Inside the Writer’s Mind: Adesiyan Oluwapelumi
Adesiyan Oluwapelumi, one of the IHRAM’s treasured writers, shares his musings, inspiration, and drive as an author and activist. Thank you for all you do, Adesiyan.
What moves you? What compels you to pick up a pen or open your laptop to free write?
For me, writing is a medium of expression; it is the way I communicate with the outside world using the page as a transmitter. It’s also a rebellion for me — a way I resist the stereotype of my introverted self and deluge into an extroverted character on the page. It is my voice and how I am heard.
What human rights concerns are you most moved by? What inspires and influences your writing, particularly when it comes to addressing human rights issues?
The freedom of expression and opinion. Particularly, here in my part of the world, I watch people lose their lives over expressing their opinions. This has had a tremendous impact on how I write to resist these capitalist forces trying to tame the power of my humanity and citizenship.
The human rights concerns addressed in the IHRAM literary magazine are often complex and challenging to navigate. How do you navigate the balance between highlighting these challenges and maintaining a sense of hope or optimism in your writing?
I see it this way: optimism is knowing that no matter how dark the tunnel might seem, there is light at the end.
Please reflect on the power of art and literature to influence social change. Do you believe art has the power to influence positive change?
Art has the power to really transform and inspire. To quote James Baldwin, "the writer's only real task [is] to recreate, out of the disorder of life, that order which is art". Thus, Art is order. It is solidarity and a canvas of language uniting us and causing positive social change – either by documentary, poetry, prose, etc. – in the orchestra of things. Significantly, in the surge of the Palestine crisis, this has proven evident.
What drew you to become a contributing author for the IHRAM magazine, and how do you personally connect with its mission?
I resonated with the magazine's goals on the publishing grounds and personally connected with its initiative to ensure an expansion of the power of art, from the spoken word to dance and music. But similarly, to support artists in their quest to heal the world through the use of positive creativity.
The values of IHRAM include beauty as a fundamental creative principle, sincerity, vulnerability, celebrating diversity, and opening doorways of engagement. How do these values resonate with your writing, and how do you incorporate them into your creative process?
Sincerity and vulnerability are key as a Creative because only at the bedrock of truth lies the true beauty of art. It is this inclusion and reception of the audience's engagement that threads us together, irrespective of creed or tribe by a common struggle and a common thought.
How does your environment influence your view of the world (your home country, city, and surrounding culture)?
Here, in the heart of Nigeria, the psyche of the environment discriminates and segregates you from the rest of the world; but daily, I learn to configure this anomaly in identity and know that I am not inferior because of my skin color. To quote James Baldwin once again, "I was a black kid and was expected to write from that perspective. Yet I had to realize the black perspective was dictated by the white imagination”. This is not discriminatory, but an act of resistance against the ideal that bondages.
In comparison, how does your intersectionality influence your view of the world (your personal beliefs, gender expression, religious affiliations, etc.)?
One of my personal beliefs is that the world is a big enough ballroom where everyone is allowed to dance to their own music; by definition, their own doctrines or affiliations. It is left to us to tolerate each other's differences.
Read and enjoy all of Adesiyan’s previously published work:
Ethos
Tomorrow is a Dove
Fantasy Magazine, Poet Lore, Tab Journal, Poetry Wales, Variant Literature, Shallow Tales Review, Brittle Paper, Rising Phoenix Review, International Human Rights Art Movement (IHRAM)
