Reading and writing as alternative to idleness

Adaobi Ekwedigwe Nwoye is an indegene of Uzo Uwani Local Government area of Enugu State, but born and raised in Port Harcourt. She attended the University of Port Harcourt Demonstration Primary and Secondary schools, respectively. She obtained both her Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Education from the University of Port Harcourt and currently teaches Economics at the Department of Part Time Studies, Enugu State College of Education, Technical. In this interview with SUMAILA UMAISHA, she speaks about her writings and literary project.

NNW: You’ve been writing for quite sometime now; what works have you produced so far?
Adaobi Ekwedigwe Nwoye: So far I have produced four books - three novels, Destiny (2003); published by the University of Port Harcourt Press; Shadows (2002), also published by the University of Port Harcourt Press and reproduced by Paragraphics in 2007; Ugiri (2007) published by Paragraphics and a collection of short stories – A woman’s Cross and Other Stories (2009) published by Paragraphics. Apart from these books some of my works have been published on Write From Wrong magazine, Drumtide magazine, Nigerian Fiction, Half Tribe, Authors’ Den, among other online magazines and websites. I am rounding off my fourth novel which I hope to publish before the year runs out.
What informed your choice of the themes, such as joy and pain?
My environment. Sociey in general. My works stem from every day life’s issues, like joy and pain, as you rightly pointed out. I also write on themes such money, love, betrayal, greed, etc.
You have a literary-based NGO, what is it all about?
It is a community based organization, if you like. The Coal City Literary Forum was set up to revive the reading culture especially among young people in Enugu and as well help young and aspiring writers sharpen their writing skills and actualize their dreams of becoming published. In fact, the aim is basically to promote the reading culture among young people and by so doing keep them away from idleness. The overall effect will be a more informed and productive society and reduction in vices and criminal activities which these young people might otherwise engage in.
When and how was it set up?
It was set up in November 2009. I conceived the idea and talked with a few friends who are also writers and we started by having readings and critiquing each other’s works. Since then we have been organanizing other literary events like poetry evenings, workshops for young writers, etc.
What are you doing to achieve the aims for which it was set up?
We are trying to organize more frequent events. We are also going into schools to set up literary clubs so that we create a more vibrant reading society.
What are the major problems you encounter in your effort to fulfill these aims?
Funding and constraints of time.
How is it funded?
For now we fund the activities. Sometimes we receive assistance from a few corporate bodies who believe in what we are doing. We also get media support from Enugu State Broadcasting Service. Our last workshop was funded by Winpal Nigeria Limited 7UP and the Ministry of Information.
How would you describe the success of the recent workshop you held?
It was very successful. It was our maiden workshop on environmental writing. We got participants from almost all the higher institutions in Enugu. The aim of the workshop was to train writers to incorporate environmental issues into their works so that there would be an increased awareness of the present environmental challenges the world is faced with, such as climate change, global warming, desertification, etc. There is a lot of pressure on our environment which if left unchecked will result in total catastrophe. A lot of young people will not go out of their way to listen to the news or read environmental journals so we had to find a way to expose participants to these ever present issues so that they can weave their beautiful stories around them. That way we promote sustainable environmental development such that people make use of our abundant environmental resources without compromising the need for future generations to tap from the same resource base. The reader is educated at the same time he is being entertained. It was very fulfilling and the participants testified that it was the best encounter they had had in that regard lately. It was indeed an eye opener and they went to work immediately. We had dedicated and brilliant facilitators, Ifeanyi Ajaegbo, Uche Umez and Eghosa Imasuen. They gave our participants a thorough drill and Prof Damian Opata delivered a brilliant keynote on the writer and his environment. We are currently collecting manuscripts for a collection of short stories on environmental issues. I am still overwhelmed by the success of that workshop.
Considering the motarlity rate of similar NGOs, what is the future of this organization?
We are working very hard to ensure consistency and sustainability. Right now we are getting a lot of interest from corporate bodies and individuals and we are entering paternaships with some of them in our crusade to revive the reading culture in Enugu State. One of such paternerships is the one we recently entered with Becoming Vega magazine. We are very positive that in no time reading and writing will take centre stage in the lives of our youths whose present preoccupation is cyber crime and aimless loitering.

(c) Published in the 19/2/2011 edition of New Nigerian newspaper.

NAL, NLNG in quest for literary excellence

L — R: Prof. Ayo Bamgbose, Miss Siene Allwell-Brown, Prof. Ben Elugbe, Mrs. Mabel Segun, Prof. Ayo Banjo and Malam Denja Abdullahi at the opening ceremony

Why does a book considered by the author as a masterpiece at times fail to make it in literary contests and in terms of readership? Why do some manuscripts hitherto rejected by publishers eventually gain acceptance and even later become famous? How can a writer realise his dream of being read and celebrated?
These are some of the usual questions on the minds of many writers. And they were the questions discussed recently in a workshop organised by the Nigerian Academy of Letters, NAL, in association with the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, in the quest for literary excellence among Nigerian writers.
Tagged Creative Writing Empowerment Workshop, the event took place at the University of Ibadan, Monday 17th to Friday 21st January, 2011. It began with an opening ceremony at the Conference Centre of the university, with writers, members of NAL and officials of NLNG in attendance.
In his opening remarks, the president of NAL, Professor Ben Elugbe, said the workshop was necessitated by the need to develop the writing skills of Nigerian writers. According to him, NAL and NLNG were not happy about the low standard of some of the entries received for the NLNG literary competition, which resulted in the no-winner-verdict on the 2009 edition. He said it was in view of this that the two bodies decided to use part of the prize money for that year to organise the workshop. “We hope to raise the standards through this workshop,” he said. He then expressed gratitude to NLNG for the sponsorship and enjoined the participants to take full advantage of the exercise.
The General Manager (External Relations) of NLNG, Siene Allwell-Brown, recounted the controversy over the 2009 verdict and stressed that in spite of the criticisms, NLNG is proud of the judges for their decision. “We are immensely proud of the judges for their integrity, their honesty, their steadfastness. It takes a lot of courage to hold up a mirror to the ugly face of a nation; to point the way to a people going astray”.
She asserted that “the literary landscape is bare and except for a few token figures, almost bereft of high achievers and heavy hitters,” and expressed NLNG’s determination to change what she called the general mediocrity, which the 2009 NLNG prize verdict underscored.
The chairman, Planning Committee, of the workshop, Professor Dan Ezevbaye, also expressed NAL’s determination to continue to promote Nigerian literature.
While thanking NAL and NLNG for the initiative, Dr. Jerry Agada, president of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, observed that the workshop would go a long way in advancing the cause of literary development in Nigeria. The president, who was represented by Malam Denja Abdullahi, former Secretary of the association, urged writers to cooperate with all literary-minded bodies seeking to promote literature.
Highlight of the ceremony was the keynote address by the award-winning writer, Mrs. Mabel Segun. The octogenarian spoke extensively on the need for writers to sharpen their skills through avenues like workshops. She said workshop was a most effective tool because of the interactions with resource persons and fellow participants. She also admonished writers to read widely in order to equip themselves with ideas and language.
She praised the Bring Back the Book programme of the federal government, but cautioned that it should not be used as a mere political gimmick. “Government has to show its sincerity by addressing the real problems such as lack of relevant books”, she said, adding that “books must be made available because people cannot read when books are not there.”
The ceremony was rounded off with a dazzling poetry performance by Ify Omalicha, a postgraduate student of Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan, who was also a participant at the workshop, and Hannah Chima, a 300 level Theatre Arts student of the university.

Ify and Hannah performing

The workshop commenced at the Lecture Theatre of the Institute of African Studies shortly after the ceremony, and continued throughout the week from 9 am to 5.30 pm daily. 26 participants were in attendance, out of the 30 candidates invited from the 240 applications received by the organisers. 12 participants came from Lagos. According to Professor Ezevbaye, participants were selected for the workshop based on the works they submitted, which were assessed for eligibility.
The workshop was run by award-winning writers, language and publishing experts; Professors Akachi Ezeigbo, Ahmed Yerima, Festus Adesanoye, Munzali Jibril, Dr. Hyginius Ekwuazi and Malam Denja Abdullahi. The subjects taught included Language, Publishing, Poetry, Drama and Prose.
Participants interviewed said they found Publishing one of the most interesting subjects, not just for the humorous and lively manner it was handled by Professor Adesanoye, but because of the fascinating revelations of what manuscripts go through before they are eventually published. For instance, the professor revealed that a manuscript could be rejected not only on the grounds that it is badly written, but for several reasons. One of such reasons, he said, could be that the publishing house has preference for genres other than the one submitted by the writer or its budget cannot accommodate the manuscript. And this is why, according to him, manuscripts earlier rejected by publishers based on these reasons eventually get published by another publishing outfit.
He, however, stressed that 80 per cent of unsolicited manuscripts do not make it mainly because of the quality of the language, adding that writers must endeavour to perfect their medium of expression if they want to succeed.
In his presentation, titled, The Writer in the Society: Influences, Associations and Affiliations, Malam Denja outlined the history, aims and activities of ANA, and urged the participants to register with the association and other relevant bodies to widen their interactive scope with fellow writers.
Professor Akachi, who handled two topics; Prose Writing and Children’s Literature lectured extensively on important components in children’s literature and how to handle elements of prose writing such as plot and characterisation.
Nigerian English, according to Professor Munzali, is the bane of Nigerian writers. He traced the origin of Nigerian English and how it has become difficult for Nigerian writers to differentiate between it and the Standard English. According to him, words like ‘ghost worker’, ‘chewing stick’, ‘arrangee’ ‘decampee’ and ‘send-forth’ are freely used by writers thereby damaging their works. To avoid this problem, he said, writers should avail themselves of writing aids like dictionary and thesaurus.
While taking the participants through their respective subjects, other resources persons equally laid emphasis on the need for writers to mind their language, and repeatedly advised participants to develop the habit of reading so as to improve their skills.

Participants being lectured by Professor Akachi

The last day of the workshop, Friday, 21st, featured Writers’ Forum, an interactive session between the participants and the organisers. During the question and answer segment, participants expressed profound appreciation of the lessons learnt, but wished the period was longer. According to Chima Iwunze, “We have gained a lot, but we would have gained more if there was enough time. Two weeks would have been ideal. Some of the topics were rushed due to time constraint.”
Responding, the chairman of the Planning Committee admitted that the time was indeed short, but stressed that they couldn’t have done otherwise, given the resources available and time factor. “It involves a lot of expenses, and also I don’t think many of the participants themselves and the resource persons have that time to devote to something which is not part of what they normally do,” he said.
He promised that the organisers would ensure that handbooks from the workshop are widely distributed so that even those who did not have the opportunity to attend the workshop would gain from it.
In his address, Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo, former pro-chancellor, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and member of the 2009 NLNG Literature Committee, advised the participants to read widely as no one could be a good artist unless he masters his medium of communication.
He urged writers to be their own critic so that they would not be unduly touchy when criticised. According to him, the characteristic phobia for criticism among some Nigerian writers was carried to the extreme when in 2009 the NLNG prize judges passed a verdict of no-winner. “If they had been severe on themselves, they would have seen what the judges saw,” he said.
He also acknowledged Professor Femi Osofisan’s role in initiating the workshop, saying it was he who sent the first proposal on the workshop to the Ibadan Working Group, IWG. He expressed gratitude to Osofisan and all those who made the event possible.
Certificates of attendance were issued to the participants and the memorable event came to an end with another performance by Omalicha, based on Oswald Mtshali’s play, Amagadouka at Glencoe Station.

(c) Reported by Sumaila Umaisha and published in the New Nigerian newspaper edition of 29th January, 2011.