Continued from last week
With educational background in Medicine, what informed your foray into literature and are you not unfulfilled that the literary side of you has outshined other engagements of yours?
The truth of the matter is that I am originally an art oriented person having scored distinctions in all my arts subjects in secondary schools as against the credit scores I had in my science subjects. My original plan was to study Mass Communications but my father objected since he had already boasted to his friends that one of his children would be a medical doctor. And since I was also good in the sciences, I enjoyed my Medical School years during which I still found time to edit a Campus Magazine and play for the University’s Hockey Team. I was eventually awarded a University Scholarship for my last three years in Medical School and also represented Oyo State in many national sporting events. After Medical School, I enlisted for a Diploma Course in Creative Writing before going into full writing alongside my medical practice which I still carry out albeit on a part time basis. No, I am not worried that Writing has displaced my Medical Practice.
I believe that I am just going back to what I was originally destined to do.
I am however very fortunate to have to have attended Medical School before going into writing since like many Doctor/Writers, Medicine taught me how to write. The organic linkage between Literature and Medicine goes back to ancient times when the ancient Greeks recognised and honoured the connection by placing both medicine and poetry under the dominion of Phoebus Apollo, their god of the sun. The invocation of Apollo as the patron of Medicine and Poetry stems from the belief that the physician and the writer can both be healers. The list of men and women who have combined medicine and literature is long and varied depending on the inclination of the compiler.
A writer like Chinua Achebe began but perhaps wisely did not finish medical school. By contrast, William Somerset Maughan finished his studies but never practised. Others like the poet John Keats eventually abandoned practice for full time writing while the greater number of doctors whose list is long continued and still continue to juggle both occupations throughout their lives. Famous literary physicians include Oliver Goldsmith (Circa, 1730) John Keats (1795-1821) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) Tobias George Smollett (1721-71) Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) Somerset Maughan (1874-1965) William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)6. Nearer home, the likes of Professors Olatunde Odeku, (late) Anezi Okoro, and Adeloye as well as Ewa Henshaw, Tony Marinho, Femi Olugbile among others were able to combine literature with their medical practice.
The Ebedi International Writers Residency, Iseyin, Oyo State, an initiative of yours for writers across the world has gone into a third year. What kindled your interest in the residency? How have you been soldering on even without support from outside?
The idea of the Ebedi Residency came to me when I was looking for a place to complete a work at hand. When I complained to my wife, she then suggested we convert our country home in Iseyin, Oyo State for the venture. This is a laudable programme whereby aspiring and established writers can take time off their daily routines and seclude themselves for a while in a serene environment, sheltered from the noise and bustle outside, in order to fully devote themselves to the tussle with their creative imagination. Here they will have all the infrastructural support they require; without distraction from family or friends, distant from the endless ritual of weddings and funerals and other ceremonies; and well provided against NEPA and water shortages. In addition, we pay writers a weekly stipend to stay in the residency and offer them a publishing opportunity for their completed works through a well known Lagos based publisher. In return, the writers are expected to interact with secondary school students in Iseyin for a few hours a week in order to mentor them. So far, a lot of gifted writers from the schools have been discovered. It has not been easy self sponsoring the residency these past three years but I thank God that the residency is daily gaining national and international acceptance and recognition. Right now, a Belgium based organisation, Arts Moves Africa (AMA) now provides flight tickets to intending residents from outside Nigeria. I am searching seriously for a corporate or government sponsorship for the residency in order to expand and sustain the project.
Your novel, Tenants of the House, was the 2011 joint winner of the Wole Soyinka Prize for African Literature and is currently on the reading list of many Nigerian Universities. It also has a US edition launched in Atlanta Georgia, April 2012. Is it a book you hold so dear to your heart more than others in your twelve fictional oeuvre?
I thank God, my editors, publishers, family and friends for Tenants Of The House. It has surpassed my expectations for its critical and commercial success. Apart from a country wide reading tour which took me to 30 out of the 36 states in the country, I have just returned from a 6 City US reading tour sponsored by Arik Nigeria. Another US reading tour is in the making while I hope to complete my country wide tour before the end of the year. In addition to this, an Ireland based Film Company, Zanzibar Films in collaboration with a Nigerian State Government is concluding plans to shoot the Film adaptation of the book.
All things being equal, the film should be ready by the first quarter of 2014, God willing. However, despite its runaway success, I do not consider Tenants of The House as my favourite book. That honour, I think should go to The Weaving Looms because of its setting which is my home town as well as the book’s deep cultural setting.
Some of your colleagues feel sold out by your depiction of political shenanigans in the lower house. What do you consider your role as an artist? What prompted this offering?
As an artist, I consider it my duty to tell the story around me in the best possible way possible. I also believe that the duty of a writer is to write as honestly as possible what the society often considers ‘unspeakable’. I was prompted to write Tenants Of The House because of my deep seated conviction that Nigeria has great potentials once we can get our acts together both by those in power and the followership.
One of the ways of doing this is to tell our stories however painful or uncomfortable this may be. This way, while laughing at our mistakes, we can learn how to correct them and move forward. My experience with Strange Encounters and Tenants Of The House has confirmed that well known fact that in creating good and memorable novels, a writer must be ready to ruffle some feathers. While it is true that some of my colleagues in the Nigerian Parliament were miffed by some of the expositions in Tenants Of The House, the book has been well received by a large number of them. In fact, some of the legislators have praised me for helping them by telling the world some of the challenges politicians face when taking up the arduous task of nation building in a developing country such as Nigeria.
Your latest book, Fearless: The Emergence of a Virile and Formidable Opposition Leader is the political memoir of Hon Femi Gbajabiamila. As a man who is given to fiction, how challenging was the experience with non-fiction? Is this an area you would like to pay more attention in future?
One of the greatest challenges I found in writing biographies is the difficulties in getting interviews from some of our highly placed personalities. While some of them are simply not interested in writing, some others find it difficult to give out of their busy schedule for the exercise which they consider irritating. Sometimes it takes upwards of three to four weeks to get an appointment for a 30 minutes interview. And as it is to be expected, writing biographies is more challenging than writing fiction. While you have the freedom to write anything in fiction, you can’t do that for biographies. You need to gauge the feelings of your subjects as well as areas of potential legal litigations before putting pen to paper in biographies. Having said this, I enjoy writing biographies. Apart from the good money that accrues from the project, through biography writing, I have learnt a lot about human foibles, struggles, achievements and failures, through which I have learnt to be a better person. Certainly, I will love to pay more attention to it in future.
Looking back at your tenure as ANA President (2006-2009), do you think the creative writing workshop, etc., you initiated has paid off?
As a beneficiary myself of a Writing Workshop, I am convinced that our writers both the established and upcoming ones have a lot o gain from Writing Workshops. All serious professional organisations organize workshops for their members. The NMA, NBA as well the Society of Engineers have regular courses and workshops for their members to update themselves. This is why I am always ready to support the current ANA Executive in maintaining the tradition of Creative Writing Workshops. Recently, the current ANA Executive was able to secure some grant for a nationwide Literary Project during which ANA through its members in state branches will take Literary activities to the various secondary schools in their respective states. I am happy that these projects that were initiated by my executive are still going on strong.
What are you working on now?
I have just finished a compilation of my short stories which my publishers are currently looking at. I am also involved with the film adaptation of my book Tenants Of The House as a script consultant to the film producer. In addition, I have just been commissioned to produce the biography of a very famous Nigerian politician in time for the November 2013 public launch. This is the biggest project of my Literary career so far because the project involves interviewing about 100 people who are mostly VIPs both within and outside Nigeria. It also involves sifting through tons of documents, film videos, diaries, photographs as well as internet publications. So far the project has taken me round about 20 states in the country as well as the UK while a trip to the USA is in the making. Luckily, I have a team of six versatile and committed writers and journalists to assist me in the onerous task.
Concluded
As an artist, I consider it my duty to tell the story around me in the best possible way possible. I also believe that the duty of a writer is to write as honestly as possible what the society often considers ‘unspeakable’
