"Poetry has taken me round the world," Folu Agoi, two-time BBC poetry award winner
Nigeria’s first generation writings witnessed the emergence of a handful of writers who had acquired a good education and possessed skills in varying quanta. Among whom were poets like John Pepper Clark, Gabriel Okara, and the short-lived but renowned Christopher Okigbo who many in some quarters say was Africa’s greatest poet. How true? Now that several years have gone past, countless poets have emerged with new, experimental and less obscure writings which altogether constitute a break from the norm and have gone steps further to garner international recognition and win several local and international awards.
Folu Agoi, a two-time ANA (Association of Nigerian Authors, Lagos chapter) president, a two-time BBC poetry award winner, a lecturer per excellence and one of Nigeria’s and Africa’s finest poets, bears such resemblance. Discovering his innate ability by providence at a time he least expected, he has crept into the hearts of many and taken the world by surprise. In this interview with Yamilenu Bamgboye, he relives his experiences, achievements and reveals the ordeal of new writers in mainstream publishing in Nigeria. Enjoy!
How would you describe your first work?
First of all, I had it when I least expected back then in 1997 or 1998 when I was still at Corona School. I was just a teacher but one day, the editor of the school magazine approached me and requested that I contribute to the publication. So I wrote a poem, ‘’The Master Potter’’.
What is the poem about?
The poem was born out of the experiences I had gathered as a school teacher and it was my first attempt at poetry. I showed it to a colleague, a old Ghanaian, he liked it and requested for a copy. Funnily enough, the copy my Ghanaian friend took home was seized by his neighbour who felt insulted. The poem is centred on the wretchedness of a bald-headed old senior teacher who is always happy in telling people about his products and how most of them have become very successful whereas, he lives in the shacks.
You are a record breaker, winning two notable awards within a short space of time---BBC and Prof Wole Soyinka’s poetry awards. How did you achieve this?
Well, none of this was pre-planned. It just happened that I stumbled on a programme on BBC and there was a particular poetry advert that was being aired and every week, a winner emerged. I submitted two poems, ‘’He Died’’ and ‘’I Seek a Woman’’ at two different times and I was really surprised that both won on those occasions. I was happy to receive the news and those around me celebrated me. That for me is a record because people rarely experience that. The experience also told me in clear terms that I had some poetic talent. The award gave me an edge and a name because I was mentioned in the news at intervals of four hours for some days and my poems were read.
No cash?
No cash (laughs). I got parcels you know---their branded t-shirts and all that. The thing about serious writers is that they don’t think of the extrinsic value of their works. The intrinsic value is what matters to them. No serious thinks or writes for monetary benefits but in our clime, poverty has really brought that to fore. Once you start thinking of money, you end to loose your originality; you want to satisfy some people and won’t want to write to offend a set of people. If you want to be yourself, your business like Ernest Hemingway said should be to tell the truth the way it is without minding the repercussion. Except for Prof Soyinka’s award where I got some good cash.
Publishers around here have an attitude towards poetry, why is that?
It’s because poetry doesn’t sell. Not only n Nigeria really but particularly n Nigeria. Nigeria is not really a reading society and that is a sad reality. And then when you say you are a poet, it’s as if you are just wasting your time on something that is not profitable. From experience, when you give your publication to rich or highly educated people; those in the ministries and maybe politicians, they might love your work and even give you some complementary remarks for the copy bt won’t want to contribute a penny to your work. People who write poetry in Nigeria must be commended for their commitment to the art. Before you arrived, I had jut gone to print out a couple of poems I would be sending to a publishing house in Germany requesting for my work with an honorarium of 25 Euros per page. Four thousand copies would be printed and distributed across Germany and each library would have a copy. That for me is huge.
When you started writing, did it ever cross your mind to go to any of the publishing outfits to get your work published?
Uhm… I’ll just tell you no, no because of the experiences of a lot of my peers in the hands of mainstream publishing outfits. When you submit your manuscript, it could be with them for about a year or two and the next thing they tell you is that they are sorry, they can’t publish your work. That has been the plight of so many aspiring writers who have not become an Achebe or Soyinka to get the big contracts from Longman or Heinemann. I promised myself not to be a victim so, I started m own publishing outfit, Flag Publication.b I also thought that if an old friend Helon Habila could self-publish ‘Waiing for an Angel’’ to win a prestigious international award--- Britain’s Caine Prize for African writing--- and attract about 10,000 pounds, I felt there was no need loitering around the big publishers while one’s talent was ebbing away in frustration. For poetry, it is even terrible. Some publishers concentrate on textbooks while some concentrate on novels. I once had a discussion with the owner of Literamed, Lawal Solarin, on the publication of poetry. He said he was into publishing to make money and he knew that poetry doesn’t sell.
Have you encountered any marketing challenges?
Yes, that’s the difference between mainstream publishing and vanishing publishing and that’s why people go to them because of their marketing network. You know they are connected all over the world. If you’re doing it all alone, you won’t be able to print more than a thousand or two copies and go beyond a few friends and people unlike those companies that can publish 10,000 copies and more and circulate them all over the world. If you weigh the two, you definitely know that mainstream publishing is better even with fame. But these days, the fortune isn’t always present because of piracy. That’s why Ayi Kwei Armah had a long drawn legal battle with his publishers.
Your language is simple but your message isn’t always simple. How do you achieve this?
I am always all about simplicity unlike the likes of Soyinka who were so hooked on European modernism. The Osundares came and took poetry to the market place. So yeah, that’s true. My language is simple but my presentation is something else. I think imagery is at the bottom of it. You know like Ezra Pound would say, a creative writer should write like one and not like a linguist and he brought the idea into poetry. So for good comprehension of my poems, people just need to read between the lines and the different layers of meaning intended and portrayed. Naturally, I’m a man of few words and poetry doesn’t allow you to throw words around. So, every word used in poetry must perform a function towards the development of that work.
‘’King Frankinstein’’ is about your longest poem which spans between sixteen pages. It’s kind of epic, maybe mock-epic. What exactly is it about?
Well, you’ll remember that the introduction says it’s the story of a stone age king that is told upside down and that is a bit confusing. Confusion is also an element of poetry anyway. It’s a fictional story of a society that is populated by hypocritical characters. The society needs a king and the kingmakers who scout for one sees a man that is not refined, not educated, has nothing to loose by a graveside and decide to make him king because they feel he is perfect for them. He eventually becomes a monster and attacks his supposed masters.
It’s a general belief that politicians have anyway; crowning someone that is less qualified for subservience. It was also the idea the British introduced to India during colonialism and Nigeria too. So, it’s an allegorical story of that society that don’t even know what’s right and wrong and even cheer at everything. So in a sense, it’s a story that is based on the author’s experience of his immediate environment.
How did you sustain the suspense in the poem for that long?
The secret of good writing is commitment and sacrifice. I deny myself lots of things, television, alcohol, long hours of sleep and a flamboyant lifestyle. When my kids were growing up, there were times they said, ‘’We don’t even know when Daddy is at home. He doesn’t watch TV, he doesn’t even play with us. If there is light, he’ll be typing and if there is no light, he’ll be reading.’’ And that’s not a good thing to say of a father really. So, I’ll say I gave it a lot of attention, that’s why.
Have you ever tried your hands on any other genre?
Yes, I have not really written a play but I have written some prose works. I have written a couple of stories. There is one entitled ‘’Innocence’’ published by New Gong and edited by Adewale Maja-Pearce who used to be an editor with Heinemann. And I have written a full-fledged novel of about 350 pages which I have refused to published yet due to some factors. So, I am just keeping that for now. However, the reason I stick to poetry more is because of its continuity.
How do you get international engagements?
Well, I travel from time to time. I was Germany in December last year. I have also been to Boston in the US and Quebec in Canada. I am supposed to go back to Canada soon but I've got other engagements. You know...serious writers are like gold fish and there is no hiding place for a gold fish, you would get know wherever you go because your works announce you. So the person that contacted me talked about my profile, the poems I have written and said she was thrilled.
How have you helped up and coming writers in the game?
I have always helped push young people who are interested in writing, in coming into the literary community. At least, some of the ones in ANA will ascribe their becoming writers to me and the efforts I made. When I was the president and very active in the association, I organised a two-day literary event in LASU's main campus Ojo and I was able to drag notable poets and authors like Niyi Osundare down to the event. I have done many more i can't even exhaust right now.
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