Book Party of poetry, exile and tribute

[Mirror]

Penultimate Sunday, the fifth CORA Book Party held in Lagos in honour of the 11 poets long-listed in the Nigeria Literature Prize –they got to talk about their works. Organised by the Committee for Relevant Art, CORA in conjunction with the Nigeria LNG Limited, NLNG, which funds the prize, the gathering, though not very well attended, was as entertaining as it was enlightening.

Announced on August 12, books that made the long list are: Afam Akeh's Letter Home and Biafran Nights; Iquo Eke's Symphony of Becoming; Obi Nwakanma's Birthcry; Ogochukwu Promise's Wild Letters; Amatoritsero Ede's Globetrotter and Hitler's Children; G'ebinyo Ogbowei's Marsh Boy and Other Poems; Obari Gomba's The Length of Eyes and Tade Ipadeola's The Sahara Testaments.

Akinosho Others are: Okinba Launko's Seven Stations up the Stairways; Amu Nnadi's Through the Window of a Sandcastle and Remi Raji's Sea of My Mind. Okinba Launko is Femi Osofisan's pen name, the only poet whose voice was not heard at the gathering.

CORA Secretary General, Toyin Akinosho may have made reference to the wide spread of the long-list while reading CORA's statement at the event, but there is no doubt that out of the 201 entries received every poet on the longlist, whether at home or in the Diaspora, got there on merit.

It was that merit on reference when the poet and essayist, Odia Ofeimun, known to be a critic of the long-list particularly for poetry in the past, endorsed the poets that emerged this year. "This contest is defining Nigeria in a good way. The best is coming out of Nigerian writing", he said.

No one can forget the first time the CORA Book Party held in 2009 with none of the 11 poets celebrated then eventually becoming winner; the prize was not awarded that year owing to low quality of entries.

Informed from Ofeimun's statement and the good account the poets gave of themselves either while they read or during the discussion moderated by the lawyer and writer, Deji Toye, history will not repeat itself when the time comes for the shortlist in October.

The crux of the said discussion was on the theme of exile. And when Ogochukwu Promise stated that Afam Akeh, Amatoritsero Ede and Obi Nwakanma, the three Diaspora poets who linked up to the discussion via Skype, should come back home, there was no going back on the issue of exile.

Promise confessed that at some point she had thought about leaving the country as well but had thought better about it.

"Do you run away from the problem or stay to fix it? I choose to stay. In spite of the problems, there are beautiful things in Nigeria; if we put our resources and potentials together we can fix Nigeria. In the face of all the problems, do you abandon ship? Is that the way out? We should try to get people to see that we can make Nigeria better. If we develop our community and families, we can overcome".

But before Akeh, Ede and Nwakanma had the opportunity to respond, Raji, who is sharing this limelight with two of his teachers, Ogbowei (secondary school) and Osofisan (university), said he was comfortable either abroad or at home.

"I have never left and I have never stayed", the professor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ibadan stated.

He explained that he never left because he is immersed in oral intelligence and never stayed because of existential issues here.

Reacting, Akeh said those living abroad take Nigeria wherever they go as "Nigeria is never far away from our minds".

Ede said exile was not a conscious choice for them and, "if I come back home, will I find the tools to teach with?"

Promise was, however, insistent that they should come home so that together they could all find the tools.

Lukman Sanusi, who runs Bubbles FM out of the United Kingdom that beamed the event in real time on the internet said that indeed, most of the 'exiles' would want to return home. But he mentioned many issues, including security, as being a restraint to that desire.

Still on the subject of exile, Francesca Y. Emanuel said that whether displaced internally or not, "we are all Nigerians". She went on to urge the poets to define what their role should be in society, whether to write the truth or mediate it by being neutral in the presentation of views and letting the readers make a decision.

Before the 'exile' discussion, there was music from the poet, musician and actress, Aduke, as well as singer and drummer, Wura Samba; the poets also got a chance to read from their works and talk about it.

Eke said she drew heavily from the folklore of her Ibibio people to enrich her poetry. "We need to be true to what our realities are otherwise, we will be filled with disillusionment", she stated.

Amu Nnadi explained that because writing is a product of a person's society, learning and experiences "you can't take politics away from my writing. My poetry is politics, really; I do not restrain myself. Sometimes, subtlety works".

Raji said Sea of My Mind was his sixth collection of poetry, while Gomba said writers need money and time and that it would be a great thing to find more institutions like NLNG to support writing.

Ogbowei who had spoken first and whose writing is based on the Niger Delta struggle, declared that "if the issue of the Niger Delta is not treated seriously, we're likely to have full-blown war!"

Ipadeola, whose collection, like that of a few of the other poets is eclectic, said it is like "taking knowledge everywhere and not just a representation of any tradition".

The gathering may have been to meet, greet and feast with the 11 long-listed authors as Akinosho stated, but Ofeimun also got a share of the accolade as most of the poets being celebrated said he had been instrumental to their making an appearance on the podium.

National Mirror

[Folami David]

Poetry is something a lot of Nigerians are a fan of so it makes a lot of sense for us to know more about it. Lots of legends came to be through it!