Is there money involved in literature in Nigeria? -Iquo Eke

Iquo Eke

Writer  and performance poet, Iquo Diana-Abasi Eke, who always holds her audience spellbound while on stage, in this interview with ADA DIKE, speaks on her engagement on performance poetry, the need for parents to encourage their children to learn indigenous languages and other riveting issues.

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Many years ago, performance poetry was not the trend, but today, it is gaining ground. It has become an untapped goldmine and an area people need to explore. Can you tell us about your engagement in this genre of literature?

Well, for me, performance poetry just happened to be one way of making myself heard and I am grateful to the universe that I have that capacity to not just put poems down but, have the drive and impetus to get on a stage and interpret it through body movement, voice, costume and so on. Then, it is also beautiful to know that our literature traditions across Nigeria are largely oral, so it means that performance poetry is not a new thing. In Ibibio land where I come from, oral tradition is a very strong part of our culture. Personally, I am happy to engage poetry in this manner. It enabled me the opportunity to ensure that in doing performance poetry with the use of folklore as I do, I am able to ensure that my culture does not die. It also enables me to do constant research into the traditions, culture and folklore of my people so that I am not only bringing this to enrich my performances, I am working as a tool to ensure that people know that performance poetry existed and still exists. I also do performance poetry to encourage other people to buy into our language, tradition and custom.

Against the backdrop that if care is not taken some of our languages will go into extinction, people have suggested that there is need for writers to be writing in our indigenous languages. We had writers in indigenous languages like Fagunwa, Tutuola and others whom we know about their language series years ago. What do you think should be done to fill the vacuum and how can you writers respond to this need?

I do not know that it is the writers alone that will make this response. I do know that literacy in our indigenous languages is not something that writers alone can decide to do because if you are literate enough in your language to write in it, how many people in the populace are literate enough to read in our indigenous language. We are very few! Even when children study Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa Languages in schools, how many of them can actually sit down and write literature in our indigenous languages? They can’t because they are just studying in school to pass exams. I think it is a long process. It is a good thing that we start this conversation so that in time to come, we can begin to think of putting it down in form of a policy.

Iquo Eke

 If we do not have people who can read the literature written in our indigenous language, there is no point writing it. I was at a forum where Prof J.P. Clark was asked why his books are not interpreted in Ijaw, the main issue that came out of the discussion was that ‘How many people are actually literate enough to read in Ijaw language?’ This does not only exist in Ijaw. Among all the languages we have in Nigeria, how many of our children can actually speak our languages? Many parents can’t even read in their native tongue so, if I were to write in Ibibio for instance, how many people can read it. It is a long process but, the good thing is that we should put it in mind to study more in our languages and encourage parents to let their children speak the indigenous languages. I know if you have inter-tribal marriage it gets difficult but, instead of seeing it as a minus, you can even look at it and say if you have somebody from Urhobo married to Igbo, it should be a plus for a child from that marriage so that that child can learn two languages in a addition to English Language.

How does your experience as a performance poet inspire your writing literature or novel? You publish a book in 2013, how do you integrate your performance as a poet and writing?

Both of them involve creativity so, when I want to write, I know I want to write. I do not set out to write poetry specifically for the stage, except I am writing drama. I try to be true to the message that comes to me in that case. When I want to perform, I like to take it as an extension of the news so that I will be able to look at the poem and think of creative ways to deliver on a stage. It does not take anything away from my writing and vice versa.

What should we expect soon from you?

I write poems as they come to me but, I am working on a novel. I am also writing books on short fiction.

What is the fiction about?

It is about many things.

Is it going to be one of the emotional trends like your performance at Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF) in 2013 where you dramatized your poem in your local language and read to audience and wanted them to echo it back?

Yes, that is what happens a lot with my poetry. But, I am writing a collection of short stories and their topics are a bit of human interest and social commentary on different issues.

I see you as a highly romantic writer because when I watch you perform your poems, the kind of attention you draw in romanticizing it is awesome. What kind of a writer are you?

I am a deeply emotional person so I am an intense person. It helps me to come up in my writing but I don’t know about being romantic. If I decide to tackle an issue for example, if the topic is on violence, I will go in-depth into it because I like to explore what my characters are going through, the psychology of their experiences, how it is affecting their thinking and their behaviours towards others.

How does your love life affect your writing in terms of the theme and storyline of your story?

It is life, whether it is love of a child, love of nature or love of another human being (male or female), love is life.

How often does love echo in your work?

Love echoes when it needs to echo.

Where do you draw your inspiration to write poetry and fiction from?

It depends. I have stories that have nothing to do with my personal experience but, I just feel that I have seen happened. Then I like to sit back and ask myself, “what if that girl had an abortion and then got pregnant two months after? What if she loses her womb, what happens to her?” It doesn’t mean that I have had that experience. Some stories come through the dynamics of some situations.

What is the theme of your current book?

It contains a lot of experiences as it affects women.

Have you had any personal experience of someone jilting you?

Laughs. Everybody has had experiences in life. When I write a memoir maybe, you can look at it and read about my experiences. I write on what is going on around me and imagine what it would look like being in those people’s shoes.

Are you in art for passion or for the money you want to make from it?

Is there money involved in literature in Nigeria? I am not aware of it.

When did you start writing?

From when I was a child, I always had funny imagination, even when I was alone, I would be imagining that I was somewhere, I would be imagining that I’m a space explorer, I am the only female on a space ship and very brilliant. As I grew older, instead of all these escaping from my mind, I began to write them as poetry.  That is how it started and I did not think I was writing anything meaningful until Late Ambassador Olusola asked me something, when I answered him in paper, he said ‘this is good poetry’. He advised me to keep my poetry. Since that time, I started keeping them. I was 16 years of age then.

What did you study in school?

I studied Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management. You know what happens in school, you pass your exams; enjoy Mathematics, Chemistry and so on. You do your junior West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and score A in many of your subjects. And they tell you that you are a science student and I didn’t mind the science classes at all. I enjoyed Chemistry, Mathematics, English Language, Physics, Geography and others, because they were my best subjects in secondary school.

Who is your mentor in Arts world?

I don’t know. I like Prof. J.P. Clark, Prof. Wole Soyinka and Veteran Gabriel Okara. I like the passion with which Maya Angelou used to write.

You performed at Ake Arts and Books Festival in 20013, why didn’t you perform last year at the same festival?

I attended 2014 Ake Arts and Books Festival, though I did not perform.

Can you give us an assessment of 2014 Ake Arts and Books Festival compared to the 2013 edition?

2013 Ake Arts and Books Festival was the maiden edition so there was a lot of excitement in the air because, we had not heard anything like Ake Festival before.  I was very excited to meet other writers, actors and performers from across the world including the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Jamaica and so on. I am glad that I did not miss last year’s festival as well. It was fun. The statement has not dropped from last year.  It is not less organized.  I am very happy that it continued in that form.

Someone suggested that this kind of festival be replicated all over Nigeria across the six geopolitical zones because it helps in stimulating and promoting our cultural heritage in Nigeria. What is your take on that?

I totally agree. We can’t have more than enough festivals when it comes to literature and Arts. The time allotted to the issues discussed at the festival cannot come near to exhausting those issues. So it is important to generate the discussions in different fora across the states in Nigeria. One or two hours are not enough to discuss issues like ‘feminism in African writing’ and so on.