Ezenwa-Ohaeto

Ezenwa-Ohaeto (1958–2005) was a Nigerian poet, short story writer and academic. He was one of the first Nigerians to publish poems written in Pidgin English. He died in Cambridge in 2005. Quotes As a kid, I wanted to be known for an invention, like Graham Bell, Galileo Galilei, Thomas Edison… you know? I wanted the sort of situation where students would be asked who invented this and they would chorus, “Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto!” just like I chorused famous Inventors in my class. I set my mind to inventing a wristwatch that could serve as a monitor: a sort of television. This idea died when I saw a palm-sized device used in monitoring a criminal in a movie. I went to my Dad and asked him to buy me one. After a six-month stay in Germany, he came back home with one, exactly as seen in the movie. That was how my Inventor dreams died. I turned my attention to drawing and painting up until I stumbled on my father’s collection The Voice of the Night Masquerade (Kraft Books, 1996). I was marvelled by it, struck by the use and placement of its words. So, I scribbled a few lines and showed them to him. He said, “Chinua, this is my work. Just go put down your own feelings.” That is what I have been doing. I started writing anything that came into my head. I didn’t mind the grammar, the punctuations… I just wrote. In time, I started maturing, understanding form, reading so many books. Writing poems to this stage in my life is sort of self-taught and a great deal of learning for me. I understudied most poems I came across. That said, the background having been set, the process of writing a poem is both hard work and easy. Let me explain. I should like to say that it takes me close to three months to write apoem I am satisfied with. When I say it is hard work, I mean when I want to or have been told to apply a particular style or given a time frame to put up a poem or when I want to write on a particular theme given to me. So, it is hard work to me in such a situation. I have to make sure the emotions are right, my message accurate, and the style well used, good metaphors and imagery employed and my diction good. When the process is easy, I mean taking my time to put it up piece by piece the way I want, writing it as I feel it, as it comes to me. Then style comes in later, during the editing stage. I have a notepad where I put down phrases, words, clauses, expressions I like and pick up from books, from conversations, from movies, from friends or highlife music and people on the street. This notepad is a process to me; sometimes I make up a poem by putting together the things in my notepad. Writing a poem is easy for me when I sit before my desk and write down my memories, the people I have met and the things I wish for. It is easy when I discuss my happiness and my pains, when I talk about you and I. I am an African, that’s an Identity. I am a Nigerian, that’s an Identity. I am Igbo, that’s an identity. I am Imo, that’s an identity. I am from Okoro Obashi in Imo, that’s an identity. I am a boy, that’s an identity. I am Dr. Ngozi Ezenwa-Ohaeto, that’s an identity. I am Ezenwa-Ohaeto, that’s an identity. I am Chinua, that’s an Identity. I am a poet, that’s an identity. All these I have mentioned, I assume all of them and they make me who I am. My identity. Identity is important: you know where you coming from, you know where you are heading to. And, most of all, you know what you want and what you are writing for. Identity defines a person. To mention a few pointers: culture, thinking processes, relationships, behavior, country, region, religion and their output, in its very many forms. In my case, the output of my identity is my poetry. My poems, the few published online, reflect this. I cannot talk about identity without mentioning my family: my mum, Dr. Ngozi Ezenwa-Ohaeto, and siblings, Nnedi, Onyii and Uche. They have had a part in shaping me for theyears I have spent with them. For sharing my bed and clothes with me. For supporting me. For understanding my person and still loving me. For eating my food when I am busy writing in my room. For locking ourselves inside a deep freezer because we wanted to know what it felt to be in a cold country. For the laughter and for calling me brother and son. Africa is my identity. And, in reality, I am Africa’s identity. This space, Africa, is what I occupy. Denying it is telling myself a lie. Though, “Africa” has no single perspective and I cannot assume all its perspectives which may come in many forms: by region, by language, by religion, by politics, by country etc. I assume this singular perspective: by country― Nigerian.In detail, I am poet who happens to be an African, living in its western area, in Nigeria. I believe this makes it more definite. External links Category:Short story writers from Nigeria Category:Poets from Nigeria Category:1958 births Category:2005 deaths