| Nnorom Azuonye: My E-conversation with Emman Usman Shehu
(continued from previous page)
NA: So, what do you consider your biggest challenge as a writer today?
EUS: To ensure that I express myself more in the other genres, while still maintaining a consistent output in poetry. For instance I am looking at the idea of a novel set in the period of the 1804 jihad that explores the themes of betrayal and internal colonisation. This is apart from short stories that look at similar issues against a more contemporary background. I am also doing drafts of plays focusing on issues affecting the North. At the same I am doing a collection of poetry tentatively titled The Blue In My Blood with bits and pieces written. Part of the collection will include a long poem that demystifies the Bayyajida myth, a myth about the origin of the Hausa people that has been used to justify some of the horrible oppression and manipulation in that part of Nigeria. Here is a brief example of the tone I seek to establish in the collection:
IN THE MARGIN
Can you imagine
in my country,
in my land,
in my state of origin,
my status is in the margin?
And the poem that earned me an award in the recent MUSON poetry contest, “SANDSCAPE”, is also from this collection.
NA: As an African writer, living and writing in the continent, what are the major obstacles you encounter in terms of research, publishing, and image engineering? Suggest ways in which these may be addressed?
EUS: There are indeed several obstacles that an African writer living and working in the continent faces in the areas of research, publishing and image engineering. Research is inhibited by poor funding, paucity of relevant materials due to poor record keeping, and even deliberate denial of access to information. For instance if I were to do a movie-script on Usman Dan Fodio or Queen Amina, research is one of the important elements. Yet those who have the material and information I need would not allow access except I am willing to write a script that suits them. And this should not be the case, because as a writer I have the artistic liberty to use the material to suit my own reading of the situation.
The objective of every writer is to get published, thus publishing is vital to literature of a people. But the opportunities of publishing are very limited and most of the existing publishers are not only affected by the weak economy, but they themselves are not professional about their business. This has led to the emergence of self-publishing with its own problems such as poor evaluation of the material being published, poor editing and packaging and very limited distribution.
Image engineering is not properly developed on the continent and the writer is therefore left arouse public interest in him through his personal efforts. Yet this is an area where a lot can be achieved through the services of agents, agencies, PR consultants and events managers. Even major publishing houses fail miserably in this area, relying on a solitary advert for a book launch. Yet in the developed countries a book launch is regard as a major event and a lot of publicity is generated around it including special appearances on radio and television by the author or his agent.
NGO’s can provide some kind of research funding for writers in various fields. Since in Nigeria, for instance, the federal government has decided to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, part of the subsidy it is withdrawing should be channelled into providing publishing grants at various levels. Publishers too should network for funding and distribution. There is nothing stopping major publishers from accepting to distribute self-published books that have the right quality. This has been proved possible in the Western music industry. Small independent labels are distributed by some of the major record companies.
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