading it. The story was captivating and vibrant, and the writing; was classic. It shows the redemptive works of Jesus while on earth. A life-transforming Christian book.

Olusola Anyanwu is a talented writer who has written books across different genres, from romance and poetry to children’s books. Sit back and read about this wonderful author and woman of God.

 Tell us about yourself?

Thanks for having me!  My full name is Olusola Sophia Anyanwu, a British Nigerian, married with 5 children and 7 grandchildren. I am a Christian, a tutor, writer, poet and reviewer. I have authored 13 books which include 3 poetry collections.

When did you start writing? 

In 1979, I started writing poetry. Before then, as a child of 12, I liked writing songs and play scripts for my siblings.

When did you publish your first book?

 In July 2017

What are the challenges you faced in getting your first book published?

 I was a greenhorn and completely naïve at that time. So I googled for publishers and went for the first thing that came up. This was AuthorHouse publishers. It was done in good time and affordable. So, it was straightforward without any challenges.

You are a versatile writer with captivating books. Where do you get inspiration for them? 

Thanks so much for the compliment! It has to be God using my experiences at uni, my family and the Bible to inspire me.

Have you ever experienced writer’s block, and how did you deal with it?

Ah, yes! There were those few occasions when I ran dry of ideas and even the motivation to continue a particular writing project.  I dealt with this by starting a completely new writing project, attempting poetry or letting myself ‘rest’ for weeks waiting for God to start me off again.

Is there any author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

 I enjoyed Elechi Amadi’s romantic writing in ‘The Concubine’ in my teens. As an adult, I have especially enjoyed Lola Shoneyin’s intrigue, wit, humour and writing style in ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives. I also love Susan Howatch’s writing style in ‘Sins of the Fathers’ and have thoroughly enjoyed all the Christian Fiction books written by Francine Rivers.

Is anything in your books based on real-life experiences or purely all imagination? 

Stories from the Heart, Their Journey and The Crown, are based on true life, but the rest of my books are pure imagination!

What do you consider your best accomplishment as a writer? 

That would be publishing all my writings.

How many books have you written? Any favourite and why? 

I have written 13 books, and my favourite is ‘Their Journey’. It is my first Christian fiction novel and the only book that comprises historical, romance, intrigue and fantasy. I really enjoyed writing it.

What are the challenges of being a writer?

Getting reviews, Marketing and Sales.

What are your other interests outside reading and writing? 

Playing board games like chess. 

How do you relax? 

Listening to classical or Christian music and watching a nice movie occasionally.

What advice will you give to aspiring writers, especially those who would want to toe in your footsteps? 

They should explore their creative writing skills, attend workshops to hone their skills and read loads of storybooks.

How long does it take you to write a book? 

For small books, a month to 3 months and big books, from 6 months to 1 year.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk? 

Classical music

What does your family think of your writing? 

Good question. It hasn’t quite sunk into their heads that I am a writer, though my children and my husband are supportive.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in writing your books? 

That I could write over 300,000 words in a short time if I put my mind to it.

Did your environment and upbringing influence your writing? 

Yeah. My Dad was an author and introduced me to the love of books. I had my own library right from 7 years old.

How do you cope with writing and nurturing your many children and grandchildren? 

God is good! My youngest child will be 25 this year. My grandchildren are in Dubai, Northfleet and Colchester. When they visit, they inspire my poetry writing. I write when they are asleep. They don’t visit all the time, so I have time for myself.

For more about Olusola Anyanwu and her books, visit her website or her Amazon author page.

                           

https://www.olusolasophiaanyanwuauthor.com/

 https://www.amazon.com/Olusola-Sophia-Anyanwu/e/B07MC9KYDK%3Fref=dbs_a://www.amazon.com/Olusola-Sophia-Anyanwu/e/B07MC9KYDK%3Fref=dbs_a

THE SAD NOTES OF A GENERATION (David Onojah)

    

You see me broken,

like the soft hands of a glass,

fix me and let the pains hurt less

We are a sad generation with happy faces

that the world refused to see

but through the blurry images of darkness

we dim in the rays of hope

The sun burned the back of our neck

that hot afternoon, as unarmed protesters, in Lekki

with lips and words that fought for freedom

We watched as a thousand bullets,

swept some from the face of the earth

What sad notes should we not write about

In a season like this?

And that night, it rained heavily

I saw through the broken windows

the suffering of people in the dark streets

Their tears that echoed in the rain

Drained them in the room of leaking tops

As our leaders lay on their bed of paradise, Alas!

It's a sad reality,

that we read like pages in our heart

our notes are as sad as us

And when dawn sleeps on us,

the sounds of freedom awaken our spirits

We are the sad notes of a generation.

- David Onojah

Ikenna Okeh, Poet & Novelist

When I first came across his post on Facebook, I was like this young man is full of anger. I followed his posts and discovered his anger stemmed from the injustice and corruption prevalent in the country. Ikenna Okeh is vocal and unequivocally in stating his opinions about issues ailing the country and humanity. He is such that wants good to always triumph over evil in life and most of his books reflect this ideology.

Having read some of his books, I will say he writes with passion and attention to detail and with a good grasp of his characters. In whatever genre he wrote, his professionalism as a writer always shows forth. His crime novel, The Operative, was a page-turner and his poetry books are incisive. And his children’s books are entertaining and informative to kids and adults alike.

Tell us about yourself?

My name is Ikenna Okeh. I write contemporary fiction and poetry in an attempt to capture the human experience, especially within contemporary settings. I also write music reviews and follow up on artistic trends in the global music scene. You can find all my music-related writings on the Ubuntu FM website, which I co-founded with some other professionals and contributors in the Netherlands, South Africa and Canada. 

What inspired you to become a writer?

I wasn’t exactly inspired by writing. In an actual sense, I was drawn and sucked into it. Sometimes I consider myself a victim of circumstances where it concerns writing.  At the age of eleven, I read a short story and was gravely dissatisfied with it, I told myself I could do better than what I had read. I did, and afterwards began crafting pieces of drama and incomplete short stories, and my siblings became keen readers of my works. But because I never wanted to be a writer, I stopped writing, purely in defiance. I graduated from university, travelled to Lagos to find work. It was one of the most disappointing moments of my life and that got me thinking about what to offer to the world in exchange for the life I desired and which I believed I deserved. To put things in context, after I defied writing as a boy, I intended to become a doctor, but I ended up studying Food Science & Technology at university; I couldn’t worm my way through the barriers of entry into the medical departments of Nigerian public universities. My knowledge in Food Science hasn’t been used in any professional way and I am not pressured about it. 

You write different genres, what’s the secret of your versatility as a writer? How did you choose the genre you write in?

As every writer progresses along their journey towards recognition for their works, it is normal for them to experiment with different forms and styles until they find something they can stick to that offers the greatest reward for their effort. This is my story. Narrative poetry earned me some measure of recognition which I am very much not content with. Contemporary fiction holds great promise for me and that is why there is work ongoing with World Arts Agency whom I am signed, to find a home for my works. 

Is anything in your books based on real-life experiences or purely all imagination?

My story plots are fictionalized but mostly based on isolated events that happened in real life. For example, I am currently polishing off a novel manuscript about a Nigerian deported from Northern Cyprus who then has to deal with the stigma associated with being a deportee. The story offered the reader an insight into the realities of the life of a young African in Northern Cyprus and the many challenges they have to contend with. So many people can relate to this and I am certain some will argue on many fronts it is biographical because every Nigerian knows someone close to them who has been deported at some point from overseas. So, yes, my stories are based on events that are obtainable, relatable and as much real.

How did you come up with your titles?

I am someone who loves to experience and observe, and this affords me so much insight into things. It helps me in this regard.

What is your work schedule like when you\"re writing?

I don’t have a strict work schedule but I prefer to write first thing in the morning and sleep off the afternoons, especially now that it is summer. It is always different in winter, though. In springtime, I prefer to sit in a park in the company of blossoming plants and greenery to write. My present location offers me that, and I am eternally grateful for this.

How/where do you get information or ideas for your books?

My ideas for books come from keen observation. Sometimes I see a recurrent event of social importance that goes unnoticed and then I take it as a responsibility to build an engaging plot around it to entertain as well as to enlighten my readers. When I encounter an aspect that I am not too familiar with, I reach out to people who have experience in that area. A lot of my friends are used to having me call at odd hours to interrogate and compare notes with them on certain aspects that I am writing about. 

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in writing your books?

Truly, I learn surprising things constantly, and one outdoes the other. Professionally, I learn a lot from my agent, Jeremy Warren Rourke, whose wealth of experience daily appears bottomless. Recently, I learned how to use chapter outlines to test the quality of my plot so that I can see what’s needed to be weeded out. 

Is there any author or book that influenced you either growing up or as an adult?

She, by Rider H Haggard, is one book that has never ceased to amaze me. It influenced me from much earlier. You see, I love tight plots and fast-paced works that can do something to your adrenaline. Besides, we live in an era where so many things compete for our attention, so if any work of literature can hold onto my attention from the beginning, all through to the end, then it is surely my thing. Recently, I have been thinking about Sex Is A Nigger by Naiwa Osahon. Memories of Our Recent Boom is one book I read as a boy that has stuck in my head ever since. You know, I miss the Nigerian literature of the 1970s. That, to me, was the golden age of African writing. But so much has happened, and I think it is the Biafran war that changed everything.

What do you consider your best accomplishment as a writer?

To be honest with you, my greatest accomplishment so far as a young writer is in sustaining the hope I can someday offer literary entertainment that will serve the taste of a vast audience cutting across continents. You know how it is being an African writer with no indigenous systems to sustain and encourage literature. Instead, we have dictatorial African governments who would rather chase writers from pillar to post in a bid to stifle art and the freedom of expression that it portends; hence the reason we creatives look to Western establishments for sustenance. 

How many books have you written? What are the challenges you faced in writing and publishing them?

I have written and published six works of poetry, two children’s books, including Saving Mungo Park, which I co-authored with Onyeka Nwelue. I have also published a crime novella, The Operative which is set in Nigeria, as all of my novels. We are about to pitch my novel, A Whisper of A Thing Forbidden, to publishers and I am very hopeful about the outcome, considering my agent maintains the work is a classic. As for challenges, I am at the stage in my career where I am dealing with everything that stands in the way of getting noticed by structures and gatekeepers to reading audiences. The most challenging part lies with writing and putting together a piece of literary work that will be worth the time and attention of agents and publishers. After then, a lot of other things come into play. It’s an uphill journey that demands patience and dedication.

How do you coordinate all the different parts of your life to leave room for writing?

I live a very simple life with writing at the centre of it all. I’m not yet married nor do I have any dependant, so this offers me a lot of freedom to pursue writing with patient dedication.

What is your best work so far? Or is the best yet to come?

My works are like dear children to me and it is very hard to favour one over the other. Yet I am certain that the best is yet to come and the choice will have to be made by my readers.

What are the challenges of being a writer in Nigeria, as compared to being a writer outside the shores of the country?

I will have to be personal with this one. The challenge for me is that it is not so easy to maintain an intuitive connection as one finds in Nigeria. Maybe it is because my works are set in Nigeria and somehow it feels tough trying to maintain a psychological connection from abroad. Aside from this, it is easy to find calm and quiet out here as long as you are not sucked into the pressures of keeping up with bills, being adopted into a social system. If this is the case, gradually you begin to lose focus. This is the case with many Nigerian music celebrities who relocated to the US.

How do you promote your books and are they yielding fruits?

Social media remains my best tool. I have sold more on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram than on any other platforms and it is helpful when readers made comments on their feeds about my books, thus helping to sustain the buzz around it. Also, I have sold very reasonably at literary events. I remember selling out all my book copies at Sound of Poetry, which is annually held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.  

 What kind of feedback do you get from your readers?

Sometimes I stumble upon social media tags where a reader has something pleasant to say about my book. This is mostly the kind of feedback I get and it is greatly enriching.

Give us an interesting, fun fact about the writing of any of your books.

I remember travelling to my village in 2017 and listening to our community head laments the feud between our local Anglican cathedral and the community over a vast expanse of ancestral lands which the church was laying claim to, even going on to assemble an intimidating team of high-profile lawyers which the community couldn’t afford. The whole story amused me when I considered that the cathedral was built by the community and sustained by their tithes, offerings, and donations. I had to sit back and begin to write the narrative verse A Tale To Twist which, upon publication, was described by the Country musician, Roger D’Arcy, as being Homeric.

If you had to go back and do it all over, is there any aspect of your novel or getting it published that you would change?

Yes. I would actually have started out much earlier in my pursuit of writing as a career and got a related undergraduate degree instead. This would have changed everything concerning my writing and publications.

 Where is the best channel to reach you and learn more about your books?

My books are all available on my author website www.ikennaokeh.com.  They are also available on Okadabooks. I am also very much active on social media.

Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers, especially in your genre?

I will tell any aspiring writer to keep writing and reaching out to industry contacts. There is no other way around this thing.

 When did you start writing and promoting music?

I started promoting music in 2017 when Peter Hesen, a Dutchman who was a fan of my poetry, invited me on board the Ubuntu FM team. By then he and King Mavuthela from South Africa had already set up the groundwork and put things in motion. Together, we launched the online radio stations, drafted out a promotional plan, and took things off the ground. So far, we have continually offered promotional services for record labels, PR firms and indie artists from Europe, Africa and the USA.

What’s your favourite music/film?

I love a good number of movies, and it is hard to make a list of them. However, Mr Johnson comes to mind for its flawed representation of Nigeria in the 1930s. It doesn’t mean I don’t love the movie. As for music, anything by MI Abaga is my favourite. At Ubuntu FM, most of us share the belief that MI Abaga is the best hip-hop artist of all time; his music is ingenious, poetic, and it has class. 

How do you relax and what are your hobbies aside from writing?

I watch a lot of movies and I love conversations over wine or beer, depending on the company. Doing the latter while seated out at the beach at night has become my recent pastime. 

I'M NOT A POET

I'm not a poet

I'm the poem itself

Poetry is my unfiltered blood

And my breath

I write my laughter

And my tears 

I paint the sky, 

with my poetic magic

I write and swim in the

Ocean of pure poetry

I write when the scotching 

Sun is set to bed

I write where water became ice

I write on every wall of friends' heart

I write on how the lamp

Sell the light at dusk

My sparkling pen bleeds

When I'm over the moon

And when the stars are not

Shining, my ink speaks

To reflect pure poetry,

And for my brighter tomorrow

Ringing I

The bell of hope with my pen

Even when the drum is cool

My magical pen speaks to

Stand for no defeat

But paint a life  no repeat.

My pen bleeds 

For my life is poetry

I write to be the voice of voiceless mothers

I write with the ink

Made of hope and wisdom

From my golden heart.

I sleep on verses and stanzas

My pen is always awake

To break silence

I rise despite

All my falls

I'm not a poet

I'm the poem itself.

By Nusaiba Alkasim Muhammad

Nusaiba Alkasim Muhammad, A student of Gombe international school. She is an upcoming poet, essayist and short story writer.