Reading other writers enables me to learn from the strength or flaws in their works - Gabriel Sunday Afolayan

 

AKURE BOOK CLUB INTERVIEW SERIES

READING OTHER WRITERS ENABLES ME TO LEARN FROM THE STRENGTH OR FLAWS IN THEIR WORKS - GABRIEL SUNDAY AFOLAYAN

 

Gabriel Sunday Afolayan is the author of Beyond the Silent Grave, Romoke: the Little Orphan, Pa Jeje’s Legendary Tales and other titles. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Nigeria. He possesses a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Mass Communication and currently on his PhD at University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Gabriel Sunday Afolayan is no doubt, one of a few crops of committed writers in the 21st century Africa. A former News Correspondent and Staff Writer with National Concord (defunct) and The Guardian newspapers respectively. Afolayan is a member of the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE), Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Africa Journalism and Communication League (AJCL) and Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). His works are widely used as literature reference texts in many universities in Nigeria and abroad. In this comprehensive interview with Wole Adedoyin, he talks about his writing vocation.

 

WA: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START WRITING?

GSA: Firstly, it was youthful exuberance - that childhood wishful thinking to be a writer. That was in my primary school days when I used to write down some of the stories, mostly fables that my father used to tell us inside unused note books in such a childish way. Then later, writers like James Hardly Chase, D. O. Fagunwa, Robert Ludlum,  William Goldie and many of the Pacesetter's series authors, to mention a few, inspired me a lot, particularly James Hardly Chase, because of his fast moving detective stories, suspense and adventurism.

WA: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING?

GSA: I started amateurishly in primary school but my active writing career started when I was an undergraduate, about three decades ago. Then I used to write short stories for a soft sell magazine in Lagos for stipend.

 WA: WHEN DID YOU START WRITING?

GSA: Long ago.

WA: HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A WRITER?

GSA: Yes. I had always wanted to be like the authors of those wonderful stories we used to read in primary school books in those days; books like "New Oxford English Course" (NOEC), "Alawiye" and so on.

WA: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE A NEW WRITER, SOMEONE JUST STARTING OUT?

GSA: To me, no writer is actually born. Great writers are made. No matter your level of intellectual endowment, if you don't put it to use, it will remain dormant. The Chinese say "the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step". A starter should take a bold step to start out. He should not resent his humble beginning. Constant writing improves one's capability. He should be determined and focused. Just start writing and continue to write. However long the journey may be, a determined stammerer will pronounce his father's name. In addition, reading is very important. All great writers are avid readers. When you read constantly, you also learn constantly.

WA: HOW DO YOU HANDLE WRITER’S BLOCK?

GSA: I relax and reflect on how to break out of the conundrum. When satisfied, I refuel and fire on. Sometimes I may restructure or overhaul my plot formation.

WA: HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU WRITTEN?

GSA: My first major and successful title - "Beyond the Silent Grave" - a 251-page novel - was published by Spectrum Books, Ibadan, Nigeria in 2001. After that, I have written many others, out of which six have been published by other publishing companies.

WA: WHAT IS THE MOST SURPRISING THING YOU DISCOVERED WHILE WRITING YOUR BOOK(S)?

GSA: The most surprising thing is sometimes ending my storyline differently from how I earlier conceived it.

WA: DO YOU HAVE FAVOURITE CHARACTER(S) THAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN? IF SO, WHO? AND WHAT MAKES THEM SO SPECIAL.

GSA: Yes. My favourite characters in my works are (1) Pa Jeje - the narrator in my short story collection - "Pa Jeje's Legendary Tales" for his role in inculcating morals in his audiences - little children; and (2) Dr David Okoye, in "Nemesis" - for not taking vengeance on his oppressors when the tide changed. 

 WA: WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION?

GSA: From God and the society. First, God is the source of all good things. Second, literature is a reflection of life experiences.

WA: WHERE CAN READERS PURCHASE YOUR BOOKS?

GSA: Bookshops and online sources. 

WA: WHERE CAN READERS FIND OUT MORE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR BOOKS?

GSA: Google search, my publishers and my institution - Rufus Giwa Polytechnic (formerly Ondo State Polytechnic), Owo, Nigeria.

WA: HAVE ANY OF YOUR BOOKS BEEN MADE INTO AUDIOBOOKS?

GSA: No. But many of my poems have been recited in book reading sessions. Apart, one of my works "Nemesis" has been adapted into a home video.

WA: IF SO, WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES IN PRODUCING AN AUDIO BOOK?

GSA: Getting someone who can read so fluently to sustain readers' attention and getting commensurate returns for your investment because of its novelty in this part of the world are some of the challenges.

WA: WHICH OF YOUR BOOKS WERE THE MOST ENJOYABLE TO WRITE?

GSA: Let me answer by saying the easiest of my books to write is "The Recalcitrant King" because the story was handed over to me by my late father. I did not need to rack my brain to start thinking of conjectures or permutations.  All I needed was to do a little modification on it to make it more appealing to modern readers.

WA: TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRST PUBLISHED BOOK?

The title of my first published work is "Beyond the Silent Grave". I started writing it as an undergraduate. It went through series of restructuring and modifications thereafter, especially when I started reporting for the defunct National Concord and later The Guardian newspapers. As a news reporter, I had the opportunity to really work on the manuscript due to my improved competencies. It would have been published by Longman in Lagos where I was asked to abridge it due to its volume to be accommodated in the "Drum Beat Series" but when Spectrum Books, Ibadan accepted to publish it without abridgement, I willingly let go. Unfortunately, it was four years after its acceptance that the book was finally published in 2001. In 2003, it was nominated for ANA/Cadbury Prose Prize; while in 2004 it was also nominated for the first edition of the NLNG administered Nigeria Prize for Literature. Apart from being used as a literature reference text in some universities in Nigeria and beyond, it has been reviewed in many literary journals across the globe.  Most notable among these were published in University of Texas, Austin, US, University of Oklahoma and "World Literature Today" - the highest global journal featuring outstanding works in literature. In 2013/2014, it was among the few story books that won the FGN/UBEC Intervention Grant of the Federal Ministry of Education. By implication, the book is in all public libraries and schools across the nation. Among other dividends, I earn annual royalties on the book and it has been doing well in the market place.

WA: WHAT WAS THE JOURNEY LIKE?

GSA: Smooth and rough. Smooth because writing places one above his contemporaries, in most instances. It earns someone high regard everywhere one goes. Many people follow me on the social media, for instance, because of my writing antecedents. So being a writer is actually status conferral. It also builds confidence in you to make commentary on the society through the expression of your thoughts in the various themes raised in your book. Rough because books do not bring much returns to writers these days like in those days. This is partly due to the abysmal manner in which reading culture is getting eroded among the youths. Another issue is getting a reputable publisher to take on your work, especially on "regular publication"

WA: WHAT, IN YOUR OPINION, ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF GOOD WRITING?

GSA: Simplicity. I tell my students that "the best writer in the world is someone, who writes in the simplest form of a language that everyone can understand". Simplicity brings clarity and other features of good story telling. So don't write to impress. Avoid high sounding grammatical compositions. Write to communicate. Be yourself. Don't force to imitate other's style.  Simplicity enables you to communicate effectively. In addition, reading other writers enables you to learn from the strength or flaws in their works.

WA: WHO'S YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR OF ALL TIME?

GSA: Hard to choose. Different writers impress me in different ways. For instance, I love Wole Soyinka because of his rare ability to drive home his message using few characters. Interestingly, you see these characters exhibiting different shades of human behaviours or attitudes. I also love Chinua Achebe because of his down to earth narration and his ability to employ many characters and ascribe roles to all of them without complicating his plot structure. However, as a youth, I was really fascinated by writers like James Hardly Chase, Nick Carter, Robert Ludlum and the rest because of their fast paced and suspense ladened detective stories.

WA: YOUR FAVORITE BOOK BY HIM?

GSA: "The man died" by Woke Soyinka and "Things fall apart" by Chinua Achebe

WA: ON YOUR LATEST BOOK, CAN YOU SHARE WITH US SOMETHING ABOUT THE BOOK.

GSA: My latest book is "Pa Jeje's Legendary Tales" It is a collection of three short stories, entitled "Taiwo and his naughty friends", "The three greedy rascals" and "The foolish beggar and the rich man". They were purposely composed for senior primary school pupils. The major preoccupation of the work is didactic, that is, to teach moral uprightness in the younger generation. The book is currently a hot cake among schools in Ondo and Ekiti States.

WA: ARE THERE ANY SECRETS FROM THE BOOK, YOU CAN SHARE WITH YOUR READERS?

GSA: Morals. Etiquette.

WA: WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR THE STORY?

GSA: To build a total person in our children. To give them sound knowledge about life from the angle of literature and build their character fitness.

WA: WHAT IS THE KEY THEME AND/OR MESSAGE IN THE BOOK?

GSA: The themes include "consequence of disobedience and evil doing, reward for hard work and piety, building confidence in God,  the evils of greed, helping the needy and less privileged", among others.

WA: WHAT DO YOU HOPE YOUR READERS TAKE AWAY FROM THIS BOOK?

GSA: Good storyline, morals.

WA: WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE?

GSA: The title evokes the age long African tradition of the "story by the moonlight" of yesteryears where children gather from the neighborhood to listen to fables and stories of legends narrated by aged man/woman, usually at the village square or house frontage.

WA: HAS A BOOK EVER CHANGED YOUR LIFE?

GSA: Yes. Books like "The Conquest of Happiness" by Bertrand Russell, "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hills, The "Richest Man in Babylon" by John Carson, Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People", and so on.

WA: WHAT GENRES DO YOU LOVE?

GSA: I love all genres but I am more at home with prose, poetry and essays.

WA: ARE THERE ANY GENRES YOU DISLIKE?

GSA: I am a general reader but more comfortable writing prose and poetry.

WA: WHAT AUTHOR (WHO IS STILL LIVING) WOULD YOU DEARLY LOVE TO MEET?

GSA: Woke Soyinka, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Salmon Rushdie.

WA: DO YOU LIKE TO DISPLAY YOUR BOOKS ON A BOOKSHELF OR KEEP THEM IN A VIRTUAL LIBRARY?

GSA: Both.

WA: DO YOU PREFER FLASH FICTION, SHORT STORIES, NOVELLAS, OR NOVELS?

GSA: It is the writing prowess of the individual writer that determines readers' preference. I read all manners of good or well written narratives but my preference is dictated by the way the writer expressed his thought.

WA: WHAT BOOK CAN YOU RECOMMEND TO ME?

GSA: "Beyond the silent grave" and "The recalcitrant king” by Sunday Afolayan

WA: WHEN DID YOU LAST VISIT A LIBRARY?

GSA: As an academic, I visit my school library regularly, to read or write but the last time was about a month ago, to borrow a textbook on Advertising.

WA: HAVE YOU EVER HAD A CRUSH ON BOOK CHARACTER?

GSA: Yes. It was Abel Whittle and Farfrae in "Mayor of Casterbridge" by Thomas Hardy. These characters later became the albatross that signalled the down fall of Michael Henchard - the protagonist in the book.

WA: HAS A BOOK EVER MADE YOU LAUGH.

GSA: Of course, books like "The Lonely Londoners" by Samuel Selvon, "So Long a Letter" by Mariam Ma Ba, etc.