Regular news reports reveal so much that I have more than enough to write about- Afeez Ayomide Olagunju

 

REGULAR NEWS REPORTS REVEAL SO MUCH THAT I HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO WRITE ABOUT- AFEEZ AYOMIDE OLAGUNJU

 

Afeez Ayomide Olagunju is the founder of Cereus Publications. He is a poet, songwriter, innovator and entrepreneur. He is also a graduate of Computer Science from Osun State University. In this interview with Wole Adedoyin, he shares with him facts about his writing career.

 

WA: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START WRITING?

 

AFEEZ: It all started when I was preparing for GRE exams in 2016. I went through a lot of reading comprehension, vocabulary and writing drills. This was the time I started building my writing skills and I wrote my first poem with the help of my brother who was studying English education at the time.

 

I started writing fully in 2017. I based my writing more on poetry and then article writing because of my background as a Computer Science Graduate. The skills I gained from writing drills and the vocabulary I had built became useful in my works. Even though I didn't eventually write the GRE exams, writing stayed with me.

 

WA: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING?

 

AFEEZ: Writing has always been part of me since my elementary school days. The first significant knowledge gained while growing up is that of writing basic things like alphabets and numbers. This skill grows to a level where one can use writing to effectively communicate as one learns and move through the stages of learning.

 

Despite writing all my life, I however did not start writing poetry, which most of my works are based until 2016.

 

So, I would say I have been writing since I was a kid. I wrote my first letter at age 9 to my uncle. However, I've been writing poetry for 6 years now.

 

WA: WHEN DID YOU START WRITING?

 

AFEEZ: I became a writer after my first poem in 2016. I wrote once in a while during this time. My writing intensified in the following year because I had more time to write. However, it wasn't until early 2018 when I joined Allpoetry.com, a writing community on the web that I started writing almost daily.

 

WA: HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A WRITER?

 

AFEEZ: No. I stumbled upon writing. After I graduated with B.Sc in Computer Science, I wanted to further my education and go into academics. However, I couldn't do that. It was writing that helped me through the disappointment which almost led to depression.

 

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

 

AFEEZ: My advice to a new writer is to first pick a niche and genre which he or she can do well and start slowly. Furthermore, the new writer should be an enthusiastic learner. He/she must be an avid reader because you can't write what you don't know.

 

WA: HOW DO YOU HANDLE WRITER’S BLOCK?

 

AFEEZ: I let the block flow through me by giving myself a break. During this break, I make sure I recharge myself by learning, reading articles and books which would in turn increase my knowledge on the subject I intend to write about.

 

WA: HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU WRITTEN?

 

AFEEZ: I have two unpublished poetry collections in my kitty. They are titled: Desert to Rainforest and Poetic Inventions. The first work is a collection of poems I have written based on nature, society and poems modelled on people I tagged the desert plant. People despite dearth in basic needs and despite huge challenges, are thriving and are surviving. The second is the collection of uniquely created and innovatively written poems. These poems are about human nature, society and culture.

 

I should have edited these books but I faced challenges in publishing which I'm trying to solve by establishing a self publishing service that would enable authors like me publish books and get 100% royalty from my works.

 

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

 

AFEEZ: I was amazed by the amount of knowledge I gained while compiling my poetry books. I became the patient of my own drugs because I read much of my works this time and it greatly influenced my life and writing skills.

 

WA: WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE CHARACTER?

 

AFEEZ: Kako Onikumo Ekun of Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irumole by D. O Fagunwa is still my favourite character. I enjoyed his adventure in the face of various adversaries in the mysterious forest.

 

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

 

AFEEZ: I have not written any character. I write poetry which means I don't have to create characters to convey my message through my works.

 

WA: WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION?

 

AFEEZ: I get my inspiration from nature first of all. I love watching nature documentary which is where I get ideas about nature in my works. Also, I get my inspiration from happenings in the society. Regular news reports reveal so much that I have more than enough to write about.

 

WA: WHERE CAN READERS PURCHASE YOUR BOOKS?

 

Very soon, readers will be able to read my books online on Amazon KDP, Bambooks and Goodreads and so on. They will also be able to purchase my books on various online book stores like Amazon, Okada books, Jumia and so on.

 

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

 

Readers can find out more about me and my books on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/afeez.olagunju.35 Or join "Poetry Planet" group on Facebook.

 

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

 

AFEEZ: No! But I intend to reproduce my books into audiobooks due to its budding popularity and the ease of production due to artificial intelligent text to speech one can make use of.

 

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

 

Both of my books were enjoyable to write because of my passion for writing. However, my second book, Poetic Inventions enabled me to defy the status quo in my writing. It enabled me to raise the bar in terms of idea generation and in terms of expression. I enjoyed my time writing and compiling this book because I've always wanted to invent. Poetic Inventions allowed me to invent words, emotions and ideas through poetry.

 

WA: TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRST PUBLISHED BOOK?

 

AFEEZ: None of my books have been published yet but I'm working on getting them published through a self publishing service named Cereus Publications in which I just launched. Self publishing requires putting in efforts and it requires a lot of work because the odds are stacked against a self publisher. However, if there is a company to help alleviate the stress by doing most of the jobs required for publishing that would be a life saver for the author.

 

WA: WHAT WAS THE JOURNEY LIKE?

 

AFEEZ: I must say it was an exciting, life changing journey. I metamorphosed from being a novice writer to a proficient one. I changed from not being able to express myself well, to a good communicator through writing. Finally, I evolved from having not much command of English vocabulary to a well equipped English writer.

 

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

 

In my opinion, the most important elements of good writing are: the point of discussion or the central idea conveyed; the premise that support this idea; clarity in developing and in delivering this idea; the kind of language and the vocabulary used in expressing this idea and lastly, the mechanical aspects of writing such as spelling, punctuation and grammar.

 

 

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

 

AFEEZ: I enjoy reading nonfiction, self-help books so that I can apply the principles learnt to my life. Books like: The richest man in Babylon by George Clarson, Think and grow rich by Napoleon Hill, Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki etc. have influenced my life positively over the years. So, my favourite author is Robert Kiyosaki for sharing valuable principles about wealth in his books.

 

WA: YOUR FAVORITE BOOK BY HIM?

 

AFEEZ: Cash flow Quadrant. It's a book on how you can amass great wealth.

 

WA: ON YOUR LATEST BOOK TITLED “POETIC INVENTIONS”, CAN YOU SHARE WITH US SOMETHING ABOUT THE BOOK.

 

AFEEZ: The title of the book is Poetic Inventions. I have been working on it for a while now and I'm getting ready to publish it. The central idea of the book is to make poetry feel like the invention process. The creative process of imagining, clearly expressing and problem solving are what you would find in the book.

 

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

 

AFEEZ: All I can share about the book is that you would see poems written in a way you have never seen before. I made sure I incorporated innovation in creating the poems in the poetry book.

 

WA: WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR THE STORY?

 

AFEEZ: I'm always fascinated by the process of invention. There are many ideas I scribbled on my notebook to help solve some problems and change the production process in a number industry. I actually have blueprints of inventions which I've not been able to bring to reality. So I wanted to import this idea of inventing into poetry writing. Can't we use words to invent a new world in the minds of the reader in which their problems can be solved and dreams achieved? That was the question popped up my mind.

 

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

 

AFEEZ: The key message is showcasing how people use the power of creativity to defy their limitation and achieve their dreams.

 

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

 

AFEEZ: As there is no limit to creativity, there is no boundary to what we can achieve. We just have to involve the use of imagination to devise ways to achieve our goals.

 

WA: WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE?

 

AFEEZ: Poetic Inventions shows the power of poetry as a form of creativity to evoke emotions, ideas and values. Poetry can be attributed to the creative process of inventing.

 

WA: HAS A BOOK EVER CHANGED YOUR LIFE?

 

AFEEZ: The richest man in Babylon by George Clarson gave me ancient wisdom about money which I'm applying for financial freedom.

 

WA: WHAT GENRES DO YOU LOVE?

 

AFEEZ: Even though I enjoy reading from wide arrays of genres, I love reading self-help books of various kinds like financial, habit building, leadership etc.

 

WA: ARE THERE ANY GENRES YOU DISLIKE?

 

AFEEZ: No. I don't hate any genre in particular. If a book is interesting due to other people's review, I would read.

 

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

 

AFEEZ: I would love to meet Wole Soyinka. He is an inspiring figure in terms of literary studies in Nigeria.

 

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

 

AFEEZ: It would be a dream comes through to have so many books in hardcopy to be kept in a bookshelf. Right now, I have only a handful of hardcopy books. Most of my books are in electronic format. Thus, I'm still keeping books in a virtual library.

 

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

 

AFEEZ: As I mentioned earlier, I enjoy reading self-help book so that I can apply valuable principles to my life. Nevertheless out of the mentioned genres, I prefer novels because novels are long and if interesting can transport the mind into a new world and help build behavior by learning from the characters in such book for so long.

 

WA: WHAT BOOK CAN YOU RECOMMEND TO ME?

 

AFEEZ: I would recommend a self-help book because that's what I enjoy reading. I would recommend "Atomic Habits" by James Clear. It is an interesting, life changing book on building good habits and discarding the bad ones.

 

WA: WHEN DID YOU LAST VISIT A LIBRARY?

 

AFEEZ: It's been close to two years that I have visited the library. The name of the library is Herbert Macaulay library, Yaba and I read there in December 2019. The library is located near the area I was staying while in Lagos before I moved back to Osogbo.

 

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

 

AFEEZ: No! I have not and I don't think I will.

 

WA: HAS A BOOK EVER MADE YOU LAUGH OUT LOUD?

 

AFEEZ: I'm not a fan of comedy books but a particular book amused me because of the way other characters in the book underrated the lead character not knowing he is a secret millionaire and the son of a billionaire. It's a fantasy book and the title of the book is: My billionaire mom by Abraham Atubra (an online series).