The world is meeting us on our own stage – Jumoke Verissimo

Jumoke Verissimo is a writer and poet. She is the author of the poetry collection, ‘I am memory’ and recently released her second work, ‘The Birth of Illusion.’ Here, she shares her thoughts on the role of technology in advancing Nigerian literature, her latest work and more.   Bookshelf: How did you get started as a […]

Jumoke Verissimo is a writer and poet. She is the author of the poetry collection, ‘I am memory’ and recently released her second work, ‘The Birth of Illusion.’ Here, she shares her thoughts on the role of technology in advancing Nigerian literature, her latest work and more.  
Bookshelf: How did you get started as a poet? 
Jumoke Verissimo: I can’t point at a particular time in my earlier years when I started writing poetry but I can however tell you I have always wanted to write for as long as I can remember. My teachers think so too. I love to read, and it seemed natural to replicate things I read.
Bookshelf: Did you take your time to study the rudiments of the art?
Verissimo: I studied Literature in English for my first degree, so poetry was a core course. My long essay was also on poetry. I believe it is important to note that studying poetry does not equal a desire to write poetry, or paying attention to the art. The best form of studying writing is reading. Learning the rudiments of the art is very useful, not because you want to write in certain styles, but also when interpreting the works of other writers. While it is important to learn the rules of any art one intends to engage in, it is also beneficial to go ahead and learn to ignore every single one of them.
Bookshelf: What authors and works influenced you over time?
Verissimo: This question reoccurs, and I think I would be more introspective. So, I will take influence to mean “give direction” in this case. One can never do justice to the myriad influences. In any case, the works and personality of J. P. Clark, Wole Soyinka, Jane Austen, Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi, Flora Nwapa, Grace Ukala, George Eliot, Ama Ata Aidoo, Chukwuemeka Ike, stood as signposts for my writing in the beginning. They were the giants of my childhood. Over the years, I have met the writing of John Steinbeck, Odia Ofeimun, Anna Akhmatova, Niyi Osundare, Ben Okri, Femi Osofisan, Tanure Ojaide, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Chinua Achebe, Akeem Lasisi, Funso Aiyejina, James Joyce, Salman Rushdie, Antjie Krog, Taban lo liyong, Kofi Awonoor, David Diop, Taban Lo Liyong and so on.
Bookshelf: Since your last book, ‘I am Memory,’ you have not authored another, until now, seven years after. What took you so long?
Verissimo: I wish I could give you details of how it took so long to publish a book which is not even up to 100 pages in seven years, but the truth is, the dynamics that bring certain things to play are not usually clear-cut, and letting go a book for publication may be one of them. In those seven years, I didn’t stop writing and that is the climax in this story.
Bookshelf: This latest collection, ‘The Birth of Illusion,’ is a sort of emotional outpour obviously triggered by the times, particularly the spate of terrorism across the world. Did you struggle with the themes you explored or did it just pour out?
Verissimo: Everyone I know is struggling to understand what’s happening in our world. As a writer, you sometimes don’t even know you’re writing these things – at times you just want to define the chaos. I wanted to capture the haunting throes of agony in the country, and around the globe. Pain is the same everywhere, and if there’s a colour to it, it has no shade. ‘Terrorism’ is about religion or politics or ideology, three of which we no longer have in the world. It appears a convenient term to manage our collective anxieties. The truth is, if I were to rewrite this book with a focus on terrorism, it won’t be something different. It is difficult to capture anyone’s pain in exact form, and even our helplessness is a pain in itself; the pain of generations who will feel the trauma of today’s pain. Perhaps, that is one reason I could not publish much earlier. The likes of Emma Iduma, TadeIpadeola, Jide Begun and Dami Ajayi, saw the earlier version, some three or four years ago.  Some of course, had been published in e-zines and journals here and there. I just had to get to that point of conviction.
Bookshelf: What do you hope to achieve through this work?
Verissimo: This would have been easier to answer if I set out with an agenda. All I know is that writing is how I become the event, and think. It is my navigation towards understanding, how to gather our collective frustrations into a grief we can search again and again. It is how I can confront the helplessness many of us are faced with, I have offered my words that it may find life somehow.
Bookshelf: Poems are interpreted differently by readers. How important is it to you that particular messages strike home? Can you use this opportunity to share some?
Verissimo: I remember a reader, who became a friend and phoned me after reading my first book, ‘I am memory,’ and said, “I like your book, but I do not agree with your perspective on the Niger Delta Issue.” I said, really? We met for lunch and talked about books, and I listened to him, took notes of references he made, and renewed my position. I think every interpretation is valid, and I love to evaluate how the conclusion was reached. We own different experiences – cultural nuances, philosophies and diverse opinions, and poems may be interpreted considering this. Do you wonder why we have several literary scholars examining works with different theories?
Bookshelf: In your opinion, what makes for a good poem?
Verissimo: A poem that resonates, one that brings awareness to those things that would typically escape me. A good poem is that small detail in a large landscape.
Bookshelf: You seem to prefer poetry to other aspects of literature. Why is that?
Verissimo: You seem to have reached a conclusion (laughs). Yes, I have two poetry collections out, but you should also consider that I have published short stories in magazines, and my novel manuscript was long-listed for the Kwani Prize three years ago.
Bookshelf: How do you view the development of Nigerian literature in this age, particularly poetry?
Verissimo:  Nigerian literature has grown in relevance in recent times, despite the obstacles facing it. Although we have a vibrant culture of poetry, we are little known in journals, and this is largely due to lack of contact, not the absence of good poets. The leaping technology, thanks to mobility which is available on every device, has given people access to what they typically didn’t have access to in the past – they can read from some of the best magazines in the world online with some or no stipend. They can get published in magazines just by visiting a website and get published with the ‘big names.’ They can also become part of workshops, get noticed for good writing, write on blogs, get information on festivals, enter writing fellowships and build readers who engage their writing. Festivals are coming up across the country: Lagos Books and Art Festival (LABAF), AKE Arts and Book Festival, are making huge impact – and this is fantastic. There’s a new one in town, Lagos International Poetry Festival – these ways, the world is meeting us from our own stage. The internet plays a part, as those not physically present can enjoy conversations, poetry readings from the event online or read. This is good.
Perhaps some people are averse to this, and it is alright to assume that the internet is encouraging a proliferation of poor writing, that is an assumption. I know of writers who are using the internet to explore their potentials, share books and learn new writing forms. They are getting published in leading journals. Writers like David Ishaya Osu, Ehizogie Iyeomoan, Halima Aliyu, Michael Aderibigbe, and Saddiq M. Dzukogi, to mention a few.
There is a growing base of successful e-zines, like Saraba, which is creating a discipline needed for publishing, while also encouraging dedication to genre criticism. New ones like Praxis and Expound are coming up to challenge and ingrain discipline of the publishing process in writers. All these have a way of enhancing the career robustness of a writer. The learning is important, and so is a platform to view the writing of contemporaries as they interact with new technologies and changes around the globe.
Writers, like their writing undergo a process, and the new technologies I believe are a platform for our writers to network across the continent. No doubt, there are excesses, as the internet has its distractions, but these I believe are important also. Facebook comments can sometimes become a tool for genuine conversations and deeper interrogations, and new learning. I think it is all about what you teach your mind to assimilate.
Now, considering that we do not have libraries that work, this is a big deal. Literature grows and gets better with an improved reading culture. I grew up around a library, some years later I went back there to discover that the library is now an events centre for the local government. I have tried to understand the thinking behind this, and only came to a conclusion that priorities shifted.
Bookshelf: In what ways do you think literature can be advanced?
Verissimo: Commitment from government, through policies that drive our publishing industries, and enhance the value of our educational system. At this time, writers are trying too hard, and government needs to make education a priority, because there is fire on the mountain. We need to reinvest in our education, and keep the future equipped.
Bookshelf: If you were to spend a month at sea, what five books will you go with?  
Verissimo: Just five? I will tell my host I have a better idea, I will get a month’s subscription of the internet for my e-book reader, and keep my account ready. It’s easier. I’ll miss flipping pages, but hey! I get more books.
Bookshelf: What is that great book you hope to write before you are 80?
Verissimo: Without being fatalistic, perhaps I have written it. In death it would find greatness.