Lagos-based writer, scholar and President of Pen Nigeria, Folu agoi, has said that the need to protect his sanity keeps him writing.
Agoi, on Tuesday – June 23 – got another beautiful reward for his engagement with the muse when he was conferred with ‘The Tutuola Palm for Poetry’ award – alongside Publisher of the ‘Nigerian Tribune’, Dr Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu,; and writer as well as a major promoter of literature, Eriata Oribhabor. The author of ‘Candid Lyrics’, among several other works, is excited at the recognition but he is quick to note that awards ought not to be the primary target of a writer.
He notes in an interview with phenomenal.com.ng, “The award – ‘Tutuola Palm for Poetry’ – is meant to celebrate and promote ‘imaginative flair’, using the words of the organisers of the award, and ‘create the basis for a viable society through the creative realm’. The award is meant to immortalise the literary legend, Amos Tutuola, author of The Palm-Wine Drinkard, a fantasy fiction written in Yoruba English, published in 1952, a quest tale based on Yoruba folktales, the first African novel published in the English language outside of Africa.
“It feels great being appreciated for what one has been doing in one’s little corner – an impetus to keep working hard. It shows I haven’t been wasting my time staying up night after night, writing poetry, same poetry that doesn’t sell, particularly in our society. Awards serve to incentivise creative minds. An award is meant to be a reward for worthy service, for hard work and sacrifice. However, serious writers are hardly driven by thoughts of winning awards. I write because I have to write to maintain my sanity in this blessed environment of ours, not because I have an eye on any award. I don’t write to win awards, but if an award is attracted by my works, I will take it as an incentive to work harder, like Boxer in George Orwell’s Animal Farm.”
Agoi is currently preoccupied with what he calls a special collection of love poems that lend themselves well to dramatic performance, a form of poetic dialogue between two love-struck souls – a princess and a minstrel. He is also glad to note that the manuscript of Silver Lining, an anthology of poems by the Nigerian Pen, has since gone to press. The company handling its publication, University Press PLC, Ibadan, has promised to deliver the job in the last week of August.
He says life continues as a writer but concedes that the current situation in Nigeria is anti-creativity:
“The impact of this government on the development of literature is nil, if not negative. First, with the collapse of basic infrastructural facilities, particularly power, coupled with the bloodcurdling level of insecurity in the country, there is no enabling environment for citizens to engage in any creative thinking and/or writing. In our beloved country, creative writers feature prominently on the endangered species list.”
