There should be no prescriptions to writing – Saddiq Dzukogi
Saddiq Dzukogi is a Mass Communication and son of renowned writer, B. M. Dzukogi. In this interview he speaks about growing up with a father as his, finding his calling in poetry and how far the art has taken him.
Many refer to you as Dzukogi’s son. But we’d like to know you away from this umbrella.
Ah! This is the part I always dread, considering I am still on the journey to self-discovery, still learning about my body and the kind of spirits the body is in possession of, still trying hard to see what I can unlock to enable me take a peep into myself and see what I can harness to my advantage, what boundaries I can stretch and what is the limit of my physical being and also if my mental self can stretch those physical limits I have discovered. So it is always tricky to answer this question, perhaps I will never be able to answer this adequately but what I can say now is that I am a passionate lover of the physical world and the metaphysical one, I lust after things I don’t fully understand because these things tease my senses and prick my curiosity, and in most cases this is what excites me and spur me to write. I am a lover of art also, especially the abstract arts, graffiti and I love tattoos but that’s taboo from where I come from, but let’s see, I might still get one, maybe Leonardo da Vinci’s name on a sacred part of my body (laughs). So there, Saddiq Dzukogi is a poet, a photographer on any crazy day, and proud father of two beautiful kids, also I will love to think I am a wonderful husband to Mirah. Growing up wasn’t all fun and rosy but I am grateful that because of all my experiences growing up I turn out to be the person I am today. My family is a family of art, my mother is a poet and an Islamic Scholar, my Dad is a writer and an art administrator, my siblings are either talkers or dancers or poets. Yusrah, one of my sisters loves to dance like Shakirah when nobody is home, Mahmood loves to ask questions about everything, we all call him questionnaire. I am grateful for family and the wonderful stories they have fed me and still continue to feed me with.
What was it like growing up with a father like yours?
Well I can assure you that it wasn’t fun. My father loves kids so much so I grew up sharing him with so many other children who didn’t necessarily live with us at our home but were either his students or mentees. It was fun, in a way because now I have lost count of my siblings. We are so many, those of us who are his children, but when I was younger I didn’t think it was fair, because those other children of his had him and also their own fathers, and I was stuck with one who wasn’t really mine alone. (laughs)
Do you feel pressured to attain the heights your father has and do you feel in some kind of a competition with him?
No, no, no! Actually my ego constantly tells me I have surpassed daddy already as a poet. (Laughs) But on a more serious note, I am more concerned about myself. I am only in competition with the face that looks back at me when I am in front of a mirror. It is the only person that can hold me back and every day I wake up and tell myself, that is the person I am in a race with, that is the person I must defeat, because that is the only person that can really stand in my way to success.
If you had a father who wasn’t in the literary world, do you think you would still have towed this line?
In a way I would have still found my way, because this is the only thing I have got a shot of being good at. I believe in the universe; I sort of worship it. I have come to an understanding that it has a way of arranging things and placing everything where it belongs.
You were once a young truster. Did that have any impact on your wanting to become a writer?
Yes, special, special moment. Only recently I pulled out some of the publications and read them to Rayhan my son. It felt like a good ritual. As a young truster I had the opportunity to contribute stories and poems to a national newspaper as a 14-year-old. It made me a kind of celebrity in my primary and secondary school days. That’s still a good feeling today. I enjoyed seeing my name on the newspaper back then and that spurred me to write and write on. I believe it to be the defining factor in my desire to be read as a writer.
Could you tell us about your publications and what inspired you to write them?
‘Image of Life’ was my first published book as a 15-year-old. It was basically about the longings of a young teenager. ‘Canvas,’ my second book was published in 2011. It was also filled with sentiments. But then, I started feeling like a poet especially after it was shortlisted and later announced second prize winner in the 2012, ANA Poetry Prize. ‘Sunbeam & Shadows’ published in 2014 represented a new phase in my career as a poet. I wrote that book in six months while on a sickbed. That period still is the most difficult of my life as I struggled through an ailment that affected my grades tremendously in university. I am grateful for that time, because it served as a wakeup cal. It was then I fully realized what poetry meant to me and decided to dedicate my life to it and the arts. I have a total of four published poetry collections, one as a child-author. The recent ‘Kontradiction’ was a finalist in the 2016 ANA poetry prize. All three of my full poetry collections have previously been shortlisted for the prize. Basically what moves
me to write is the environment, the smaller things that hardly gets anyone’s attention; that’s where I find my inspiration. I love to tell stories that people take for granted. I want the world to know that the little lives we neglect are a world of their own, and they can be beautiful.
When did you realize you were a writer?
I am still undergoing that realisation.
Tell us about your process - pen and paper, computer, notebooks - how do you write?
Well, I do all of the outlined. My process depends on my mood. Some things want to be written on a paper, some on tissue paper or notebook, depending on what is available. But sometimes I write on my computer. It is all fun. I oblige what the spirit wants and what the moment affords.
How do you handle a bad review of your work?
I listen attentively, use what is useful and discard what isn’t.
Which writer would you most like to have a drink with, and why?
Ah, it will be a round table of the dead and the living. Binyavanga will definitely be there alongside Umberto Eco, Tomas Transtromer, Uche Nduka, Phillip B. Williams, Unoma Azuah “While at the Writivism Festival in Uganda 2015, the environment allowed me access to the beauty that is Africa” and Ladan Osman. I love these guys and I will love an evening tea with all of them and see the horizon glow brilliantly with their conversations.
What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made as a writer?
Not writing some more.
What’s the worst advice you hear authors give writers?
This is how to write better, this is how to do this and do that. This is the best way, I did it this and that way and I succeeded. Every individual works differently and your way isn’t their way. Don’t publish now; you will regret it because I did. Blah blah blah. What I am saying in essence is that there shouldn’t be prescriptions. Just guide these folks to their individual voices and teach them how to believe in it and make it blossom.
What scares you the most?
Right now, I am fearless. But I’m afraid of being unable to write.
You are now a father of two. How has it been coping with a budding career and family life?
It is a wonderful experience having the opportunity to be a father to Rayhan and Bahrah. It is a blessing that has opened me up some more, to more emotions. Now I have a reason to want to be a success. Family life is pushing me on from all sides and I am enjoying the new challenges.
You have won awards. Which one means the most to you and why?
Your works have caused you to travel across a lot. Please share what the experience has been like?
Travelling has got a way of opening up your body and soul. I remember while at the Writivism Festival in Uganda 2015, the environment allowed me access to the beauty that is Africa. I found myself saying My first award of course, back in secondary school when I participated in the Annual Schools Carnival of Arts and Festival of Songs (ASCAFS), organized by ANA Niger, almost all the schools in Niger State participated in this. I was in JSS 2 at the time and competed with students of SS3 in on the spot poetry contest, I emerged second. I am still proud of that moment, my mom was there. I was tearful as I received the prize with shaky fingers. “I would love to use paints and brushes to evoke my innate ideas” “Africa is beautiful” in more than one instance, because in the convergence of writers from across the continent, I found myself traveling through each person I interacted with. Now, I have friends and families all over the continent in a striking fraternity of adoration.
Asides your father, who/what has had the most influence on your writing?
My environment has got the most influence on my writing, and this environment transcends this immediate environment, I am talking about the world now.
Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?
I would love to use paints and brushes to evoke my innate ideas. I would love to build on my photography potential too.