Ghana Writes interviews Romeo Oriogun, 2017 winner of the Brunel International African Poetry Prize.

By Ekuwa Saighoe

Oluwasegun Romeo Oriogun is a recognized contemporary Nigerian poet who has found his world in poetry. He recently won the Brunel African Poetry Prize for his chapbook, Burnt Men. Oriogun describes his background as a tough one as he grew up in Benin City, a place in Nigeria which makes men out of boys. Touching on how he got interested in poetry, Romeo lost his parents one after the other at an early age. This situation left him with no choice than to search for his purpose in life and work hard to achieve it by hook or by crook. Through these changing scenes in his life, he found solace, hope, and home in poetry and he grabbed it with both hands. Although pursuing poetry comes with its own hills and valleys, he tries to make the best out of it, perfect his craft and live life to the fullest.

The significance of the Brunel African Poetry Competition to contemporary African poetry facilitates the cementing of the place of modern poetry by young African poets. According to Oluwasegun Romeo Oriogun, he had developed a keen interest in the Brunel International African Poetry Prize for a while and was drawn to it when he read Warsan Shire’s poems. Shire’s poems inspired Romeo to address delicate issues confronting the society, through poetry. Romeo participated in the competition because the competition offered him a voice and he used this opportunity to work on poems that interrogated discrimination against lesbians and homosexuals. Commenting on the reason why he decided to speak on issues concerning LGBT, Romeo articulated that during the previous year, a gay man was lynched to death and there have been countless cases of the humiliation of homosexuals and lesbians. In view of this, he found it essential to confront this situation through his poems. Unfortunately, after winning the prize, Romeo has received attacks, hate messages and threats due to the portrayal of LGBT themes in his poems.

Regarding his next project, Romeo is working on his first full collection of poetry and the collection will cover themes concerning memories, migration, and homosexuality. He advises budding writers to cultivate the habit of doing a lot of reading. He also added that up and coming writers should experiment on varying topics and issues and never be afraid to express their voice.

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Oppong Clifford Benjamin Authors New Book Titled The Virgin Mother

The Virgin Mother is a 2017 collection of eleven short stories authored by Oppong Clifford Benjamin who also happens to be a poet originally from Ghana. Clifford in an interview with TheAfricanDream.net said most of the stories in his new book are fictional.

“The book takes its title from one of the stories within” – The Virgin Mother – as the author explains, “this is mainly because all the eleven stories glorify the grand design of life by God.”

Clifford continued to explain, “for instance, The Virgin Mother story celebrated the feminine side of God and talked about the mysterious ways the female God manifested Herself to a group of high school dancers. In the story Red Means Go, the character Akushika demonstrated the hidden powers God bestowed in every woman upon reaching the age when she bled once monthly. And so are the other stories; they all are glorifying God in one loud way or the otherwise.”

Oppong Clifford Benjamin says there’s room for all in The Virgin Mother

The book is an anthology of stories written by the author over a period of two years, many of which came out of real life inspiration that he said evolved from experiences with people he had met in life and others from books he had read. The Virgin Mother story, for instance, was inspired by Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello.

“I personally advise readers of this book to be at least aged 16 and beyond based on the diction of some of the stories therein, else it’s pretty much open to students of mysticism, lovers of literature and people in search of amusement. Everyone wanting more from the commonest things of life is absolutely welcomed to read it” – Oppong Clifford Benjamin.

Forte Publications based in Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia, are the publishers of the book. The author met the founder of the publishing house, Mr. Forte Othniel through a poetry anthology called Portor Portor. Both parties have since maintained a close relationship and so it was a matter of the right thing happening at the right time that brought the book to life.

To buy the soft copy of The Virgin Mother follow this link or simply type the title and or author’s name into the Amazon.com search box online.

About the Author

Oppong Clifford Benjamin is a Civil Engineer by profession now pursuing postgraduate studies. This short story collection is the first attempt at prose by the author who indulges more in poetry. His poems were featured in Kwee Magazine, The Portor Portor by Forte Othniel (an international anthology which featured twelve emerging and established poets like Professor Anthea Mark-Romeo and Jack Kolkmeyer, both renowned poets) and the UK poetry library.

“I have read my poems to audiences in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Russia and am a regular contributor to the Words Rhyme and Rhythm (WRR), platform“, Clifford revealed to TheAfricanDream.net. WRR is the largest poetry sharing platform in Africa, owned by Kukogho Iruesiri Sampson, a multi-award winning Poet from Nigeria.

In 2013, the WRR named the author as Ghana Poet of the year. Clifford runs the www.ghanawrites.com blog, his works have also littered the Internet courtesy of his Facebook account and other social media outlets.

Source: Oral Ofori

https://www.theafricandream.net/oppong-clifford-benjamin-virgin-mother/

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