African Writers Forum

* Irene Marques: Myth and Reality

My poetry or fiction tend to mix myth and reality,
conscious and unconscious, spirituality and physicality, bringing to
the forefront the intrinsic relationship that exists between all these
planes or states of being, and questioning the very notion of what
constitutes reality, or better yet, presenting a reality that is
closer to the `whole reality' that humans inhabit or dwell in - it is
very animist and holistic. It also brings together different
geographical, temporal and cultural spaces. This intertwinement of
different cultural and spatio-temporal realities, and ways of knowing
(epistemologies) creates "narratives" that have multidimensional and
complex meanings, and allows the exploration of the oppressions and
freedoms permeating different societies. [8]Read Irene's Poetry
* Chin Ce on the Language of his Poetry

"I see the creative process as communication that goes
beyond language. I visualise an interaction that goes towards the
inner dimensions of the individual. And that interaction is neither
imagistic nor symbolic. The interaction transcends the boundaries of
language. It is knowingness that goes so deep within the individual.
The problem comes in lending expression to this knowingness; to this
self instinctual understanding or realisation and then that problem
comes when you want to give verbal expression to this experience
within the individual..." [9]More
* Anezi Okoro on his Characters

"Generally, many of my characters represent snippets of
the kind of time and period I saw as a child. The characters I portray
were the kind of characters that existed in those days. Then, the
teachers were respected. The teachers were happy to know that they
were bringing up young minds. They served as role models for their
pupils. There was no way teachers combined their duties with other
jobs..." [10]More

* Ossie Enekwe on African drama

"When I was in the university, most of our lecturers
sounded as if we didn't have drama in Africa. When I got to the United
States I came in contact with drama works from other parts of the
world. I saw Japanese and Chinese drama. But above all how drama was
presented in Japanese culture for instance. Further I studied history
of drama and I realised that many of my teachers were wrong in
supposing that we don't have drama in Africa. They felt that the
dances which were ritualistic in nature lacked dramatic impetus
because they believed that ritual and theatre were opposed to each
other..." [11]More