IN MALAWI, POLICE ARE SHIELDED WHEN THEY ABUSE HUMAN RIGHTS; THEY HAVE BETRAYED THEIR ASSIGNED DUTY – FRANK KALIATI
Frank Kaliati is a 28 year old writer of poetry and prose fiction from Malawi. His Poem “State Armed Robbers Squad” came second in the just concluded END SARS National Poetry Competition, in this interview with Wole Adedoyin, the author of “The Four That Matter”, shared with him some facts surrounding his winning entry and writing career.
WA: YOU ARE THE AUTHOR OF THE WINNING POEM “STATE ARMED ROBBERS SQUAD”, WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS AND INTENTIONS IN THIS POEM
FK: My goals and intentions when writing the poem 'State Armed Robbers Squad' were that being an African and learning the incidents of police brutality in Nigeria I was filled with anger since the very same thing happens in Malawi whereby the police are shielded when they abuse human rights such as by rape or mercilessly kill the defenceless innocent. I really wanted to denounce those evils through my poem.
WA: HOW WELL DO YOU FEEL YOU ACHIEVED THEM?
FK: I believe I achieved the goals of denouncing police brutality since my poem has crossed boarders and being in second position this will attract more people to read the message and have a clear picture of the abuse of the law by the so called law enforcers.
WA: HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED WITH THE SUBJECT OR THEME OF YOUR POEM?
FK: As stated in point one I became involved in the theme of police brutality after witnessing several cases of disregarding birth rights done by the people that we expect to be our defenders.
WA: WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WRITE IN YOUR PARTICULAR FIELD OR GENRE?
I prefer poetry simply because one can easily express their feelings greatly but in simple and few words.
WA: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING?
FK: I have been writing prose and poetry for thirteen years now.
WA: WHAT KIND(S) OF WRITING DO YOU DO?
FK: I do poetry and prose fiction such as short stories.
WA: IS WRITING YOUR FULL-TIME CAREER? OR WOULD YOU LIKE IT TO BE?
FK: Writing is not my full time career but I intend to make it so since the passion has been growing with the years.
WA: ON A TYPICAL DAY, HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND WRITING?
FK: I spend all my free time each day writing on any theme that comes to my mind.
WA: WRITING CAN BE AN EMOTIONALLY DRAINING AND STRESSFUL PURSUIT. ANY TIPS FOR ASPIRING WRITERS?
FK: To aspiring writers, all I can say is that never give up, good ideas come when you are stressed or in bed and before that idea disappears same way it came write it down and one day it will grow into something big.
WA: HOW DO YOU HANDLE LITERARY CRITICISM?
FK: I entertain Literary Criticism, this makes me to polish up wherever need be and this allows me to add more ideas to my pieces of writing.
WA: WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION?
FK: I have always had my inspiration from the genius, William Shakespeare, his writings live with any generation and he is always relevant in any scenario one can think of. His simple and humble beginning sparks determination in me that nothing is impossible.
WA: WHERE CAN READERS FIND OUT MORE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR BOOKS?
FK: Readers can find more about me and my writings through my Facebook account username, FRANK O'JOSELVES KALIATI or through my email address, Frankkaliati@gmail.com.
WA: WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR THE STORY IN YOUR POEM?
FK: The inspiration for the story in my poem was that I had to share heart breaking crimes done by the police even here in Malawi, for instance, a village was raided in Malawi by the police in 2020, out of vengeance that one police officer was killed, the police attacked the village by arresting the men and raping the women up to this day no arrest has been made.
WA: WHAT IS THE KEY THEME AND/OR MESSAGE IN YOUR POEM?
FK: Readers should have a clear picture that police brutality is real and no matter how much the men in uniform will try to intimidate us justice will always find its way home.
WA: WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE?
FK: The title was a mockery to the original meaning of the acronym SARS, this was done to expose that the officers have betrayed their assigned duty.
WA: WHAT WERE THE KEY CHALLENGES YOU FACED WHEN WRITING THIS POEM?
FK: The only challenge I face even after writing this poem is that I wanted all Malawians to read it and see the evils done by the police but I have not had a wide coverage of the audience towards this poem here in Malawi.
WA: WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT WRITING?
FK: When I'm not writing, I love teaching literature especially creative writing and analysing some genres of literature such as poetry, prose or drama.
WA: WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND WHY?
FK: My favourite author has always been William Shakespeare, simply because all of his writings make one to think deeper in order to deduce meaning, I always want my pieces of writing to be in such a way that the reader should be influenced into thinking deeper towards the meaning or message in my writings.
WA: WHAT BOOKS OR AUTHORS HAVE MOST INFLUENCED YOUR OWN WRITING?
FK: The Shakespearean sonnets and Jack Mapanje's poems have always influenced my writing.
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