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.
