Meet the Author Interview:
Uchechukwu Onyedikam, also known as Mystic Poet, is a creative artist based in Lagos, Nigeria. His work has appeared in Amsterdam Quarterly, Poetic Africa, Hood Communist, and elsewhere. He is keen to further his intense love for poetry by working with creatives from around the world. His poem,‘Ten Years’, is on YouTube.
1. Basho, Buson, or Issa? (No saying Shiki, even if that's the correct answer.)
- Basho.
2. Publications, where was your first and your most recent?
- Cold Moon Journal / recent: The Culinary Saijiki.
3. Favorite film director?
- Kunle Afolayan.
("A Nigerian actor, producer and director widely credited for elevating the quality of Nollywood movies though larger budgets, shooting on 35mm, releasing in cinemas, and improving cliché Nollywood storylines.")
4. Favorite musician?
- Fela Kuti.
("Also known as Abami Eda, a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the pioneer of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre that combines West African music with American funk and jazz. At the height of his popularity, he was referred to as one of Africa's most 'challenging and charismatic music performers'. AllMusic described him as a musical and sociopolitical voice of international significance.")
5. Who's a great haiku or senryu poet whose work speaks to you that you’d like more people to be aware of?
- I'd like people to be aware of Christina Chin: she makes magic with haiku/senryu.
6. Politically if you had the ability to fix one issue via policy changes what would it be?
- Right to change of government.
("#EndSARS is a decentralised social movement, and series of mass protests against police brutality in Nigeria. The slogan calls for the disbanding of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a notorious unit of the Nigerian Police with a long record of abuse on Nigerian citizens.")
7. Describe a pet you treasure/d, your own or someone else’s.
- My dog (Bobby).
8. If you could nominate one poem (not your own) from the last year and its poet for an award, who and what would they be?
- Oritsegbemi Emmanuel Jakpa (poem: Dear Pablo Neruda).
("Born in Warri, Nigeria, Oritsegbemi Emmanuel Jakpa is currently living in Ireland. He studied at the University of Lagos, and the University of Iowa. He obtained his M.A. from Waterford Institute of Technology. His poetry has been published in over 400 online and print journals and an Irish-Canadian anthology, Landing Places, and the African American Review. He was nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Prize by The Swarthmore Literary Review, The Taylor Trust, and Jack Magazine. He received the Yeats' Pierce Loughran Scholar Award in 2008.")
9. Who is one historical person whose activism or accomplishments especially inspire you, and why?
- Kofi Annan — was a gracious man with compassion.
("A Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, as well as chairman of The Elders, an international organisation founded by Nelson Mandela. He reformed the UN bureaucracy, worked to combat HIV/AIDS (especially in Africa) and launched the UN Global Compact.")
10. What have you learned about writing poetry you wish you realized earlier?
- Collaboration: it improves one's creativity.
11. One food you particularly adore?
- Fufu with oha soup.
("Fufu is a dough-like food found in West African cuisine. Oha soup is a Nigerian delicacy from the Eastern region, commonly prepared by the Igbo people from an evergreen tree whose botanical name is Pterocarpus mildraedii. The main ingredient for the soup is the oha leaf, others include uziza, achi (soup thickener), meat, crayfish, palm oil and salt.")
12. In your poems what bird, plant, or weather pattern has appeared frequently?
- Harmattan.
("The Harmattan is a season in West Africa that occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into the Gulf of Guinea.")
13. If you could get a roundtrip plane ticket and accommodations comped to any place, where would you visit?
- Namibia.
(''Namibia's extreme landscapes are a big part of why the country is so unique. From the sand seas of the Namib where you'll find the tallest dunes in the world, to the awe-inspiring Fish River Canyon, Namibia is home to some of Africa's most spectacular natural sights.")
