Sola Osofisan
11-24-2008, 03:22 PM
Achebe deserves much more than a Nobel — Evelyn Osagie ANA-Anyiam Osigwe Prize winner
By Ahaoma Kanu
For someone who cried when she read her first novel, understood the pains and fear of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart and put life into poems during her undergraduate years, Evelyn Osagie was cut out for the Arts. Coming into journalism some few years she became a co-winner of the ANA-Anyiam Osigwe Literary Journalist of the Year award this year. In this chat with AHAOMA KANU, she goes back to how she got so intrigued into the Arts and why she believes veteran author, Chinua Achebe deserves the Nobel Prize.
Foray into Literature.
I will say that I was first a creative writer before I came into journalism; in the University of Benin (UNIBEN) where I attended I was part of the Creative Writers Association in UNIBEN and became a coordinator of the association at a time. Beyond that, I have been involved in Poetic Performances on stage where I perform the poems. Though it may be referred to as Poetic Performances, I see it as Poetic Monologues; I performed the poems of writers and also those of my classmates, my lecturers and so on. I love to put life into poems so that they will watch what they have written come to life; it's like words coming alive. I also used to perform in literary gatherings like ANA gatherings and so on.
Attraction to literature.
I had always been creative and loved literature. As a child I read a lot. During my primary school days, I read the Drummer Boy and that spurned my interest in literature. I will say that my father influenced a sort of reading culture into me by giving me and my siblings newspapers to read; he would give each and everyone of us a portion to read and explain to him when he comes back from work, that particularly developed an interest to read in me. He used some of the items in the house to influence us like the clock, he started with that until we all could tell the time before he came with the newspaper thing which helped and developed our reading abilities a great deal as it became a pattern. Also during my primary school days, I won a prize of a book, Shettima and after reading the book, I was so moved by what he was going through that I cried; the author was able to hold my emotions to the extent that I felt what Shettima was going through. I started looking forward to the second part which I was later to come across many years later in The Return of Shettima when I was in secondary school. I also read Without a Silver Spoon, Chike and the River and so on, I will say these books spurned my interest in literature.
Preference for African literature.
I came across books by foreign authors and I am talking about books like the Ladybird series that had Snowhite and the Seven Dwarfs, Alice and the Looking Glass, Jack and the Bean Stalk and so on but my preference for African literature was because of the ability of the authors to relate an environment I was familiar with into their books; I did not grow up in the village but we did travel home on holidays and got a bit of the village environment. In books by Nigerian and African authors, they are able to capture that setting in their books; they captured our world in a somewhat real perspective that whenever I saw myself going to the village I would be thinking about a book I read and look out for some of the things written about. I read Lamb Tales from Shakespeare in secondary school and later the complete works of Shakespeare which was part of my course content but I can still not relate to those stories; they still appear as fairy tales to me, larger than life in a way but to an English person, it will make s lot greater sense that it would make an African. That was why I stuck to African literature.
Coming across Achebe's Things Fall Apart.
I came across Things Fall Apart on screen before I read the book; I saw Okonkwo as played by Pete Okonkwo and the others that was when I identified with that novel and one of the articles I submitted for my entry was the Things Fall Apart report I did at Ogidi in Anambra State. I will say that maybe one of the fascinations I have about the novel stems from the fact that I met the book on screen before reading the print version; I commend those who directed and produced the movie, they captured the pains and fears of Okonkwo vividly. He was trying so much to fight against change not really wanting to give in to the fact that change is the only inevitable aspect of a man's life, he saw the White men coming to desecrate a tradition that identified them and tried all he could to stop them. He wanted so much to keep his tradition or what they Igbos call Omenala to remain. The cultural values of a people makes them what they are and he tried so much to defend it even to the point of taking his life. I still salute Achebe for that work and I am not amazed that it is gathering awards and honours in the event of its 50th anniversary, it will continue to remain a literature that the world will live with year after year. To me the book is an all time classic because it evokes the same feeling and emotions anytime you read it and that makes it outstanding.
Achebe and the Nobel Prize.
This issue has been on all the way but then I believe he deserves it going by the antecedents of Things Fall Apart alone; it has been translated into more than 50 languages of the in the world and even foreign lands recognised it before Nigeria did. Other languages started translating the book long before Nigerians deemed it fit to translate into the languages we have here. I spoke with the person that translated the book into the Igbo Language; he is a world Igbo translator and also translates Pastor Chris's Rhapsody of Realities in Igbo. He told me translating Things Fall Apart was a project on its own. Also the novel has sold an astronomical number of copies and is still selling, I remember speaking with Niyi Osundare, Odia Ofeimun, Ahmed Yerima and the grand daughter of Usman Dan Fodio about their first contact with the book and they told me that they were spellbound about what Achebe achieved with the book; Pa Gabriel Okara actually told me that when he read the book he discovered that somebody had doen what he was planning to do in relating the African experience in words. If these great writers all have these to say about the book then I believe Achebe deserves much more than a Nobel.
Winning the ANA-Anyiam Osigwe Literary journalist Prize
I am actually a co-winner and I must tell you that when I was informed that I was short listed among other great writers that made the final list I was contented at that point but when I went to Zamfara because my curiosity of the place drove me more than the prize; I wanted to go to Zamfara and savour the environment, I was not really thinking I would win in the category so you could imagine my surprise and shock when I was called as one of the winners. I am not afraid of what ever expectations many may be looking out for from me as I will keep doing what I have passion for since winning the prize.
Publishing own works.
I have some manuscripts that I have written but the situation of things in the country is making it difficult to publish and again, I never wanted to go into Self-Publishing because that is one of the factors bringing down the standards in this country. I wanted my scripts to go through thorough editing and the publishing house I spoke to gave me a bill that is Herculean at my level now. My going into journalism has opened my eyes to the fact that many of my works needs to be revisited; I am more experienced and need to upgrade the poems.
National Daily (http://www.nationaldailyngr.com)
By Ahaoma Kanu
For someone who cried when she read her first novel, understood the pains and fear of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart and put life into poems during her undergraduate years, Evelyn Osagie was cut out for the Arts. Coming into journalism some few years she became a co-winner of the ANA-Anyiam Osigwe Literary Journalist of the Year award this year. In this chat with AHAOMA KANU, she goes back to how she got so intrigued into the Arts and why she believes veteran author, Chinua Achebe deserves the Nobel Prize.
Foray into Literature.
I will say that I was first a creative writer before I came into journalism; in the University of Benin (UNIBEN) where I attended I was part of the Creative Writers Association in UNIBEN and became a coordinator of the association at a time. Beyond that, I have been involved in Poetic Performances on stage where I perform the poems. Though it may be referred to as Poetic Performances, I see it as Poetic Monologues; I performed the poems of writers and also those of my classmates, my lecturers and so on. I love to put life into poems so that they will watch what they have written come to life; it's like words coming alive. I also used to perform in literary gatherings like ANA gatherings and so on.
Attraction to literature.
I had always been creative and loved literature. As a child I read a lot. During my primary school days, I read the Drummer Boy and that spurned my interest in literature. I will say that my father influenced a sort of reading culture into me by giving me and my siblings newspapers to read; he would give each and everyone of us a portion to read and explain to him when he comes back from work, that particularly developed an interest to read in me. He used some of the items in the house to influence us like the clock, he started with that until we all could tell the time before he came with the newspaper thing which helped and developed our reading abilities a great deal as it became a pattern. Also during my primary school days, I won a prize of a book, Shettima and after reading the book, I was so moved by what he was going through that I cried; the author was able to hold my emotions to the extent that I felt what Shettima was going through. I started looking forward to the second part which I was later to come across many years later in The Return of Shettima when I was in secondary school. I also read Without a Silver Spoon, Chike and the River and so on, I will say these books spurned my interest in literature.
Preference for African literature.
I came across books by foreign authors and I am talking about books like the Ladybird series that had Snowhite and the Seven Dwarfs, Alice and the Looking Glass, Jack and the Bean Stalk and so on but my preference for African literature was because of the ability of the authors to relate an environment I was familiar with into their books; I did not grow up in the village but we did travel home on holidays and got a bit of the village environment. In books by Nigerian and African authors, they are able to capture that setting in their books; they captured our world in a somewhat real perspective that whenever I saw myself going to the village I would be thinking about a book I read and look out for some of the things written about. I read Lamb Tales from Shakespeare in secondary school and later the complete works of Shakespeare which was part of my course content but I can still not relate to those stories; they still appear as fairy tales to me, larger than life in a way but to an English person, it will make s lot greater sense that it would make an African. That was why I stuck to African literature.
Coming across Achebe's Things Fall Apart.
I came across Things Fall Apart on screen before I read the book; I saw Okonkwo as played by Pete Okonkwo and the others that was when I identified with that novel and one of the articles I submitted for my entry was the Things Fall Apart report I did at Ogidi in Anambra State. I will say that maybe one of the fascinations I have about the novel stems from the fact that I met the book on screen before reading the print version; I commend those who directed and produced the movie, they captured the pains and fears of Okonkwo vividly. He was trying so much to fight against change not really wanting to give in to the fact that change is the only inevitable aspect of a man's life, he saw the White men coming to desecrate a tradition that identified them and tried all he could to stop them. He wanted so much to keep his tradition or what they Igbos call Omenala to remain. The cultural values of a people makes them what they are and he tried so much to defend it even to the point of taking his life. I still salute Achebe for that work and I am not amazed that it is gathering awards and honours in the event of its 50th anniversary, it will continue to remain a literature that the world will live with year after year. To me the book is an all time classic because it evokes the same feeling and emotions anytime you read it and that makes it outstanding.
Achebe and the Nobel Prize.
This issue has been on all the way but then I believe he deserves it going by the antecedents of Things Fall Apart alone; it has been translated into more than 50 languages of the in the world and even foreign lands recognised it before Nigeria did. Other languages started translating the book long before Nigerians deemed it fit to translate into the languages we have here. I spoke with the person that translated the book into the Igbo Language; he is a world Igbo translator and also translates Pastor Chris's Rhapsody of Realities in Igbo. He told me translating Things Fall Apart was a project on its own. Also the novel has sold an astronomical number of copies and is still selling, I remember speaking with Niyi Osundare, Odia Ofeimun, Ahmed Yerima and the grand daughter of Usman Dan Fodio about their first contact with the book and they told me that they were spellbound about what Achebe achieved with the book; Pa Gabriel Okara actually told me that when he read the book he discovered that somebody had doen what he was planning to do in relating the African experience in words. If these great writers all have these to say about the book then I believe Achebe deserves much more than a Nobel.
Winning the ANA-Anyiam Osigwe Literary journalist Prize
I am actually a co-winner and I must tell you that when I was informed that I was short listed among other great writers that made the final list I was contented at that point but when I went to Zamfara because my curiosity of the place drove me more than the prize; I wanted to go to Zamfara and savour the environment, I was not really thinking I would win in the category so you could imagine my surprise and shock when I was called as one of the winners. I am not afraid of what ever expectations many may be looking out for from me as I will keep doing what I have passion for since winning the prize.
Publishing own works.
I have some manuscripts that I have written but the situation of things in the country is making it difficult to publish and again, I never wanted to go into Self-Publishing because that is one of the factors bringing down the standards in this country. I wanted my scripts to go through thorough editing and the publishing house I spoke to gave me a bill that is Herculean at my level now. My going into journalism has opened my eyes to the fact that many of my works needs to be revisited; I am more experienced and need to upgrade the poems.
National Daily (http://www.nationaldailyngr.com)