James Eze, winner of the 2020 ANA POETRY PRIZE, is Chief Press Secretary to Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra state. He is also a speechwriter, journalist, lover and weaver of imageries and life! In this interview, he speaks on the prestigious award, which he won with his debut poetry collection, ‘Dispossessed’; literary writing in Nigeria; his fascination for Unoka, a character in Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’, who he says “carries in his character, the chilly aura that stills life’s turbulence around him… (And) drains life of all excess tensions and needless frenzy…”, among others.
What does winning the Association of Nigerian Authors 2020 poetry prize mean to you?
ANA Poetry Prize is an important validation for any poet who takes poetry seriously in Nigeria. It is an affirmation of sorts…a shove in the back to move forward and share my gift with an appreciative world. ANA prizes are not only the longest running and most visible literary prizes in Nigeria but also among the most respected prizes. They are about the only literary prizes conferred on writers by fellow writers. To that extent, therefore, they are a literary ‘vote of confidence’ on winners; affirming their art as well as their contributions to the Nigerian letters by fellow writers. Nothing comes close to the joy of standing before your peers and being welcomed with open arms. In winning last year’s Poetry Prize, I hear ANA say to me…’welcome home.’
What triggers the muse in you?
Writings of the imaginative type do not come easy to me. So, what triggers my muse is not easy to predict. It could be the disarming beauty of a golden sunset. It could be a sparkling phrase from a song. It could be the bejeweled innocence of a baby’s smile. But it could also be extreme human suffering that reveals in its blinding light, man’s helplessness in the grasp of fate. What is important is what I do when the impulse kicks in; when the urge for expression knocks on the door. I have had to pull over by the roadside so many times while driving to put down a stroke of insight. I have found the solitude to write poems in a church while the entire place was ablaze with raised voices. Quite strange; right? Well…that is how unpredictable my muse is.
At what point in your life did you realise you were going to be a writer?
I wrote my first manuscript when I was about 12. I was in junior secondary then. And it was a work of fiction. Poetry came to me much later. So, I had always known that I was going to take writing seriously some day. What I didn’t know was how soon it would be. I started reading in elementary school. And that love affair is still going on strong.
What book moved you to be a writer and how?
I read a lot of fascinating books when I was a boy. All the books nudged me towards picking up my pen to write. But I’d point at ‘Chike and the River’ by Chinua Achebe as the book that made me pick up the courage to write my first manuscript… a work of fiction entitled “The Village Calamity.” I was in Junior Secondary Three then. The simple narrative style of ‘Chike and the River’ made me believe that I could tell a simple story of my own. I handed the manuscript to my high school teacher, Mr Linus Ogbuisi who is now a Ph.D holder. He was impressed with my effort and urged me to keep up the good work. I feel so sad that I have no idea where I kept the manuscript now.
When you read a book what are the salient things you look out for?
A book is like a beautiful woman to me. When I see a beautiful woman, her appearance announces her beauty to me. Then, I draw close and engage her in a conversation. In the process, I will discover her character. The beauty of a book to me is language. The language takes me to other things that I would consider to be the character of the book…theme, plot and other things that make up a great book. From this analogy, language comes first to me. It is the beauty of a book. If language fails the author from the beginning, I’m turned away from the story. And I won’t therefore discover its inner beauty if it has any.
In what genre of literature do you express yourself most and why?
I express myself with greater ease in prose. Poetry doesn’t actually come easy to me because I am not easily satisfied with my own exertions in poetry. I squeeze myself so hard in search of clarity and meaning that I am often exhausted at the end of each attempt. That is partly the reason it took me so long to put out ‘Dispossessed.’
What does writing mean to you?
Writing means rebirth to me. It means to breathe again. When I write, I come alive…the light within me blink awake. But sadly, there is no one to witness it as writing is done in solitude.
Of all the books you have read which character struck you most?
The character of Unoka in Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’ has been with me much longer than others. Although, I admire the character of Obika in ‘Arrow of God’ too for his rippling energy, derring-do and exuberance which mark him out as a bolt of lightning, Unoka is still the one for me. Unoka carries in his character the chilly aura that stills life’s turbulence around him. He drains life of all excess tensions and needless frenzy. He lives on his own terms and moves at his own pace. He is inured from the passionate intensity to get rich quick or die trying. He is a profound philosopher of sorts. His submission that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them is difficult to dispute. Again, he cleverly conceals his depth with his open love of happiness and pleasure, but deep down in his heart, Unoka knows pain and sorrow so intimately that it filters into the melodies produced by his flute. Achebe deftly threw up this contrast when he wrote on page five of ‘Things Fall Apart’, “He was in fact a coward and could not bear the sight of blood. And so he changed the subject and talked about music, and his face beamed. He could hear in his mind’s ear the blood-stirring and intricate rhythms of the ekwe and the udu and the ogene, and he could hear his own flute weaving in and out of them, decorating them with a colourful and plaintive tune. The total effect was gay and brisk, but if one picked out the flute as it went up and down and then broke up into short snatches, one saw that there was sorrow and grief there.” What a contrast! Achebe’s concept of the dualism of life shone through here. Where there is so much joy and happiness, grief and sorrow hovers in the air. Nothing ever stands alone.
Who are your favourite authors, home and abroad?
Nigeria has loads of amazing writers of poetry and prose, and they have all shaped my artistic growth. But I am more likely to be caught returning to re-read the works of Achebe, Soyinka, Okigbo, Okara, Okri, Osundare, Ofeimun and Ola Rotimi. Beyond Nigeria, I enjoy the works of Pablo Neruda, Dambudzo Marechera, Dennis Brutus, Leopold Sedar Senghor, David Diop, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Jhumpa Lahiri, Khaled Hosseini, James Baldwin, ZZ Parker, NoViolet Bulawayo, Ralph Ellison, Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens.
Are you a reader and how often?
I read as often as I find space. I can read anywhere and anytime.
If you meet your favourite author, what will be your first question?
My first question would be, “How does writing come to you?”
How do you arrange your library, at home and in the office?
The top shelf of my library is stacked with all the important novels I own. The second row is filled with poetry books of all kinds. Then books on history, biographies, leadership and politics are next.
What book are you reading now?
‘An Orchestra of Minorities’ by Chigozie Obioma.
What book did you read last and what lessons?
The Freedom Artist by Ben Okri. I don’t necessarily read books for lessons. Sometimes reading a book is the only way I relax. As a writer, I also read to enjoy the use of language in its simple but distilled form. In ‘The Freedom Artist,’ Okri takes the reader on the rarest flight of the imagination in a language that is both muscular and sublime. I am lucky to have immersed myself in his magic.
The Nation.