Wole Adedoyin interviews Joshua Idowu Omidire: Any Piece of Writing that must Arrest My Attention must have the Pizzazz of Philosophical Depth

WA: TELL US ALL ABOUT YOUR WRITING BACKGROUND- WHAT YOU’VE WRITTEN, WHAT YOU’RE CURRENTLY WRITING?
JIO: I fell in love with stories quite early. As soon as I was able to read in Primary 3, I read everything in sight – signboards, newspapers, storybooks etc. I also listened to stories. I started forging stories from all the stories I knew. It got to the extent that my brother would ask me to tell him a story to redeem myself from punishment. So as a kid, I got away with murder a lot of times. Whenever my brother and I were done with our food and we wanted more, my brother would ask me to tell my sister a story so that her attention would be far away from her food. While she was busy listening, my brother would steal a portion of her meal and we would share it later.
As I grew older, I realized I could write these things down. So, I started writing. I could write across genres: poetry, prose, plays and other formats. My poems and a play of mine have won me something. It’s only my prose work that is yet to win me any prize as a writer.
I am currently working on a collection of short stories. Meanwhile, I have unpunished poetry and novel manuscripts.

WA: WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT A PIECE OF WRITING?
JIO: Depth. Any piece of writing that must arrest my attention must have the pizzazz of philosophical depth. It must have the touch of relatability. It must have the capacity to make me suspend my reality. It must be peppered with what Samuel Taylor Coleridge refers to as “suspension of disbelief.”

WA: WHO ARE YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS AND WHY?
JIO: Few of my favourite writers are Gabriel García Márquez, Wole Soyinka, DambudzoMarechera, Chinua Achebe, Ben Okri, D.O Fagunwa.  Each of them influences several aspects of my writing differently. They all have what I call literary madness. Without the touch of their kind of madness, you cannot adequately explore the seemingly inexplorable aspects of human nature.

WA: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A NEW WRITER STARTING OUT?
JIO: Study the masters. That is all the literary schooling you need. Then find your path. Your journey should be different and unique. A writer is a messenger. Find your message; it’s your gift to the world. Share it through writing. Write. Write. Write. All the greatest knowledge of writing cannot make you a writer if you don’t write. The secret is in the application of the knowledge.

WA: WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE?
JIO: Writing is teaching. Whatever we teach people hardly dies. It is often handed down from generation to generation. The idea of constantly touching lives even when I am gone inspires me a lot. It is amazing to continue to make life better and more meaningful for the living even in death. The concept of artistic immortality never ceases to amaze me. Every time I write, I see myself beating death.

WA: DO YOU HAVE A WRITING ROUTINE? A PLACE THAT’S SPECIAL?
JIO: I write every day, everywhere, almost every time. You may not see me write but the lines take life in me as I behold interesting sights. There are times I carry the lines in my head for days before writing them. All through such days, the lines get finetuned before I commit them to a page. It’s funny how I don’t forget these lines until I write them down. I write in all kinds of places: in the traffic, restaurants, by the roadside, at home etc. I write at night, early morning, afternoon. I write in stunning silence and deafening noise. But I find nature special. It’s different when I write close to a body of water or gazing over mind-bending landscapes or walking through a forest.

WA: HOW, WHEN AND WHY DID YOU FIRST START WRITING?
JIO: In JSS 3, I started creating something for myself to read. I bought a special notebook wherein I wrote all my stories. This was influenced by two classmates of mine. They used to read a lot of magazines. Whenever they were done reading a magazine, they would get a notebook and create their own magazine with stories of all the cartoon films they’ve seen. I read their “magazines” and told myself I could easily do this given my history of telling my brother stories as a primary 3 pupil. I wrote my version of all the cartoon movies I saw. When I filled up my eighty-leaf notebook, I bought a higher education notebook. This time around, I wanted to write something I could relate more with so I wrote my version of the story I heard on the radio. In SSS1, a friend in the coaching centre I attended after school hours saw it and pleaded that I should let her have the book for the weekend. The following week, she was done and while returning the higher education notebook, she asked me to write another one because she enjoyed the one she just read. I was like “Really?” That was the first time it dawned on me that stories are meant to be shared and that they can touch lives.

WA: WHAT WAS THE FIRST PIECE YOU EVER HAD PUBLISHED?
JIO: My poem “Awero” was published in Sentinel Magazine. It was the first time I would be published without me being a part of the process. I posted a lot of my poems on Facebook before this time.

WA: DO YOU ADDRESS PARTICULAR THEMES OR ISSUES IN YOUR WRITING?
JIO: I am passionate about the journey of the self. It is where everything begins. The self must be loaded with dreams which will birth memories that will sustain it on its way beyond this realm. Without the adequate realization of the self, we cannot bring about positive change in the lives of others. We cannot give what we lack.

WA: HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED SENDING YOUR WRITING OUT INTO THE WORLD?
JIO:  It was the first time I felt brave enough to face the world. I was ready for whatever outcome it would bring my way. I was ready for the rejections and the acceptances. But you can’t be too ready for these things. Every rejection or acceptance hits differently.

WA: WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS FROM?
JIO:  I get ideas from dreams; from my waking realities; from the streets; from my conversations with people; from books; from movies; from pain and pleasure.

WA: TELL US WHAT KIND OF RESPONSES YOU GET FROM AUDIENCES\RS.
JIO: Readers respond differently to my works. The responses are mostly positive. My writings make people feel and think deeply because of the philosophical depth.

WA: HOW CAN PEOPLE FIND OUT MORE ABOUT YOU?
JIO: They can just google my name or look for me on Facebook and LinkedIn.

WA: TIPS, TRICKS, THINGS TO PASS ON TO DEDICATED WRITE?
JIO: Practise consistent writing. Your writing will develop in three months. Learn to send your writings to proper editors. Be brave enough to send your works out to online magazines. Do it afraid. Be ready for the rejection letters. Pick your lessons from each one and move on.

WA: ANY TYPICAL/COMMON MISTAKES THAT NEW WRITERS TEND TO MAKE?
JIO: Lots of them. Many tend to go into writing just for the fame and fortune. These reasons are valid but they cannot be the STRONG WHY for a serious writer. There will be a lot of bad days at the office and it’s easy to chicken out on such days. New writers tend to play down the place of spending on serious editing. No matter how amazing you are, get yourself an editor. New writers may not be able to withstand criticism.

WA:  WHICH OF YOUR BOOKS WERE THE MOST ENJOYABLE TO WRITE?
JIO: Oh it was fun writing my manuscript. I won’t tell you the title yet.

WA: TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRST PUBLISHED BOOK? WHAT WAS THE JOURNEY LIKE?
JIO: My manuscript is not published yet.

WA: WHAT IS THE KEY THEME AND/OR MESSAGE IN THE BOOK?
 JIO: I choose to keep this for now.

WA: WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE?
JIO: I am on Facebook and LinkedIn as Joshua Omidire.
        Threads, Instagram, and Twitter: page_adventure

Joshua Idowu Omidire is a poet, editor, publisher, and digital media strategist. His poems have appeared in SpringNG, Nnoko Stories, Footmarks, Our Legacy of Madness, and The Sky is our Earth: Anthology of 50 young Nigerian Poets. He was the winner of professor Eruvbetine’s poetry prize. He also won Professor Hope Eghagha’s Drama prize in 2012. He has been published in Pulse, Ynaija, Praxis, Literary Horizon: An International Peer-Reviewed English Journal, etc.He loves reading books, listening to music, and tapping inspiration from ordinary sights. He toys with lines, colours, and shapes in his quiet moments. In this interview with Wole Adedoyin, he talks on his writing career.