I WILL ORDINARILY NOT ADVICE ANYONE TO TAKE UP WINNING OF
LITERARY PRIZES AS A GOAL OR AN OBJECTIVE TO PURSUE - TERSEER SAM BAKI
Terseer Sam Baki is a great lover
of the Arts, a passionate poet, editor and all round writer. He is the author
of the celebrated poetry collection, 'Euphoria of Sophistry' (2nd Runner up,
ANA Poetry Prize 2015). He was one of the judges of the EndSARS National Poetry
Competition, 2020 and a coeditor of the EndSARS Poetry Anthology. He has
published in several other literary anthologies. Terseer Sam Baki is the
immediate past General Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA,
Benue State chapter. He holds a bachelor's degree in English Education and is
presently researching for a master's degree in Language Education, all at the
Benue State University, Makurdi. In this interview with Wole Adedoyin, he talks
about his writing and experience as one of the EndSARS National Poetry
Competition Judges.
WA: FROM YOUR ENDSARS EXPERIENCE, WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE A
JUDGE?
TERSEER: Being a
judge for a literary contest in the caliber of Society of Young Nigerian Writers,
SYNW, and the International Human Rights Art Festival, IHRAF's ENDSARS National
Poetry Competition had been many things to me. It had been one of the most
fascinating and exhilarating experiences I've had in recent times. Being a
judge of that prestigious competition of such magnitude was to me an
irresistible opportunity to feel the creative pulse of the Nigerian youths in
their expression of literary and creative energies. Having watched the youths
come out in their numbers, defiling ethnic, religious and political differences
to speak out in one strong and unequivocal voice against police brutality,
assault and battery, I was sure to find a rich and solid collection of literary
pieces among those entries. Nigerian youths were clearly passionate, well
coordinated and articulate about their resistance to the human rights abuses
perpetuated by men of the Nigeria Police, and we all know that poetry thrives
better on such powerful emotional issues. Their determination to ensure that
their voices were heard loud and clear was unmistakable. It was therefore, a
rare privilege and honour to be one of the first readers of that epoch making
collection of poetry. Most importantly, reading those power laden entries with
the intention of picking out the best among them entailed that one had to do an
intensive reading of those entries, paying close attention to every printed
word, expression and so forth. Finally, I wish to add that as a serving
security officer, reading those entries provided a firsthand opportunity to get
direct feedback and an assessment of how the security and law enforcement
agencies are generally perceived by the average Nigerian tax payers whom all
security agencies are meant to serve. At the end of the day, a fraction of the
entries was published. Not everyone had the opportunity to see all the poems
that were received, but I was privileged and honoured to see and read
everything sent to the organisers of the competition. That alone is not
something to take for granted.
WA: EVERY YEAR THERE SEEMS TO BE MORE LITERARY PRIZES
APPEARING: WHY DO YOU THINK THIS IS? DO WE NEED SO MANY?
TERSEER: In my
opinion, the proliferation of literary prizes in Nigeria in itself should be a
good development. The population of Nigeria has grown significantly from less
than fifty million people to more than two hundred million people from post
independent Nigeria to the present day Nigeria. Secondly, the level of
awareness and education has also grown tremendously. Therefore, one should
naturally expect an increase in the number of things like this. If the
objective and the standards set by organisers of such literary prizes are for
quality and the advancement of literature reading and writing, I have no
problems with that. But if the intention is for the manipulation and
exploitation of vulnerable upcoming writers and literary enthusiasts, then I
have a problem with that. Literature is a veritable tool for liberation of a
people, firstly, from ignorance and secondly, from oppressive and suppressive
tendencies. Therefore, the closer that the literary art is brought to the
people, the better for us all.
WA: AS SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN A JUDGE, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU
GIVE TO ANYONE SUBMITTING A POEM TO A PRESTIGIOUS POETRY AWARD? ANY FAUX-PAS WE
SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?
TERSEER: My advice
to anyone submitting poems or any other literary work for a contest that would
lead to the award of a prize, is first of all to understand what literature or
creative writing is all about. Again, one must first of all aspire and
strive to be a creative writer. One must read widely as well as study all
relevant concepts, theories, conventions and principles surrounding each genre
of literature. In addition, every organiser of literary contest have their
entry or submission guidelines clearly spelt out in their advertorial or call
for entries. And so, the beginning of the journey into success or failure
sometimes starts from adhering or neglecting those entry requirements as
publicised by organisers of each competition. Having said all of this, I wish
to add that venturing into creative writing with the sole aim of winning
literary prizes and awards is perhaps one of the biggest mistakes anyone could
ever make. I advice people who wish to take up creative writing, especially the
younger ones, to do so because they have great love and passion for the art of
writing. Write because you have the flair for writing. Don't write because of
the financial benefits that come with wining writing contests and selling your
publications. That's not to say that making money from one's art is totally
wrong. Wining competitions and making money should be the last things to think
of after every other important thing I've earlier mentioned here is in place.
So, read, read and read have a good grasp of the art and craft of writing
before embarking on putting pen to paper.
WA: WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE END SARS OUTSTANDING POEMS?
TERSEER: Hmm,
they're many. It's a difficult choice to make, honestly. It's like asking a
mother to pick her favorite child. The level of creative dexterity demonstrated
by Nigerians and of course, non-Nigerians who sent in over a hundred entries
for the EndSARS Poetry Competition in 2020 was simply amazing. There is Chukwu
Sunday Abel's "Split Green Flag", Nwokeabia Ifeanyi John's "How
our Lights were Put Off", Godstime Nwaeze's "Bermuda Triangle"
and a whole lot of others. As a matter of fact, all ten shortlisted entries and
many others not on the shortlist actually won my heart and can favourably be
tagged my favorite EndSARS outstanding poems because anyone of them at that
level could have emerged the overall winner.
WA: WHICH POETRY COLLECTIONS ARE YOU READING AT THE MOMENT?
TERSEER: There are
tons of poetry collections currently on my shelf, waiting for me to devour, and
I'm very eager to. I'm presently and regrettably not reading any literary
pieces now, not because I don't like to. This is because of my academic work.
At the moment, I'm deeply engrossed in putting together my dissertation as one
of the conditions I need to fulfill to the Benue State University's department
of Arts and Social Sciences Education, for the award of a Masters degree in
Language Education. Amongst those collections I've mentioned are people’s unpublished
manuscripts I'm meant to edit for publication and so forth.
WA: IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT A POEM THAT WOULD MAKE YOU
INSTINCTIVELY SWITCH OFF FROM READING IT?
TERSEER: Yes. If
the first few lines of anything worth calling a poem fail to grab my interest
poetically, I lose interest in it. The truth is that any piece that fails to
deploy language appropriately isn't worth the name of a poem. Poetry is not
prose, and so, poetry must be rich in devices like metaphor, figures of sound
such as rhymes, rich diction, and originality of ideas and so forth. In all of
these, any piece of poetry must be sensible, linguistically fresh and enticing
and must have a message for its readers.
WA: WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES YOUR HEART SOAR A LITTLE WHEN YOU
READ A NEW POEM?
TERSEER: If and
when a poem appeals to any of my senses and/or emotions. You see, a good poem
must make the reader feel something them through the poem's effective
deployment of words and language. Instead of getting me irritated by its lack
of depth, penmanship and lack of good craftsmanship, anything worth calling a
poem at all should either create some mental pictures in me or evoke some
emotional stir in me. The presence of any one of these is okay, but the absence
of all of these is certainly unacceptable by me and I believe this applies to
all true poetry enthusiasts and artists.
WA: WHILE JUDGING ENDSARS POETRY COMPETITION WAS THERE A
TIME YOU DIDN’T READ BEYOND THE FIRST LINE OF AN ENTRY AND DISMISS IT
IMMEDIATELY?
TERSEER: That
terrible urge to dismiss some entries just after I started reading the first
few lines was certainly there. But people are gifted differently, and so, in
order to ensure fairness and justice, I made sure I read everything to the end,
no matter the nightmare in it. I do this with the hope that perhaps, some
contestants would prefer to save their best for the last. That's why the job of
a judge of a literary contest is such a difficult one. The judge passes through
psychological torture sometimes in attempt to read some poorly written entries
to the last lines.
WA: WHICH PRIZES HAVE YOU SEEN EMERGING RECENTLY THAT YOU
THINK WILL HAVE A BIGGER PROMINENCE IN NIGERIAN LITERARY SCENE?
TERSEER: The thing
with literary bodies and literary contests and prizes is not really in the
level of media gimmicks adopted by their organisers. It's not about the level
of what I refer to as 'whitewash' arrangements. The staying power lies on
the soundness of the foundation upon which such literary prizes stand. We have
seen many platforms offering one from of literary prize or the other fizzle and
peter out every now and then. But like the saying goes, by their fruits, we
shall know them. In Nigeria, some individuals, obscurity, rode to some level of
prominence on the benevolent wings of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA.
For some selfish and unclear reasons, some would hurriedly dump the Association
to set up some mushroom literary bodies touting one literary prize or the
other. These are the sort of mushroom literary bodies you see on and off every
now and then like the phenomenal Nigerian NEPA. But that is not to say that
there are no promising literary prizes with genuine intentions and high
prospects of bigger prominence in the Nigerian literary scene. A few of them
actually come to mind, such as the recent collaborative efforts between the
Society of Young Nigerian Writers, SYNW and the International Human Rights Art
Festival, IHRAF who successfully organised the 2020 EndSARS National Poetry
Competition.
WA: DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THOSE ENTERING COMPETITIONS ARE
INFLUENCED TOO MUCH BY THEIR IDEAS OF THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE JUDGES AND WRITE
TO THE DETRIMENT OF THEIR POETRY?
TERSEER: True, that
possibility cannot be ruled out completely. In a desperate attempt to seek to
impress judges, contestants are sometimes misled into overstretching themselves
artistically. You see, art is meant to be a free expression of one's creative
and imaginative ideas and impression about any given subject matter. One is
supposed to be as real to oneself as possible. Seeking to impress unduly leads
to disastrous consequences. There's tendency to put oneself under an undue
pressure thereby putting one's natural poetic flow in serious jeopardy. It is
always better to write at the dictates of one's heart than in an attempt to
please a judge.
WA: HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR YOU AS A JUDGE TO FIND A NEW
VOICE?
TERSEER: Besides
being a judge of a literary contest, I've been actively involved in managing a
literary organization, the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, through which
literary awareness, reading and writing campaigns have vigorously been pursued.
These campaigns are generally aimed at among other things, the discovery of new
talents in creative writing. As a judge I found myself doing same thing in a
different manner. You see, the harvest is much, but the labourers are few.
There is still so much to write about. So many gaps to fill in the literary
space and few writers are available to carry this out. Again, there are many
more budding talents to be uncovered and brought to limelight. The Nigerian
literary scene still yearns for new voices to take over from the established
giants of the older generation of writers. So, as a literary enthusiast, I'm
elated whenever I come across a promising young writer with the potential to
redecorate Africa or Nigeria on the world map of literature.
WA: DO YOU IMAGINE THAT READING LOTS OF POETRY FOR A
COMPETITION LIKE THIS WILL HELP WITH TEACHING POETRY?
TERSEER: Reading
lots of poetry as a judge of a poetry contest actually provides the opportunity
to directly assess how well the contestants understand what poetry entails.
Instead of requiring them to answer questions on aspects of good poetry, they
turn in pieces of poetry for a direct assessment. This form of assessment is
very useful in the teaching and learning of poetry. It serves both as an assessment
of learning and an assessment for learning. It provides a good opportunity to
know areas of strengths and those of weaknesses of the learners (contestants)
which puts the teacher (judge) in a better position to know what next line of
action to adopt.
WA: ANY ADVICE FOR POETS HOPING TO WIN FUTURE PRIZE?
TERSEER: I would
ordinarily not advice anyone to take up winning of literary prizes as a goal or
an objective to pursue. I would rather strongly advice aspiring writers to take
time to hone their creative skills by being voracious readers of good texts. It
is only through serious reading of literary texts that one gets to understand
the basics of what good writings are. Aspiring writers also need literary
appreciation skills to understand some of the literary concepts, conventions,
theories and principles of literature and creative writing. When one has gotten
a good grasp of these, only then can one think of indulging in creative
writing. If one decides to enter for a writing competition, one should do so to
seek for validation or assessment of one's writing. In summary, setting out to
write to win prizes is what I seriously discourage writers from indulging in.
WA: TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND
TERSEER: Well, I
hail from Ikurav-Tiev 1 in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State. I
grew up partly in urban areas and partly in rural areas. My primary education
wasn't stable as I attended about five primary schools at different points in
time across three states of Nigeria, namely, Benue, Imo and Ondo. My love for
the literary Arts started as far back as when I was in primary five. Before I
finished my primary education, I had already developed a strong love for
reading stories. At that time, I didn't even know there's something called literature
whose preoccupation was nothing other than stories. I got to secondary school
and was excited to find out that there's a subject that dwells squarely on
stories, and since then, my love of stories has never dwindled. At a point in
time, I would stay indoors and read all day and night till all of me hurt. I'm
presently in my mid forties. There wasn't much of the television for me to
spend time watching while growing up and so, most children at that time got
their entertainment through hardcopies of books. That helped a great and I
guess that's what has shaped the most part of my life. I get confused whenever
people say literature is difficult. I don't see the difficulty in reading and
enjoying stories around the world. Fast forward, I'm professionally trained to
teach language and literature. I'm the award winning author of "Euphoria
of Sophistry", a poetry collection approved by the Benue State ministry of
education for use in senior secondary schools. I write, I edit and counsel
people on the art and science of reading and writing. I'm a senior public
servant with the federal ministry of interior who is happily married with five
beautiful children.
WA: ANY TYPICAL/COMMON MISTAKES THAT NEW WRITERS TEND TO
MAKE?
TERSEER: I think
the commonest mistake that new and emerging writers make is to set their minds
on winning prizes. The second is being in a haste to publish. The third is
trying to copy others' style of writing. Of all these common mistakes, I think
rushing to publish is the worst of them all and should be avoided if one
intends to come out of press in the grandest of styles.
WA: WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT A PIECE OF WRITING AND WHAT MAKES
YOUR HEART SINK?
TERSEER: I'm
usually spell bound by any piece of writing if the style of the writer is so captivating
and I am also able to relate to the events of the story and there is so much
suspense such that I find it difficult to eat until I've finished reading the
very last page. My heart sinks when characters that I admire or have pity for
in stories are made to suffer untold hardship from beginning of stories to
their end without any form of compensation. A good example is Abu Bakir in
Cyprian Ekwensi's "An African Night Entertainment."
WA: WHO ARE YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS AND WHY?
TERSEER: I have
read so much such that it's hard to say exactly who my favorite writers are. I
love Suemo Chia, Isidore Okpewho, I love Ayi Kwei Armah, Chuma Nwokolo, Peter
Abrahams and Wilbur Smith to mention just a few. All these writers have left
indelible marks on me and they all have unique styles that are just peculiar to
them.
WA: WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?
TERSEER: I'm a
public servant at the moment and so there are a lot of things I wish I could do
but I just can't do now. I hope to retire into full time literary engagements.
I hope, wish and pray that I have time to complete many of the manuscripts,
mine and those of others that I had started work on but I’ve been compelled to
abandon for years, I hope to start a literary agency and publishing outfit. I
hope to be able to assist people live their dreams of writing and publishing
with less hassles.
WA: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A NEW WRITER STARTING
OUT?
TERSEER: Read
widely, know the basics of the art, join literary groups, don't ever be caught
without a pen and a writing pad, keep a diary and make entries in it daily, be
true to yourself, believe in yourself, tell yourself that you are the best and
believe that to be true, write from your heart and don't be in a mad rush to
publish.
WA: HOW SHOULD OUR MEMBERS APPROACH YOU IF THEY WANT TO?
TERSEER: I blog
and I'm very active on social media, especially on Facebook. I blog at https://terseersambaki.wordpress.com my email is terseersam@gmail.com. You can tweet at me on
@baki_ter and on Facebook, I'm Terseer
Sam Baki. I also run the Facebook page "Pen & Pad Africa." Anyone
can reach out to me through these platforms.
