How writers can create change in society – Nehru Odeh
You were once active in the famous Ibadan literary group and for quite a while, we have not been hearing about you. Why have you been silent? I have not been silent. I am still a very active part of the Ibadan literary group, and I am still in touch with all the members. The […]
You were once active in the famous Ibadan literary group and for quite a while, we have not been hearing about you. Why have you been silent?
I have not been silent. I am still a very active part of the Ibadan literary group, and I am still in touch with all the members. The University of Ibadan was a very important phase of my development as a writer, and I always recognise that fact. I have been writing all this while because that is what I was born to do. I had always wanted to be a writer so I decided to study at the University of Ibadan that was where the writers were at the time. Even when I chose University of Ibadan as my first and second choice at the Joint Matriculation Examination, many of my friends at home thought I was committing academic hara-kiri but I was undeterred. Though I had been writing before I went to the University, immediately I entered U.I, the writers there identified my talent and welcomed me into their group. At the university, we were passionate about literature and philosophy and some of our favourite writers at the time were. Salman Rushdie, Milan Kundera, T. S Eliot, Christopher Okigbo, J.M Coetzee, Ben Okri, Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe. I have not been silent. I still write. Maybe I have not been in the public consciousness because of existential reasons- work and family pressures. That was why I needed a residency programme like Ebedi International Writers’ Residency. Although while I was at the university I was known as a poet, now I write fiction. I have been honing my skills as a novelist. And with what I gained at the university and the training I received at an International creative Writing Workshop, I think this is the right time to show the world what I have.
How has your training as a journalist influenced your writing?
Journalism has impacted my writing positively in no small measure. First it has taught me discipline. As a journalist I had the tyranny of deadlines and the discipline of limited time and space to contend with on a daily basis. And every writer needs that discipline. My training as a journalist is also related to my earlier love for poetry. Both professions have taught me not just the economy but also the importance of words. As a journalist and poet I have learnt never to waste words and to use them in the right manner. Words are precious to every writer. Words are to the writer what tools and equipment are to the farmers and artisans. The way a writer makes use of words goes a long way in determining the quality of his works. And I always put this at the back of my mind whenever I am writing.
How has it been so far as a writer- in- residence at the Ebedi International Writers’ Programme?
Let me confess to you, it has been great. Before I came here, I had been looking forward to a place like this, a place where I can be far away from Lagos, far away from the maddening crowd, far away from the pressure of work, family, friends and society. I had looked forward to a place where I could write, write and write. And Ebedi has provided the time, space and the right frame of mind to do that. I had never had this kind of unlimited time and space before I came to Ebedi. And I want to commend Dr Wale Okediran and the board of Ebedi for this great work they are doing. .
So far the place has been very conducive and we have been having regular power, which is one of the most important thing every writer needs.
What are you working on at the residency?
I am working on a novel which I had started writing before I came here. I just needed the space and unencumbered time to complete it. The novel is woven around a polygamous family in an African society and the way the male child is privileged over the female child, the troubles families go through because of this social norm. Still my novel goes beyond that because it is a political satire and it tends to portray some of the ills in our society. Before, I came I had planned to write at least a thousand words every day. And I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to achieve that.
Have you been able to achieve that target?
On average, I have been able to achieve that, though it wasn’t easy. It required a lot of sleepless nights, anxieties and headaches. I have done a substantial part of my work here and I am very happy about that. The point, really, is not about completing the work, but rather it is about finding time and space to do what I really love doing. And that alone can lead to my achieving great things.
Who are your influences?
My influences are Salman Rushdie, Gunther Grass, Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Yann Martel, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, James Joyce, William Faulkner Christopher Okgbo and T. S Eliot. Though I have been influenced by these writers, I am trying to create my own distinct voice.
What is your mission as a writer?
As a writer I am trying to explore the human experience, to bring out every day experiences and cast them in a new and fresh light. Writing is a self-appointed mission. And mine in this case is to bring out the things which people see every day but don’t take cognizance of but which affect them and their world views in no small measure. I also write to shock the reader, to make him realize the evils in our society and the subtle ways he is being controlled and manipulated. So I do not subscribe to the view which says writers should not paint a bad picture of the African society. My view is that every writer should write it the way it is so as to create the much-needed change in our society. Today the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens is being celebrated because of the way he painstakingly portrayed the social injustice that was prevalent in the United Kingdom of his time.
And how do you think this residency can be improved?
Yes, Dr Wale Okediran is doing a marvellous job, but I think corporate organisations should support him to make the place achieve the purpose for which it was initiated. At present, the residency is at Dr Okediran’s personal building at Iseyin. If corporate organisation could support this project, I think the residency will move to its permanent site quickly. The residency also needs a library facility so that residents can use it while they are there.