SPOKEN WAVES (ISSUE 6)

SPOKEN WAVES (ISSUE 6)

ANDREW PATIENCE

• Can we meet you?

I am Andrew Patience, fondly called “AP”. I’m a poet, spoken word performer, radio broadcaster and founder, Custodians of African Literature (COAL).

• Why Spoken word?

Spoken word as a genre of art is not only entertaining but very penetrative to the consciousness of people. I see it as a great tool for transmitting whatever message a poet has to the world. It is a combination of emotions, word play, voice inflection, performance etc. All these elements come to play when performing a poem and it invariably makes it easier for people to understand the message a poet seeks to pass across, thereby making it easy to communicate deep truths to an audience from different backgrounds and social orientations. Spoken word debunks the mythical belief most Nigerians have about poetry being difficult to comprehend, it helps and best expresses words of profundity in simple yet deep performances. So, spoken word because I see it as a revolutionary tool in capturing whatever aspect of life a poet seeks to reveal to the world in his or her poetry.

• What do you intend to achieve with Spoken word?

I’m a social advocate, and spoken word has been a great advocacy tool for me as a poet. Love is the greatest force in the universe, and it is the greatest theme in poetry. I believe that whatever form of advocacy we see in society, it is because of a love that has been bruised, so I choose to use the creative tool of spoken word to correct certain wrongs I find in society by raising our collective consciousness to truth.

I have a spoken word album entitled ‘I AM’ (http://www.coalng.com/writings/reviews/i-am-spoken-word-album-review-charles-bassey/). The ‘I AM’ Spoken word album has fourteen tracks on it, profiling on different social issues. Spoken word as a tool for social change, has also led me into the production of a spoken word poetry advocacy video (https://youtu.be/bn3JK72Eae0) that addresses child labour, teenage sex, road hawking by teenagers and the imperativeness of child education. Coming to a point when we only breathe love as humans is pretty much ambitious and somewhat an unrealistic dream but this is what I intend to achieve with spoken word poetry.

Click to watch and share

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ENEMINYENE EROMOSELE

• Can we meet you?

My name is E.Eromosele, a graduate of philosophy from the University of Uyo. I love simplicity and passion. I believe in doing things I’m passionate about. When growing up, my parents had always wanted me to become a Catholic priest but I chose my career path, opposing their initial expectations, not because I wouldn’t listen to them on a good day, but I wasn’t ever passionate about becoming a Catholic priest. Spoken Word Artistic Poetry (SWAP) is what I’m passionate about, and it’s what I’ve set out for myself as a career. I’m very happy being a Spoken Word Artistic Poet (SWAP).

• Why Spoken word?

Okay! Spoken Word Artistic Poetry is different from the olden days Shakespearean sonnets written in old Elizabethan English, endowed with the complexities of grammar, thereby creating some level of ambiguity and posing a problem of understanding to an average reader, I decided to venture into Spoken Word Artistic Poetry because the everyday human person can relate to the message it passes; with lesser stress you can understand the poet. For me, the essence of poetry fails when we can’t use its tools to discuss contemporary and predominant problems affecting us in our immediate society. Poetry is supposed to stand as a platform of advocacy and the poet, a bridge between the masses and the elites. Furthermore, poets should even serve as a voice to the voiceless, “nature” inclusive. So, I appreciate Spoken Word Artistic Poetry because it relates the individual to issues surrounding man and his environment better than the normal page poetry. Please don’t misunderstand me, page poetry still maintains its value, but from a subjective standpoint I prefer Spoken Word Artistic Poetry.

• What do you intend to achieve with Spoken word?

Interesting question! Spoken Word Artistic Poetry is a mega enterprise; it is talent-developing, educational-oriented, and can boost the financial state of this country if proper measures are carried out. But most importantly, with the pun and wordplays it can add flair to good oratory skills. So you see we can do a lot with SWAP. But what I intend to archive with spoken word is very very much. If I had the powers, I would use a column to discuss my vision for SWAP. However, I will try as much as possible to be straight to the point and direct.

First of all, I have a brand which I use in promoting spoken word, Sky Bird Poets…I want to see how we can appreciate Spoken Word Artistic Poetry widely in this part of the world. Hence, creating a market and possibly an industry out of spoken word artists just as we have it outside the country.

But to be very personal about it, I would want every spoken word artistic poet to feature in mega events, get paid big time for their services for a wide appreciation of spoken word artistic poetry at large.