IHRAM African Writivism laureate in a candid conversation with multi-award winning poet and seasoned educationist Francis Otole
MC: Who is Francis Otole and what is he known for?
Francis Otole: Francis Otole is a Nigerian born writer, poet, and author.
MC: How long have you been writing? How many books have you written?
Francis Otole: I cannot tell precisely, but I know I started writing when I started reading, back then in the late 80s, in my primary five and six. Then it was informal; scribbling nice quotes and lines from books read. Through secondary school (high school) it developed to writing love verses and songs, sometimes for friends. In the university, friends started calling me a poet, and that was when I considered becoming a poet.
I have published a collection of poems titled Heaven is A Place on Earth.
MC: Are your works published in journals, magazines and anthologies? Mention a few of them.
Francis Otole: Yes. I have been a regular at GloMag.(India) since 2021, Revista-Azahar (Spain) from 2022, World Poetry Tree: EXPO 2020 (UAE), Literary Parrots: Series 2, (USA) 2021, Humanity Magazine, August 2023 issue, (Russia), SIPAY ( Seychelles), Cultural Identity-Vol. 1 (UK) 2022, Harbinger Asylum, 2023(USA), Lyrical Birds Chronicle-Vol.1 (India) 2023, ANA Review, 2024 (Nigeria), Voices of Africa, 2022 (Zimbabwe), Atunis Galaxy 2023 and 2024 Anthologies (Belgium), and many more.
MC: Have you perform your works on local and international platforms?
Francis Otole: Yes. A couple of times.
MC: Nigeria is well known for art, writing and creativity, who is your inspiration? Explain why.
Francis Otole: I have many inspirations. The first is nature’s poets; birds, mountains, trees, animals, the sky at noon and night, the celestial satellites; the moon, stars and sun, etc. all these beauties are interpreted and translated into poetry. Next, is the ordinary man; his behaviors and interactions with one and other. His joy and pain, knowledge and ignorance, simplicity and complexity, his aspirations, ambitions, devotion, love, hate, kindness, etc. all are poetry to explore and exploits. And then, the poets; John Pepper Clark, Niyi Osundare and Denja Abdullahi. There are others but these are prominent to me. Clark’s Casualties addresses the futility of the Nigerian civil war. One way or another, we all fall casualties, as there is no victor in war. Niyi Osundare, I love the way he addresses complex issues with simplicity. I have nine out of his numerous collections. Denja Abdullahi’s Mairogo: A Buffon’s Poetic Journey Around Northern Nigeria, is a hilarious, but witty and brilliant piece, which illustrates the sanity in insanity, the senses in nonsenses. Also, I love his narrative style of poetry and how he humorously, wittingly and pleasantly addresses complex and delicate religious issues without offense. The book is a classic.
MC: Are you a member of any organization in Nigeria? If yes explain your role and the mandate of the organizations.
Francis Otole: Yes, I am a member of the Association of Nigerian Authors, which was founded on the 27th June, 1981, by the late Chinua Achebe. Its motto is nurturing creativity through literature. It is targeted at national and individual formation and transformation through information of creativity.
MC: How many awards have you won, locally and internationally?
Francis Otole: My debut collection made the shortlist of the Association of Nigerian Authors prize for poetry, 2024. Also, I have won Gold Quill, Red Quill, Blue Quill, Poetic Ace Master, Poetic Veneration, Global Literature Guardian, etc.
MC: I can see you have a new book, the cover is beautiful. What is the title of the book, and can you tell us a little about the book, given the themes and any other literary data? What is you inspiration behind the book?
Francis Otole: Yes, the title is Heaven Is a Place on Earth. It is a collection of 86 poems divided into nine chapters: War and Peace, Politics, Love, Ethnicity, Womanity, Life and Death, Homily, Tribute, and Religion. The title is a poem in the collection.
HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH
The way
Stars peep down at night
Moon-smile beams down at night
Sky showers down confetti at will
Sun stares down at noon
And houris move around freely
No doubt
Heaven is a place on earth.
The themes are according to the chapters; the futility and evil of war, the taints and corruptions of politics, the essence power of love, the pride of being black, and racism against blacks, the power of being a woman, the emptiness and briefness of life, vagaries, religion and tribute. I have a spectrum of inspirations from man and the universe.
MC: What are you future literary ambitions?
Francis Otole: My ambition is to inform and transform the world through poetry, thereby winning the Nobel Laureate.
MC: do you write anything on human rights; free expression and freedom of speech?
Francis Otole: Yes, I do. I have whole lots of poems inspired human rights and freedom.
Francis Otole is a poet. His works have appeared in local and international journal, magazines and anthologies. He is not only a student of life, but a graduate of the prestigious Benue State University. He is a member of the Association of Nigerian Author-ANA-.He loves reading and writing. His marriage to his lovely wife, Rachael, is blessed with a twins; boys.
