Wole Adedoyin interviews Osieka Osinimu Alao: I Write to Heal the World While My Writing also Heals Me

WA: TELL US ALL ABOUT YOUR WRITING BACKGROUND- WHAT YOU’VE WRITTEN, WHAT YOU’RE CURRENTLY WRITING
ALAO: Writing for me has been a form of healing. I write to heal the world while my writing also heals me. Been writing since I was small but became conscious of the writing gift in 2004 and since then it’s been a passionate odyssey. I’ve written poems, fictions and plays. I have self-published three poetry collections: Epidocyle (2011), Apocyle (2012) and Blood and Ink (2013). I’m currently working on my debut full length poetry collection and a play, and my earnest desire is to secure decent traditional publishing.

WA: WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT A PIECE OF WRITING-
ALAO:  I would say language and soul. Writing to me is writhing language while seeking soul. I’m drawn to aesthetic language that unlocks a certain soulful depth. Turning the mundane into marvel. Writing is purgation—an outpouring without hindrance nor pretence. The best writing is one that interrogates and explores.

WA: WHO ARE YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS AND WHY?
ALAO: Some of my favourite writers include Wole Soyinka, Rabindranath Tagore, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Toni Morison, Ben Okri, and a host of others. Their artistic visions are beacons for humanity’s transformation, which is something I’ve an affinity to.

WA: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A NEW WRITER STARTING OUT?
ALAO: The first advice would be to read a lot. The place of reading can’t be overemphasised. You need to possess a mania for reading. Then there’re the 3Fs: Fearlessness, Fervour and Faith. A writer has to be fearless because writing is plying the wild. Fervour is imbibing an undying spirit that manifests as a form of piety towards craft. Faith—whatever you make of it—goes a long way.

WA:  WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE?
ALAO:  The world around me, my immediate and distant environment. I’m always on the lookout for the next muse, the next intrigue, the next trigger, the next quest, the next encounter, the next experience and so on. You have to stay hungry, stay thirsty, stay wanting.The best inspirations come from being responsive, and sometimes it could be the littlest things that stir our beings into wonder.

WA: DO YOU HAVE A WRITING ROUTINE? A PLACE THAT’S SPECIAL?
ALAO: Every day, I try to dedicate a certain number of hours to writing. Some days I accomplish a page or two, some days a paragraph, some days a few lines or sentences and some days a word here and there. I like to write in quiet places.

WA: HOW, WHEN AND WHY DID YOU FIRST START WRITING?
ALAO: Like I said earlier, I started writing when I was small but became conscious of the gift in 2004 when I was in JSS2 or so. On that fateful evening, I was in the classroom while my mates were on the field for sporting activities. I had not joined them because I was feeling down the whole day. So, while alone I scribbled a few things and like they say the rest is history. My first notable piece was a sad poem.

WA: WHAT WAS THE FIRST PIECE YOU EVER HAD PUBLISHED?
ALAO: It was a poem in a magazine put together by my secondary school Thomas Adewumi International College, Oko, Kwara State.

WA: DO YOU ADDRESS PARTICULAR THEMES OR ISSUES IN YOUR WRITING?
ALAO: I think over time the more you read and write you tend to tilt to certain ideas. Recently, I’ve found myself obsessing over the volatile human nature and the imminent decadence of humanity.

WA: HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED SENDING YOUR WRITING OUT INTO THE WORLD?
ALAO: It felt good but a bit anxious too because you know once your work is out it somehow ceases to be yours.

WA: WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS FROM?
ALAO: I get my ideas from societal experiences and realities, some personal while others are not. As a writer you always have to be sensitive to your milieu.

WA: HOW DID YOU GET YOUR PUBLISHER?
ALAO: Through an online search.

WA: TELL US WHAT KIND OF RESPONSES YOU GET FROM AUDIENCES?
ALAO: Over the years I’ve received positive reviews from readers, critics and scholars alike. I’ve also received comments from readers who think some of my works are difficult, obscure and ambiguous. But at the end of the day, it all boils down to the individual’s understanding and interpretation of and connection with my work.

WA: HOW CAN PEOPLE FIND OUT MORE ABOUT YOU?
ALAO: Through my social media pages.

WA: TIPS, TRICKS, THINGS TO PASS ON TO DEDICATED WRITE?
ALAO: Be fluid. Be experimental. Always be your own biggest critic.

WA:  ANY TYPICAL/COMMON MISTAKES THAT NEW WRITERS TEND TO MAKE?
ALAO: I would say editing. Thorough editing. Writing builds the work while editing shapes it.

WA: WHICH OF YOUR BOOKS WERE THE MOST ENJOYABLE TO WRITE?
ALAO: All my books but I would say Epidocyle because I was about nineteen then and it was my first.

WA: TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRST PUBLISHED BOOK? WHAT WAS THE JOURNEY LIKE?
ALAO: My first published book Epidocylewas actually self-published with AuthorHouse Uk. The pre-publishing phase brimmed with a surge of excitement that came with putting out your work for the world to behold but the post-publishing phase has not been too pleasant because of royalty issues which I would not like to go into now.

WA: WHAT IS THE KEY THEME AND/OR MESSAGE IN THE BOOK?
ALAO: Epidocyle is a poetry collection that centres the phenomena of life, strife, survival, death, afterlife and eternity.

WA: WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE?
ALAO: I’m OsiekaOsinimu Alao on Facebook and @ooalao_ on Instagram and Twitter.

Osieka Osinimu Alao is a Nigerian writer, poet, editor and academic. He holds an MA in Creative Writing from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. He was shortlisted for the ANA-OSUN-OAU Prize for Poetry 2015, longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2019, longlisted for PIN’s PWPC 2022, shortlisted for the Albert Jungers Poetry Prize 2022, First Prize Winner BPPC Soro Soke Edition 2022, and a winner in the Creators of Justice Literary Award 2022.  His works are featured or forthcoming in ANMLY, Ta Adesa, African Writer Magazine, Rigorous, International Human Rights Art Movement, Kalahari Review, Lumiere Review, Of Poetic Yellow Trumpets, Poetry Column NND, Synchronized Chaos, Arts Lounge Magazine, Nantygreens, Requiem Magazine, BPPC Anthology, and elsewhere. He is @OOAlao_ on Twitter & Instagram. In this interview with Wole Adedoyin, he talks about his writing.