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The last Saturday
of every month is fast becoming something to look forward to on the
Lagos literary scene, especially after the monthly BookJam@Silverbird
sailed into its third edition. A heavy downpour across the city, did
not stop fans of the two-hour literary event from turning up for its
usual dish of readings, performances, discussions and book signings.

On the line up for
the month of April were Karen King-Aribisala, Uzor Maxim Uzoatu and
Theatre@Terra’s playwright, Wole Oguntokun.

Inspiring reading

Playwright and stage director Oguntokun, read from the prologue to his play, Gbanja Roulette, about domestic dissension.

The award-winning
author and scholar, King-Aribisala, delivered a powerful performance
with her dramatic poem ‘Another Kingdom,’ about the search for identity
and place.

After deciding to
settle for her kingdom however, the poet-persona discovers a safer and
more secure realm in Christendom. According to the author of ‘The
Hangman’s Game’, the entire piece is a play on her name King-Aribisala,
which reflects royalty (King) and finding shelter (Aribisala -one who
finds a safe haven). “You see what a lucky person I am,” she said.

King Aribisala’s performance was a mix of reading and singing, with a voice as powerful as her imaginative writing.

There was a story
behind almost every poem read by Maxim Uzoatu from his collection ‘God
of Poetry.’ He read ‘Words Singing on Paper’ – which he dedicated to
the late apartheid era poet Dennis Brutus – ‘God of Poetry’ and ‘A Poet
is Chewed.’

Uzoatu’s ‘Dear
Teacher and Pagan’ was dedicated to Wole Soyinka. It was inspired after
the Nobel laureate questioned Uzoatu for drinking beer during a
discussion in Soyinka’s home. Uzoatu had replied, “Sir, that’s how I
get my inspiration.” An ironic question from the poem read, “Is there
palm wine in paradise?” Popularly known as ‘The god of Poetry,’ Uzoatu
then read ‘We Shall Vote With Stones (To General Babangida)’ which he
said was inspired by the W.H. Auden quote that “Poetry makes nothing
happen.” The poem he said has recently become popular after Tunde
Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly read it in his church. Speaking in
no veiled reference to former military head of state Ibrahim Babangida,
the poem read, “We shall vote with stones/Now that ballot paper stands
annulled…/It is incumbent on stones/ To vote for our evil genius/Who
turned sap to stone.”

Twenty questions

Following a musical
performance by Kafayat Quadri, the audience had the chance to ask
questions. Host of the BookJam series, Igoni Barrett, wanted to know if
the voice in Another Kingdom’ was that of another Karen. “No, that’s
me. I’m quiet and am also not quiet,” replied the Guyanese-Nigerian
author of ‘Our Wives and Other Stories.’ Others in the audience wanted
to know if Uzoatu was advocating that Babangida be stoned on sight.

“The fact is that
this man annulled an election, took a way our voters’ card, so when you
don’t have a voter’s card what do you vote with? Stones! If you take
away the soft matter they will go for the hard matter,” replied Uzoatu.

“(Babangida) is the
man, who raised the issue, he has taken away our ballots so now we are
left with stones. Whether he runs or not we shall face him in the
field. Some of us have been guerrilla journalists before we can do it
again.” With 2011 approaching as a decisive election year for Nigeria,
the role of poets and dramatists as nation builders came once more to
the fore.

“The written word
is very powerful. Just do your best and you’ll never know where your
work will go. Whatever you do can influence somebody,” Uzoatu said.

Oguntokun also
agreed with Uzoatu on the decision to vote with stones saying, “Nothing
metaphorical: stones or anything harder.” He also stressed the
importance of the arts in national development. “It is possible for
literature to influence the way things go and that is a reason for
these things we do. It’s supposed to mirror the things we do and I
don’t know any undead person who would watch IBB come back to Nigeria.”
Sharing a humorous anecdote, King-Aribisala spoke of how the Kenyan
government had stormed a performance of an Ngugi Wa Thiong’o play with
the intention of arresting a fictional character, who they felt had
inspired the people too much to be unreal. “Literature can and does
influence the society,” she said.

Questions soon
followed on the message from some of the readings. Oguntokun, however
suggested that it was better to “make your own deductions and not
compel the author to tell you [the message]. You can see something
entirely different. There are different messages for many people.”

A writer’s obligation

Drawing comparisons
between her attempt at playwriting and Oguntokun’s dexterity at the
form, novelist Abimbola Adelakun Adunni wanted to know about his
playwriting process, Oguntokun replied that she probably tended
naturally towards writing prose than drama. The playwright admitted to
getting tired of writing prose, but was instead eager to see his works
go on stage.

A curious guest
wanted to know why Oguntokun’s performances always featured guns. “How
can I live in this country and not write about guns?” Oguntokun asked
rhetorically before pointing out that the assumption was half-right.
However, while reeling off a number of his works where the gun was
absent, he conceded, “I’ll be careful.” Uzoatu also fielded questions
about the intensity and the emotion behind his works. “My idea about
poetry is just writing the first line. You write the first line, you
get the next line to be better than the first line. That’s the way you
continue until you don’t have any line to write again. I don’t think
about the message, I just think of one line after the other until I
can’t find any other line.” The author of the Caine shortlisted story,
‘Cemetery of Life’, was taken up on his preferred decision to sit at
home and write. An audience member countered the claim saying his
responsibility was to attend fora like this and explain his work.

Swiftly, Uzoatu
said he had no obligation to explain anything he had written after it
is published. “Once you have put a book out, anybody can come to you
with any kind of meaning. I’m not there to legislate for the world. I’m
not a dictator.” “It’s not your work again,” Oguntokun offered.

Write now

A guest who
proclaimed no love for poetry wanted to know if King-Aribisala had any
non-satirical works; another was eager to discover the award-winning
writing tips of the three authors. All echoed similar sentiments.

“I have a premise
which I want to prove and the premise is almost mathematical and I work
it out on paper,” King-Aribisala said. She described a spirit-writing
period where, “I just write like crazy,” she said, paying no attention
to grammar. The editing then follows to make sure everything fits into
the premise. “The essence is being able to control the emotions of your
readers,” King-Aribisala said.

“Put down your
emotions. Let your spirit go, don’t restrict yourself. Once the thing
is inside you, get it out,. If you wait until you have measured
everything down to the last sentence, you won’t write anything,” was
Uzoatu’s advice to upcoming writers in the audience.

Oguntokun described
a writer as “a person, who has taught his mind to misbehave.” The
audience was however not done and wanted to know how the writers ensure
their books have a far-reaching influence on its readers.

“I don’t think you set out to make an impact,” King-Aribisala said,
“that would be constraining yourself. Allow your thoughts to just flow.
You could even come up with a new word and new ways of saying things.”
“Just do your writing. Let the society take care of itself,” Uzoatu
said. Beefing up this stance, Oguntokun, who maintains a weekly column
in ‘The Guardian’ said, “Your writing will not impact on society if you
are a bad writer. I don’t agree that everyone is born a writer.” With
these lessons and a lucky dip, the third edition of the
BookJam@Silverbird drew to a close.