Literature
Yes. If not for the British Council and the additional financial support from the UK government I would have failed and given up writing. Yes, indeed. Writing from abroad is better. It also has to do with patience. I visited local libraries here in London and read a lot of newspapers, magazines and few books. Here, there are publishers and literary agents. There are literary organizations and festivals. The difference between ANA and the Society of Authors (SA), London, that I now belong to is that the SA employs professionals to keep the organization going smoothly. Of course, the Nigerians who are best known today got their works published in the UK and the US, won awards, prizes and feted accordingly.
If by the age of 63 I have not won the Nobel Prize then I will give up. With twelve novels, two of which are over 940 pages, I should have been the equivalent of Sir Alfred Nobel himself. The greatest prize for me will be to be remembered as the first Nigerian to write the great Nigerian novel of over 940 pages, 46 lines per a page, this when the majority of Nigerians are very busy making money for themselves while very few folks like me are making historical progress for the nation in order to be at par with the inventions, creations and innovations of western civilization. After all, Leo Tolstoy did not win the Nobel Prize yet his two great novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina are among the forty most cited works of all time.
- A Novel Takes Its Author To Wherever It Wants ? E. E. Sule
E. E. Sule, Associate Professor of English at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, is no stranger to award winning, having won awards in literary competitions sponsored by Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, and shortlisted for the prestigious...
- Achebe Was A Master Storyteller ? Mawada
Ahmed Maiwada author of the acclaimed novel, Musdoki, and poetry collection, Fossils, is an Abuja-based novelist, poet, lawyer and literary critic. He is such a versatile personality that any time he is approached for a press interview on any issue,...
- Celebrating Clark?s 50 Years Of Literary Excellence
Professor John Pepper Clark Bekederemo, popularly known as JP Clark, is not a new name on the Nigerian literary scene. Literature students who passed through Nigerian secondary schools and universities from the 1960s to date would testify to the quality...
- Denja - 'achebe Colloquium Will Be Bigger Than Soyinka?s'
As the International Colloquium to mark the 50th Anniversary of the publication of Chinua Achebe?s Things Fall Apart draws near, the General Secretary of Association of Nigerian Authors, MALAM DENJA ABDULLAHI, speaks to SUMAILA UMAISHA on the preparations...
- Sefi Atta: 'i Don?t Think Every Literary Work Should Be Didactic' (interview)
Sefi Atta, who recently won the literary prize endowed in honour of the first African literary Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, for her novel, Everything Good Will Come, was born in Lagos, educated in Lagos and England and currently teaches at Meridian...
Literature
I will stop writing if I don?t win Nobel Prize ? Ebhodaghe
On the social media the London-based Nigerian writer, Omohan Ebhodaghe, is dubbed ?self-praise singer? because he is never shy of posting about the qualities of his work, what is supposed to be done by a critic. He also believes his yet to be published works have the capability of out-shining the works of Soyinka, Acheba and Okri. In this chat with AWAAL GATA, Ebhodaghe, who is 51, also said he will give up writing if by the age of 63 the Nobel Prize does not come his way.
Who is Omohan Ebhodaghe?
I am from Idunwele Ewu in Edo state of Nigeria. I am the son of Jacob Osakue and Alice Otekpen Ebhodaghe. My secondary school education was in the old Bendel state, now Delta and Edo states. I had my first degree in English language and literature from the University of Benin and a postgraduate diploma in Education from University of Lagos.
During my National Youth Service Corps days, I taught at a girls secondary school in Anambra state. I was later to teach at the Institute of Continuing Education in Benin City and at a private tutorial college in Lagos before journeying to London, courtesy of the Lagos Office of the British Council, Lagos. Since then, in 1995, I have been a poet, short story writer and novelist.
How immersed were you in the Nigerian literature before leaving the country?
Before leaving for UK, I had already signed a book contract with Malthouse Press for my short story collection entitled A Heart of their Own in 1991. The Lagos-based publisher delayed and later refused to publish the book. Around that period also I wrote articles, poems and stories for newspapers and a magazine in Lagos. I was the 1993 - 1994 publicity secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (ANA), Lagos state chapter. I co-edited an anthology of poems and stories entitled Twenty Nigerian Writers: Portraits with Dr Victor Ayedun-Aluma of the Mass Communication department of the University of Lagos. I visited foreign arts centres like the Goethe Institut, the British Council and the United States Information Service. As an ANA member, I attended conferences in Calabar, Abeokuta, Ilorin and Benin City.
On Facebook, people accuse you of being the critic of your own writing. Why should you be your own critic?
Facebook is just one of many outlets for my works. Being my own critic does not bother me. After all, Hightower: Ibhayu Poetry is used in some UK, German, Kenyan and USA colleges, universities and over sixty-two libraries worldwide. Besides, in Nigeria, self-published works flourish. So, why not promote one's work also? If self-publication is normal, then promoting one's work as a critic is equally normal. Do not forget that I was the publicity secretary of ANA Lagos state chapter and so I put to bear my knowledge of public relations in promoting my books on Facebook and elsewhere.
You once said your works would outshine those of Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Ben Okri; what gave you the impression?
The difference between me and Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Ben Okri is patience. When Google started out in 1998 ? 1999, no one wanted to buy into them. Yahoo took a pass. Investors said there were already five search engines and so no one needed a sixth search engine. But today, Google is the king of internet search engines. So, too, my works will prove to be like Sergey Brin and Larry Page's co-founded Google inc with or without Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Ben Okri.
So far, how many books have you authored?
I have three published books, one of which was co-edited with Dr Victor Ayedun-Aluma. Six works are ready for the publisher between 2013 and 2014. Three books are being copy-edited and typed. Six works have undergone the first draft stage. By 2016 or 2018, I would have written twelve novels. If anxious readers of my literary progress ask why I am promoting my works when they have not yet been published, do remember that in history, the Boeing company signed contracts for their planes when William E. Boeing, the founder, had not yet known or purchased the land on which his company was to be built in Seattle, Washington state in 1916.
You wrote somewhere that your writing was never influenced by Achebe or Soyinka, but by Ayi Kwei Armah. Were you saying Armah?s writing is more potent than Soyinka and Achebe?s?
Achebe was once said to have written of the writer as a teacher. Soyinka is a socio-political activist. The literary agent and London, UK, publisher of Ben Okri's novel, The Famished Road, once said his novel will be the best in Africa. But 21 years on, it is yet to materialise. I subscribe to the writer as a politician, yes, as a philosopher king. I agree with the Nigerian poet, Odia Ofeimun, that Things Fall Apart is not a great novel but a pioneer novel. As Achebe's Things Fall Apart is said to be a reply to Joseph Conrad's novella, Heart of Darkness, so also does In The Midst of Loafers combine all five novels of Achebe in quality and quantity. To me, Ayi Kwei Armah is more potent as a political force than Soyinka and Chinua Achebe.
What is your take on the contemporary Nigerian literature?
In the late 1980s, I sent out a draft of my novel manuscript to Vikki Unwin, then editor of Heinemann African Writers Series. She rejected it but said that I was certainly a talented writer and one who should be encouraged. This is what the 4th, 5th and 6th generations of Nigerian literature need today. Patience is very important. Most of those I started out with as a writer have either become professors or editors or managers. Yet, the third generation of Nigerian writers has made the most mark in Nigerian literature and as to whether all or one or two authors will stand the test of time is left to be seen. With the presence of word processors and their magic solutions, the internet revolution, Google search engine, FACEBOOK social network and Wikipedia factsheets, the third, fourth and 5th generations of Nigerian writers are privileged to emerge better authors and so surpass the first and second generations of Nigerian writers. I foresee the emergence of the great Nigerian novel or literature coming from my generation.
Is being a writer in abroad better than being a writer in Nigeria?
Yes. If not for the British Council and the additional financial support from the UK government I would have failed and given up writing. Yes, indeed. Writing from abroad is better. It also has to do with patience. I visited local libraries here in London and read a lot of newspapers, magazines and few books. Here, there are publishers and literary agents. There are literary organizations and festivals. The difference between ANA and the Society of Authors (SA), London, that I now belong to is that the SA employs professionals to keep the organization going smoothly. Of course, the Nigerians who are best known today got their works published in the UK and the US, won awards, prizes and feted accordingly.
Which literary prize do you really want to win in your lifetime?
If by the age of 63 I have not won the Nobel Prize then I will give up. With twelve novels, two of which are over 940 pages, I should have been the equivalent of Sir Alfred Nobel himself. The greatest prize for me will be to be remembered as the first Nigerian to write the great Nigerian novel of over 940 pages, 46 lines per a page, this when the majority of Nigerians are very busy making money for themselves while very few folks like me are making historical progress for the nation in order to be at par with the inventions, creations and innovations of western civilization. After all, Leo Tolstoy did not win the Nobel Prize yet his two great novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina are among the forty most cited works of all time.
- A Novel Takes Its Author To Wherever It Wants ? E. E. Sule
E. E. Sule, Associate Professor of English at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, is no stranger to award winning, having won awards in literary competitions sponsored by Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, and shortlisted for the prestigious...
- Achebe Was A Master Storyteller ? Mawada
Ahmed Maiwada author of the acclaimed novel, Musdoki, and poetry collection, Fossils, is an Abuja-based novelist, poet, lawyer and literary critic. He is such a versatile personality that any time he is approached for a press interview on any issue,...
- Celebrating Clark?s 50 Years Of Literary Excellence
Professor John Pepper Clark Bekederemo, popularly known as JP Clark, is not a new name on the Nigerian literary scene. Literature students who passed through Nigerian secondary schools and universities from the 1960s to date would testify to the quality...
- Denja - 'achebe Colloquium Will Be Bigger Than Soyinka?s'
As the International Colloquium to mark the 50th Anniversary of the publication of Chinua Achebe?s Things Fall Apart draws near, the General Secretary of Association of Nigerian Authors, MALAM DENJA ABDULLAHI, speaks to SUMAILA UMAISHA on the preparations...
- Sefi Atta: 'i Don?t Think Every Literary Work Should Be Didactic' (interview)
Sefi Atta, who recently won the literary prize endowed in honour of the first African literary Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, for her novel, Everything Good Will Come, was born in Lagos, educated in Lagos and England and currently teaches at Meridian...