Geraldine Sinyuy Interviews Charles Dugar, a Determined Cameroonian Writer and Retired Teacher Who Still Keeps His Pen at Work

Geraldine Sinyuy: Hello Mr. Charles Dugar. Thank you for granting this interview. Please can you tell us about yourself and what inspired you to become a writer?
Charles Dugar: What I'm today is indeed a reflection of all the learning and teaching experiences which have impacted me over time and space. While a student at the then Baptist Teacher's Training College Buea, in the South West Region of Cameroon, I got my initial inspiration to be a future writer after reading the great works of some accomplished authors. The likes of Chinua Achebe, George Orwell, Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and many more. Upon graduation, I read for the Ordinary and Advanced Levels of the General Certificate of Education, University of London. In 1977, I left Cameroon for Nigeria where I read and obtained two Diplomas in Education and Journalism & TV (Berkshire) between 1979 and 1983.
While in Nigeria, I started writing Feature Articles for "The Nigerian Standard" and "Sunday Standard" Newspapers Groups against financial remunerations.  Upon my return to Cameroon in 1984, I began writing poetry while teaching. By 2013, I published my first Literary Works titled, "Heirs in Waiting" while in 2015, one year into retirement I published "Making Ends Meet," (A collection of Short Stories"). In 2022, I again published, what I consider my Major Work titled, "The Anglophone Irredentism: Realities & Myths." By August 2024, I published, "A Glossarial Companion to The Anglophone Irredentism. I'm currently working on a manuscript to The Ngyen Muwah-Bali wars of 1952, as it were.

Geraldine Sinyuy. At what age did you start writing and what was the easiest genre for you at that time?
Charles Dugar: I actually started writing in the mid-thirties. My First Published work was written in prose and a few poems in verse too. It takes more time and diction to write verse, quite unlike prose indeed.

Geraldine Sinyuy: At what time of the day do you find more inspiration and energy to write?
Charles Dugar: Most of my best writings are done at the early hours of the morning, 2-6 am. It's the best time to think and reason with less stress. Similarly, it's the best time and moment to listen to, and communicate with nature for   rare ideas which can change the world.

Geraldine Sinyuy: Can you describe what your writing workspace looks like?
Charles Dugar:  My writing space is actually my bedroom indeed. This is because it is so exclusive to me, so much that I don't want to get any of my writing tools to be displaced for whatever reason. The writing papers, pens, a laptop, and the jotters. I can get some of my inspiration from dreams while asleep, and immediately I get up I'll quickly jot them on paper for later recollection.

Geraldine Sinyuy: How do you manage social media distractions and the writing career?

 Charles Dugar: The Social Media is not after all a total distraction, because there are both positive, and negative information which is interrelated to warrant attention. There are some Bloggers (Columnists) whose Platforms I do share and I've benefited a lot from some of their invaluable material which I've used in some of my writings.

Geraldine Sinyuy: I understand that apart from being a writer, you still have other responsibilities. Can you share with me how you manage to successfully navigate through all these responsibilities and still have time for writing?
Charles Dugar: When I was still teaching before 2014, I had to ration my time in such a way that my critical articles were often written during the early hours of the morning as already cited before, whereas most of my school duties are performed during the day.

Geraldine Sinyuy: Can you tell us which of your works brought you to the lime light of the literary circle? Can you tell us where we can find any of your books?
Charles Dugar:  My first Literary Works, "Heirs in Waiting" ostensibly gave me national exposure indeed. I got a pleasant Invitation from the Cameroon Radio and Television (Crtv) Iconic Anchor Queen, Madam Tabe Enonchong for me to come to Yaounde for a Review of my maiden Book on her Radio Talk Show, "Book World." She and Mr Shifu Ngala (retired) were the first personalities who inspired and encouraged me so much. "What's in a Handshake?" A question I wrestled with in order to lay bare the historical ramifications of the "Hug and Handshake" exchanged between President Paul Biya and the late Social Democratic Front's Party Chairman, Ni John Fru Ndi? The feedback I got after the Review on: "Heirs in Waiting" was overwhelming and enervating as a budding writer that I was then.

Geraldine Sinyuy: According your context, what is the most trending issue in present day literature as far as human rights are concerned?
Charles Dugar: My third work, "The Anglophone Irredentism" was written to address the recurring Human Rights Issues in Cameroon. As a writer, I play the unique role of a detached monitor, a nonpartisan observer with inputs towards Solutions, rather than be an Agent of Destabilization. Like great Poets, "Writers are," ipso facto "the unacknowledged Legislators of Society" after all.

Geraldine Sinyuy: Have you ever felt threatened in any way due to the kind of writing you produce?
Charles Dugar: I have never been "Threatened," by the contents of my writings, because to the best of my knowledge, I tackle critical issues of the Cameroonian society from a purely detached angle, and as fair as possible.

Geraldine Sinyuy: What advice will you give a young aspiring writer?
Charles Dugar: *Advice to Young Bording Writers*:
~Read and be informed, so you can liberate the unfortunate victims of Mental Slavery.
~Acquire a Mastery of the Queen's Language; a Rich Diction which are sine qua non to effective writing.
~Have a good mastery of Syntax and Punctuation, because many of our University Graduates nowadays write poorly punctuated Essays. This is indeed, a betrayal and an academic suicide on the Anglo-Saxon Sub System of Education.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  Thank you very much Mr. Charles Dugar for accepting to be interviewed by us. We hope to have further interviews with you in the future as your work advances. Have a blessed day.
Charles Dugar: The pleasure is mine.