My poetry spans the whole emotional spectrum– Amina Aboje
Amina Aboje is a debut poet, recently releasing her poetry collection, The dedicated writer and freelance editor in this interview talks about how she reconnected with poetry, her debut collection and the challenges of editing in Nigeria.
What is poetry to you?
I consider poetry to be an expression of intense emotions in just a few words; words that are carefully selected to adequately convey the depth of the emotions being expressed. In a way, poetry is like painting and the poet like an artist, only that in poetry, words are the colours used to paint images in the reader’s mind.
How did you discover poetry?
As a teenager in love with books, I tried to befriend poetry but found it a bit difficult to comprehend at the time. So I sort of turned my back on it. But we re-established a connection a few years down the line when someone gifted me a fine poetry collection authored by a lady called Helen Steiner Rice. For its simplicity of language and depth, that book, entitled, Everyone Needs Someone, changed my perception of poetry and made me appreciate its beauty.
Abdul Kalam is quoted as saying that poetry comes from the highest happiness or the deepest sorrow. Would you say this is true for you?
I would say yes. About three years back, my mother passed on. The pain was such that all I could do was pour it out in poetry. But I’d also like to add that poetry spans the entire emotional spectrum: fear, angst, awe, joy, sorrow, anger, etc. In a way, poetry literally squeezes the deepest emotions out of you. Sometimes when you feel really strongly about something, all you can do is express yourself in poetry.
You have a new book called What inspired the collection?
Inspiration usually comes from diverse sources. In this case, some of the poems in the collection came through pure imagination. Others were inspired by my observation of the world around me, nature, personal experiences, and, to a large extent, the seemingly perennial socio-political problems that have afflicted the nation for ages. It’s difficult for a writer to turn a blind eye to the happenings in the polity. Sometimes you really don’t want to write about these things but you find that you’re compelled to do so.
The poems in this collection are split into four sections. What informed this?
First of all, let me say that I did not set out to write on any particular theme. But as the collection evolved, I realised that certain poems tended towards certain themes. So it only made sense to group such poems under the same theme. This explains why the collection is so sectioned. So, for instance, the first section, The Glow, explores the tenacity of the human spirit, plus the exhilaration of love and its complexities. The sombre subject of loss in its varied shades, and hope that thrives in spite of it, form the bulk of the second section captioned, Of Loss and Hope. The third section, Time, Transience and Nature, basically looks at several subjects through the Haiku form of poetry. And of course, Pangs of Nationhood, which is the last section, bemoans the myriad of issues plaguing the nation, like the problem of poverty amidst plenty, the pillaging of our common treasury by a few, the self-serving mentality and perfidy of the political class, the widespread internal conflicts and the senseless violence across the land.
You describe yourself as a freelance editor. And editing has been one area where Nigerian writers have been challenged. How do you see this shortage being tackled?
The writing process is an entire chain of structures from draft to publishing to publicity, distribution and sales. The editor is a critical part of that chain. While there is an obvious need for more people to come into the editing space, another challenge is for writers to appreciate the importance of editors in the writing process and patronise the services of the available ones. Some writers see editing as mere proof-reading or straightening out issues of punctuations and spellings. But editing goes way beyond that to provide clarity and a smooth flow of the work.
It is rather surprising that with the rising number of both established and emerging writers in the country, our tertiary institutions still do not see the need to run courses in creative writing. I may be wrong but I honestly don’t know of any that runs such programs. As for tackling the challenge of shortage of editors, I believe it’s time Nigerian universities started running courses in creative writing to support the sector and avail people the opportunity to learn and improve on their skills, editing inclusive. In the meantime, capacity building workshops can be organised periodically for people who are interested in functioning as editors. No doubt, this will encourage more people to come in, and also help to improve the capacity of those already in the practice.
Speaking of structures, what kind of support structure do you have as one of the few editors around?
There is virtually no support structure available. The entire creative writing sector has virtually no support structure. For now, all one does is resort to self-development.
But you belong to a writers’ group so how important is belonging to a writers’ group for an emerging writer?
Extremely important. A writer, especially one that is new, should not be an island. Any writer who wishes to take writing seriously will do well to join a writers’ group. And we have quite a number of them around. The benefits are immense. You know, it’s true what they say about two good heads being better than one. Being amongst fellow writers gives you the opportunity of having your skills sharpened through constant interactions with other members of the group. Besides, it also exposes you to available opportunities and brings you up to speed with the goings-on within the literary circle. For instance, I can’t tell you how much I have benefited by just attending and participating in the weekly critique sessions of the Abuja Writers’ Forum.
Performance poetry is the rave now. As a traditional poet, do you feel threatened by the rise of performance poetry or is it an area you have thought of exploring yourself?
I’ve always considered poetry to be beautiful, be it traditional or performance poetry. Basically, I see both as poetry. Besides, poetry in its earliest form started out as oral performances before it progressed into the written form over time. In a way, performance poetry is like a resurrection of the early form and I think it’s great. So, for me, the question of being threatened by performance poetry does not arise. I believe they are two sides of the same coin. They are both significant and should be encouraged to thrive.
The idea of exploring performance poetry is one that I haven’t really given any serious thought to. But who knows? Anything is possible, right?
If you were to recommend five poetry books for someone who is new to poetry, what would they be?
Number one would be Helen Steiner Rice’s Everyone Needs Someone. The collection is devoid of the usual intimidating language that so often enshrouds poetry. The language is simple, yet full of meaning that is sure to strike a cord somewhere in the core of the reader. Then of course, Promises on Sand. Somewhere in the book, the reader is guaranteed to experience a deep connection with a poem or two. I would also recommend poems by Gabriel Okara, Oswald Mtshali and Gabriela Minstral among others. Reason is, they use everyday language to convey deep meanings, making it easy to relate with the poems both superficially and intrinsically.