Olubunmi Ilori, 24, is a young Nigerian lady who asserts that she is "crazy over
poetry,". This blog briefly caught up with her in Abeokuta, which she explained
is her hometown (city, really)...
QUESTION: To be honest, one rarely comes
across a young west African female so much into poetry. You
say you
have written over 20 poems yourself which you hope to
publish...how
did it all start for you?
ILORI: I just loved
poetry since I was young, I loved the flow of words, learning new words
regularly, short
and sharp expressions, allusions, similes and the like. Some years
ago (before I had my baby) I and a few other girls used to
go to local
poetry sessions with some guys... It was fine up to a point,
but you
know how it is...the guys think they know it all in poetry,
and some
of us females would feel we were being patronised or
regarded as sex
objects...but one learnt a lot, grew in the process. For one
thing I
learnt more about European or world poetry; I particularly
liked the
Bronte sisters as poets...
Q: But they were
all majornovelists...
ILORI: They were also poets. In fact their first
ILORI: They were also poets. In fact their first
published book was poetry, containing dozens of poems they
had
written...it was charming. Charlotte and her other two
sisters all
raised the money to bring out the book themselves. I can
imagine how
happy they were when they saw their first book in
print!
Q: But you admit that established Nigerian female poets excite you too...
Q: But you admit that established Nigerian female poets excite you too...
ILORI: They do! One is startled to learn that
there are
so many of them, though on the surface it might look as if
the women
are not writing. Look at a wonderful writer like Lola
Shoneyin for
example, she has written a world class novel (The secret
lives of Baba
Segi's wives) but for me she is a poet, a great one.
However, the
female poet who excites me most, though, is Jumoke
Verissimo...pix below
ILORI: Then I am afraid you can't be much into poetry! For me, there's
something so
exotic, sensational and irresistible about Verissimo's
poetry. Anytime
I see anything written on her in the media, or on the
internet, I must
read again and again. Her first book of poems, I am Memory,
won many
awards; and another new one is out now, The Birth of
Illusions! You
should do more research on her!
Q: Okay...but
coming back to you, it's clear you get little or no exposure staying in a
relative
backwater. How do you plan to progress as a poet yourself?
ILORI: My time will come in due course, hopefully. The
important thing is for me to continue to learn more, write more, somewhat
progress...
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