Sola Osofisan
08-15-2009, 06:19 PM
By Jumoke Verissimo
When Lola Shoneyin published her first book, So all the Time I Was Sitting on an Egg (a collection of poems), many took notice. Hers was a clear-cut voice that had to be heard. She followed with the assured poetry volume, Song of a Riverbird.
Shoneyin says her writing has since “become less spontaneous, less reactionary.” She is not sure if this is “a good or bad thing.” She recently sat down with NEXT to discuss her writing career and the books she has in the pipeline.
It all started from the age of nine, while at a boarding school in Winterbourne, Bristol, UK, where she represented her school at a local poetry recital competition and had to learn Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” off by heart. Although she didn’t win, she believes that it tutored her to do one thing: “I learnt to read poetry convincingly.”
Poetry and songs have since then been part of Shoneyin’s life. At an early age she was already published in school publications. Her third collection of poetry, For the Love of Flight will be published in October 2009.
Shoneyin’s love of songs will remain in the written form. “I love singing but I can only sing with my family,” she says. “Both my husband and my son play the guitar so we have regular family sing-songs. On one of those occasions, you might find me singing Leonard Cohen or Paul Simon, but I wouldn’t want to put non-family members through that misery.”
Looking back on her career, Shoneyin reflects that her writing has been immensely shaped by her childhood, which though “complicated, both geographically and emotionally,” was soaked in the laughter shared in her family—a contrast to her being largely melancholic most of the time: “I had several anxieties that I didn’t know how to share.
MORE (http://www.234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/ArtsandCulture/Books/5442752-147/story.csp)
When Lola Shoneyin published her first book, So all the Time I Was Sitting on an Egg (a collection of poems), many took notice. Hers was a clear-cut voice that had to be heard. She followed with the assured poetry volume, Song of a Riverbird.
Shoneyin says her writing has since “become less spontaneous, less reactionary.” She is not sure if this is “a good or bad thing.” She recently sat down with NEXT to discuss her writing career and the books she has in the pipeline.
It all started from the age of nine, while at a boarding school in Winterbourne, Bristol, UK, where she represented her school at a local poetry recital competition and had to learn Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” off by heart. Although she didn’t win, she believes that it tutored her to do one thing: “I learnt to read poetry convincingly.”
Poetry and songs have since then been part of Shoneyin’s life. At an early age she was already published in school publications. Her third collection of poetry, For the Love of Flight will be published in October 2009.
Shoneyin’s love of songs will remain in the written form. “I love singing but I can only sing with my family,” she says. “Both my husband and my son play the guitar so we have regular family sing-songs. On one of those occasions, you might find me singing Leonard Cohen or Paul Simon, but I wouldn’t want to put non-family members through that misery.”
Looking back on her career, Shoneyin reflects that her writing has been immensely shaped by her childhood, which though “complicated, both geographically and emotionally,” was soaked in the laughter shared in her family—a contrast to her being largely melancholic most of the time: “I had several anxieties that I didn’t know how to share.
MORE (http://www.234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/ArtsandCulture/Books/5442752-147/story.csp)