A GOOD LITERATURE WILL MAKE YOU FEEL YOURSELF MORE AROUND, MORE REAL AND MORE VIVIDLY THAN YOU'VE EVER FELT - ADEKOLA EMMANUEL ADEBOWALE

Wale Adekola is a literary scholar and teacher; he has trained several pupils and students at various academic levels: primary, secondary and A'level schools such as: First Class Prevarsity, Idi-ape, Teekay tutorials, Owode, Al-aleem Model College, Olunde, Real Educational Consult (REC), UI, etc., and he currently teaches A'level classes at Winners Academy, Olorunkemi, Ibadan. In this interview with Wole Adedoyin, he takes you to his literary world and the things that inspire and motivate him.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START WRITING?


AEA: I can't pinpoint one particular thing that inspired me to write, but I know that I had a lot of tumultuous ideas and recurrent sparse events in my head. I usually tried to arrange them chronologically and tell them to my friends; I didn't even know I could write until I read a particular novel, Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda N. Adichie. Though I had read few other writers before her—Sophocles, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka—but I found Purple Hibiscus more contemporary and closer to one of the storylines in my head so I thought I could also find expression in writing.


WA: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING?


AEA: Wow! If I can still rely on my memory, I believe it's about eight years now of mindful writing. Yes, eight years.


WA: WHEN DID YOU START WRITING?


AEA: Hmm, I started writing quite a long time before I could say I had really started writing. That's the difference I draw between mindful and unmindful writing. I started when I was in primary school; I started with some picture stories that a class friend of mine, Taiwo—I can't remember his surname—and I usually did. We would use different paintings alongside short explanations of the event at each scene to narrate stories. However most times ungrammatical, our other mates found them very hilarious, and of course, we were just 'green' kids!


WA: HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A WRITER?


AEA: The answer is simply no. I wasn't always wanting to be a writer. I actually wanted to genuinely defend my country but I knew I would hold fast to my writing skills, and I would write about many other events in the military, the gory and the glorious ones.


WA: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE A NEW WRITER, SOMEONE JUST STARTING OUT?


AEA: If I'm truly fit to offer any advice at all, I would rather the new writer picked up good books and read. To be a writer, you must be a reader first. And to continue being a writer, you must be an active reader. Reading opened and opens my world, reading made me realize the materialization of the ideas in my head few years ago. A good literature will make you feel yourself more around, more real and more vividly than you've ever felt. A good literature will open your mind, take you out of yourself to places, yet you're just in your conducive study or comfortable room.


WA: HOW DO YOU HANDLE WRITER’S BLOCK?


AEA: That's a giant one. I was even barred by this for few months without knowing what it was. The quest to break it led me to reading dictionaries. I read Chambers and Collins dictionaries completely but I still realized that even my large word bank could still fail at a point. One Mr Taiwo, a then master's student in UI later told me what it was and that by listening to people, making research on topical writings and reading both academic and non academic writings, I would overcome it. In addition to these ideas, I got a thesaurus. In it, it is easy for me to locate a word's synonymous form that fits properly in a particular context.


WA: HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU WRITTEN? WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE?


AEA: I have written five books sir. In the order of their creations, they are: Our Buffalos, Who's Olukubu?, Dual Paradigms of Now, a Humane Robber_ and Songs of Hope through a Penitent's Journey. The last one is poetry. Though copyrighted, they aren't published yet. Among all, my favorite remains Dual Paradigms of Now.

WA: WHAT IS THE MOST SURPRISING THING YOU DISCOVERED WHILE WRITING YOUR BOOK(S)?


AEA: I was just surprised that I could do better than my first draft of a book titled, The Clowns but now, Our Buffalos. It was surprising how writing challenge could help me grow that fast. Because one Rev. Ismaila who pastors at my church had challenged me some time ago, in 2013, with a deadline for rewriting after reading my very first draft that reeked of errors of all kinds. I'm just grateful he guided me and didn't kill the vibe.


WA: WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE CHARACTER?


AEA: My favorite character is in my Our Buffalos; his name is Victor. I like his willful power and surviving spirit that finally gave him a victory.


WA: WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION?


AEA: Hmm, my inspiration is actually derived from meditation on God's ways and His glorious empyrean. Aside that, I don't think anything else brings me better inspiration. There's a serene conduciveness in magnifying Him or just praying, believing that He hears me and staying silently in His presence for some moments. I get refreshed and renewed and filled up with some inner joy that is unexplainable.


WA: WHERE CAN READERS PURCHASE YOUR BOOKS?


AEA: Like I said earlier, my books aren't published yet due to some financial incapabilities. But I hope that by God's grace, next year, I shall get, at least, one published.


WA: WHERE CAN READERS FIND OUT MORE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR BOOKS?


AEA: Well, finding out more about me is not a problem. My Facebook profile, Emmanuel Adekola, speaks, as well as my Facebook page, Wale Adekola's Literary Space. People can also find more about me and my books via my personal WhatsApp contact: https:///+2349060283962


WA: HAVE ANY OF YOUR BOOKS BEEN MADE INTO AUDIOBOOKS? IF SO, WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES IN PRODUCING AN AUDIO BOOK?


AEA:No, any of them hasn't been made into audiobook.


WA: WHICH OF YOUR BOOKS WERE THE MOST ENJOYABLE TO WRITE?


AEA: The most enjoyable to write among my books is Dual Paradigms of Now simply because I enjoy the make up of its verisimilitude and the nexus created between two different worlds.


TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRST PUBLISHED BOOK? WHAT WAS THE JOURNEY LIKE?


AEA: I haven't had experience with a published work of mine. I have only accrued experiences in how tedious it may be to try to publish.


WA: WHAT, IN YOUR OPINION, ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF GOOD WRITING?


AEA: Ah, in my opinion, I strongly believe that three major elements are much more important as far as good writing is concerned. The first one is clarity, its communicative essence; two, a good command of the language of communication. And then truth. Not in the general or traditional sense but in accordance to the world created in the book. That is, the work should have verisimilitude. Don't tell us, for example, in your writing, that someone got reduced in height while walking without giving us the basis of the Gravitational Pull of the Earth that might have caused it, if you're writing a science fiction. That is my opinion.


WA: WHO'S YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR OF ALL TIME? YOUR FAVORITE BOOK BY THEM?


AEA: Choosing a favorite author, for me, is somehow difficult because I literally enjoy all authors I've come across. I've appreciated all their works being unique and aesthetic in their different styles. But to answer this question, I'll rather give a ranking to showcase my level of liking for each. First is Femi Osofisan, Ola Rotimi then Wole Soyinka, followed by Chinua Achebe, even though he's dead. Next is Chimamanda N. Adichie and then Camara Laye then Remi Raji, plus many others. Meanwhile, none of them really owns a position; there's constant interchangeability of the levels in my mind. My favorite books of these authors in respective order are: Who's Afraid of Solarin?, Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, The Lion and the Jewel, Things Fall Apart , Half of a Yellow Sun, African Child, Gather my Blood Rivers of Song.


WA: ON YOUR LATEST BOOK TITLED CAN YOU SHARE WITH US SOMETHING ABOUT THE BOOK


AEA: My latest one is a collection of poems titled Songs of Hope through a Penitent's Journey. It simply comprises of different lyrical poems yet telling a story of a person's spiritual journey with God and his experience with Ifá and other religions.


WA: ARE THERE ANY SECRETS FROM THE BOOK, YOU CAN SHARE WITH YOUR READERS?


AEA: I will share no secret but this particular one. In that poetry book, there's a secret, among many others, about our unreasonable and outrageous religiousity in Africa, and what piety truly means versus what God really wants.


WA: WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR THE STORY?


AEA: The inspiration was gotten from silent prayer to God like I said the other time. He has taken me through long spiritual, physical, emotional and alluring journeys, then He laid it so strongly upon my heart to write what could serve as an eye opener to our unrighteous righteousness in Africa and lots more.


WA: WHAT IS THE KEY THEME AND/OR MESSAGE IN THE BOOK?


AEA: I have already answered this earlier. Nevertheless, I will be more explicit. The major theme is a presentation of God's mind purely through His words. Another theme is the evil being religious, but not pious, does to us as a people in Africa.


WA: WHAT DO YOU HOPE YOUR READERS TAKE AWAY FROM THIS BOOK?


AEA:Relief. I hope they will take relief. Rest and peace and freedom from the shackles of human-hyped religiousity as well as a confidence of the mind in their approach of the spiritual. And also, fresh innovative mind.


WA: WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE?


AEA: Songs of Hope through a Penitent's Journey. The significance of this is that the songs are the different lyrical poems one will come across in it, and it is through a journey because it narrates through the penitent's life. In a world so corrupt, hardly can one find 40% of men who are still very rational. The penitent therefore hopes for a better day. He hopes that one day, the darkness will be over, light will come and he will witness it.


WA: HAS A BOOK EVER CHANGED YOUR LIFE?


AEA: I won't say yes neither will I say no. The change came before the book. Manifestation of the change is the book. The book is a representation of experiences. Glory be to God for surmounting.


WA: WHAT GENRES DO YOU LOVE?


AEA: I like all the three major genres of literature. Among the sub-genres, I think I enjoy fiction and high comedy so much and also narrative poems.


WA: ARE THERE ANY GENRES YOU DISLIKE?


AEA: As far as literature is concerned, I hate no genre. Though I can say I don't really enjoy autobiography.


WA: WHAT AUTHOR (WHO IS STILL LIVING) WOULD YOU DEARLY LOVE TO MEET?


AEA: Oh, my God! There are a number. I would love so much to meet Ọkùnrin ogun, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Prof. Femi Osofisan, Chimamanda N. Adichie and Oke Ndibe.


WA: DO YOU LIKE TO DISPLAY YOUR BOOKS ON A BOOKSHELF OR KEEP THEM IN A VIRTUAL LIBRARY?


AEA: I don't really like virtual books or soft copies. Even if what is available is soft copy, I'll print it out. On a bookshelf, yes, that's where I like to display my books.


WA: DO YOU PREFER FLASH FICTION, SHORT STORIES, NOVELLAS, OR NOVELS?


AEA: I prefer both short stories and novels to others.


WA: WHAT BOOK CAN YOU RECOMMEND TO ME?


AEA: Hmm, I can gladly recommend to you _Dream-Seeker on Divining Chain_ by Okinba Launko if you don't have it already anyways.


WA: WHEN DID YOU LAST VISIT A LIBRARY?


AEA:That's this past November. I visited KDL, Kenneth Dike Library, University of Ibadan.


WA: HAVE YOU EVER HAD A CRUSH ON A BOOK CHARACTER?


AEA: Smiles... Yes, I've once had a crush on a book character and that's Kambili of Chimamanda's _Purple Hibiscus_ .



WA: HAS A BOOK EVER MADE YOU LAUGH OUT LOUD?


AEA: Oh, yes! Who's Afraid of Solarin? did. Gbonmiayelobiojo and his cabinet members' reactions on realizing that the person who took so many things from them was just an imposter and that the real Solarin, government's inspector, had just arrived made me laugh so loud. Another one is the dancing home of the soldiers before realizing they had already reached the barracks and that they had left their guns behind in Femi Osofisan's Once Upon Four Robbers.

Even from the conversation, he said that he saw improvement after his first draft was edited. You can't be a better writer when you don't write or work towards becoming better.

Reading should be recommended for everyone and not just writers alone. However in the case of writers, reading and watching movies to learn should be continually preached. Then, write.
You can be better from writing for competitions because you will fail and get rejected many times. If you're meant to write, you will find yourself crawling back to write.

You will find yourself studying books on how to be better writer. And how do you practice all these: by reading more books?

Nah! You write and make more mistakes. The difference this time will be that you know what to look out for and what you should include because you didn't just read, you studied and carefully walked and worked through the process.