| Nnorom Azuonye: My E-conversation with Emman Usman Shehu
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NA: But what is wrong with writing popular literature anyway? Does it make sense that a writer should be penalised for not being boring?
EUS: The system is such that fledgling critics have to toe the line and espouse the same old concepts or they get penalised by their superiors who might be their supervisors or assessors. Ernest Emenyonu was able to do his seminal work on Ekwensi because at that point in his academic career he had some degree of independence, and I think most of the work was done outside the country. In my final year as an undergraduate it was a real battle to convince the lecturers in my department that it was valid to do a long essay on the merits of Ekwensi’s fiction. I ended up being given a supervisor who was largely uncooperative. The same thing happened when I was doing the Master’s thesis on Ayi Kwei Armah, because the general feeling in the department was that his novels were a glorification of despair. Fortunatley I had a supervisor who thought differently and the end product greatly fascinated the late Professor Donatus Nwoga who was my external examiner.
I have noticed on the internet a growing number of sympathetic essays on Ekwensi done in western universities by Africans and non-Africans, which also reflects a change of attitude in the definition of populist art. Ekwensi’s time of critical acclaim will certainly come, especially if his novels are made into movies because they have that adaptable quality. His stories set in the fictional Lokotown for instance, can make for a good television series. And his novels from Jagua Nana to Burning Grass and Jagua Nana’s Daughter have a cinematic quality that comes from good story-telling, comparing favourably with Sembene Ousmane’s God’s Bits of Wood or Xala. Yet unlike Ekwensi, Ousmane had trained as a cinematographer and his novels emerged first as movie scripts before being adapted into novels. The good story-teller has what I like to call “the cinematic eye” and it is evident in Ekwensi’s fiction. Certainly anything that can help create more interest in Ekwensi’s art should be encouraged.
NA: How do you keep your inspiration for writing strong and what is your greatest source of inspiration?
EUS: I realise that I have only one life to live and that each day I am alive is an opportunity to justify this calling. I also have come to realise that our stories from my part of the country are yet to be told, and that through writing I can strike a blow against the forces of feudalism. I don’t kid myself about wanting to write the great Northern Nigerian poem, novel or play or their Nigerian equivalent. There can’t be that one great work of art that towers above all the rest. But I would like my work to be part of that corpus that would not only stand the test of time, but also help foster the spirit of resilience against all forms of tyranny including feudalism.
I also read a lot for inspiration and for improving the quality of my work, seeing the strategies deployed by other writers to grapple with a particular story because every story has its peculiar demands. Such is my passion for creative writing resources that a good friend of mine, Constance Oriaku, sometimes pulls my leg by saying that when she does a book on creative writing she is sure that at least one person will buy it. Now to appreciate this joke you must realise that she knows next to nothing about creative writing. The life of Christ is one source of inspiration, so too what my parents stood for in their lifetime. The common theme being that they stood their ground on the basis of what they believed in despite the odds, despite the deprivations, so that some moral value could be established for the good of the society.
NA: And finally, if you were to become a child again and ask Santa Claus to make a book present to you this Christmas. what is the one book you would like to have for Christmas that would prepare you for to face your future as a writer with courage and winged passion?
EUS: A valid cheque book so that I can concentrate fully on writing for the rest of my life without worrying about where my next meal is coming from, or how to cope with the rent, or even meeting other financial obligations. I am tired of slaving for a living while my main calling is suffering.
„ © 2003 Nnorom Azuonye
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