Arts & CultureFiction & PoetryWORLD POETRY DAY: INTERVIEW: Iyanu Adebiyi

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WAP INTERVIEW

 

In 1999, UNESCO declared the 21st of March the World Poetry Day with the goal to “give fresh recognition and impetus to the national, regional and international Poetry movement”.

Nigeria is one country blessed with creatives who have pitched their tents in the world of poetry and making waves both locally and globally; one of which is Iyanu Adebiyi.

Iyanu Adebiyi is an award-winning writer and performance poet; an artiste interrogating and exploring social issues as they affect the wellbeing of individuals and the society at large, with an aim to inspire and advocate for positive and sustainable change. In 2022, she founded Ifeleta, a poetry gift shop, and released her debut spoken word album titled Wonder in 2020. In 2021, she received a National award for her service to the arts. She has also been awarded by the U.S. Consulate in Nigeria, recognized among the top 10 spoken word artists in Nigeria (YNaija), and among the top 30 black spoken word artists in the world (Gritty Vibes Magazine U.S.A). She has been artistically involved and engaged by several institutions, community, and arts organizations including, the University of Bayreuth, Germany, Korean Embassy in Nigeria, the Nigerian House of Representatives, BBC UK, University of Global Health Equity, Rwanda, and many more.

Her work has been featured in both local and international media and she has mentored/tutored over 200 young writers. Through her meaningful performances and fast-growing platform, she has reached thousands of people with the power of words, which continues to change the lives of people from all walks of life, in significant ways. Iyanu is also a Legal Practitioner based in Abuja, Nigeria and at the intersection of her legal and literary practice is the heart of an advocate.

In marking this year’s celebration, Iyanu Adebiyi speaks to Favour about her journey, her goal and inspiration in the world of poetry.

  1. I believe this is a very significant day for you as a spoken word artist. How do you feel about this day?

I love poetry and so I am very glad and grateful that it is being celebrated all over the world.

  1. It’s still the Women’s month. In your work “Breathe”, you captured the reality of women while stirring hope in them. What do you intend to achieve in the lives of women in Nigeria and Africa with your works?

There are so many stories about the sufferings of women, about how they are marginalized and discriminated, about how their strength is measured by how much pain they have to suffer and about how we are in this seemingly never ending battle against patriarchy.

While these are true, I want to tell stories about courageous women who have dreams and go after them regardless. I want to capture the beautiful stories of courage and strength in my poems and let broken women see that they can live in spite of the pain. I want women who listen to my work to not have to listen to all the ways that so many bad things have been done to them, because they already know. Even though I do this sometimes in my advocacy pieces which are meant to educate the rest of the world (not women), I think what women need is an image of the wonder that they already are and can become. They don’t need to be weighed down and bogged down by how the odds are against them all the time. They need to be given a mirror, so that they can reimagine themselves. So, I want to create images of women who are already doing it, so that more girls can break the shackles of patriarchy that bind them by reimagining themselves through poetry as free, brave, boundless and whatever it is they want to be. Because of this, most of these “empowering” poems take the shape of prophecies, prayers, affirmations, meditations and so on.

  1. You’re one artist that embodies what it means to be committed to a course. Even when it would be understandable for you not to perform, especially in the face of sickness and pain, you choose to show up. What strengthens you to push through the odds?

In 2016, when I became depressed and suicidal, it was poetry that saved me. At some point, I forgot about my own pain and started to write poems for others like me so they could be encouraged and that was what helped me heal.

The reason why I was so sick and still did not stop writing or accepting invitations and commissions to perform is that poetry continues to heal me. In the hospital ward, poetry sat with me as a companion. I remember one day, after a very painful health episode, I had to take the stage and perform a poem. The ending line of the poem says, “What diagnosis can destroy me, if I am descendant of a healing bloodline?”

That was not a question. It was an affirmation of my body’s ability to heal itself. After that performance, I got a standing ovation and it amazed me. Only a few weeks after surgery, I received an award from the Federal Government in the Service to Arts category of the Nigeria Special Awards.

Beyond the recognition, poetry is a practice in hope for me. It is how I show up in the world. How I tell my Goliath problems that I am going to slay them. Poetry is my sling and stone and continues to show me the raw power within me to keep going even through tornadoes of trouble.

  1. What would you say is the difference between identifying you as a spoken word artist and not just a poet?

I don’t believe that there is such a thing as “just a poet”. Being a poet is a very powerful thing already. It holds a lot of transformative power and a lot of potential for positive change in society. In fact, very early in my career, I learnt that my words are enough even without the performance. Also, if I identify as anything, it is first as a poet, because I first have to write the poem on the page before I begin committing it to memory. That being said, spoken word and poetry lines are a little blurred for someone like me, however performing my poetry means that I get to back up the power of the words with my voice. I believe that my voice is the DNA of my spirit, so being able to stand up there on the stage and face several strangers sitting and staring at you, with hearts famished for words that heal and inspire, and then being able to deliver exactly that, especially when I can see the immediate effect of the words on them — a spark in their eyes, a small smile, a nod — there is nothing like it in this world. A lot of my work is written to be read, but spoken word gives me the opportunity to connect immediately with the audience and that gives me life every time.

  1. What is your source of inspiration?

This is often changing, but purpose inspires me the most. Pain also inspires me and the stories of other people inspire me too.

  1. As a Creative, it’s easier and blissful to just have inspiration sweep you off your feet but we also know the reality of those ‘dry’ days where you have to strive so hard because of how far inspiration is from you at those moments. Tell us, how do you deal with those days as a Spoken Word Artist?

I allow myself rest. I’ve come to learn that writing doesn’t only involve writing. It also involves other things like observing, listening, thinking, resting and so on. However as a professional, there are days I just have to deliver because it is a job. On those days, I try to do some exercises, go back to what I wrote before or just read.

I try to write every day too no matter how rough the words are looking, so that saves me a whole lot.

  1. You recently founded Ifeleta- a poetry gift shop. This shows Poetry is more than meets the eye to you. Please, describe your relationship with Poetry to us.

I started Ifeleta as a way to encourage others through a weekly email series of love letters. I got a lot of feedback about how impactful the words were, so I decided to expand it into something that people could also do for others. This was why I founded the ifeleta poetry shop, where we create poetry inscribed products to help others express love, affection, friendship and so many more.

It has been such a joy creating these products and getting all of these wonderful feedback. My favorite is when a groom ordered one of the scrolls for his bride to be and presented it to her in church. She started to weep as she read the words on the scroll because she felt the words deeply. It got me elated because this is exactly why I founded Ifeleta.

  1. I understand that you are also a lawyer. At what point did Poetry become an integral part of your life?

In 2016. I think I already shared that story. But a critical point was when someone, who was suicidal, reached out in my DM and told me that the poems I was sharing on Instagram were helping her stay alive. At that point, it was no longer about me. It cumulated into 2017 when I went to Law school and discovered that the real reason I wanted to become a lawyer in the first place was something that I was already doing as a poet; that at the intersection of my legal and literary practice is simply the heart of an advocate. At that point, I knew I was going to go all in.

  1. What improvement would you love to see in our country regarding the world of poetry?

I would love to see more government contributions, more individual and corporate donations. Poetry is currently underfunded, despite the fact that many Nigerian poets are receiving a lot of international recognition. I believe that with the right funds, the Nigerian poetry industry can become an international hit.

  1. We would love to experience your gift of words on this special day. Please, give us some hearty lines in celebration of this memorable day.

 

LIGHT I (TO THE ONE DROWNING IN FEAR)

To the one drowning in fear

  1. The mere echo of your voice is a roar
  2. Singing underwater is how you force the sharks to hear you
  3. The things you fear fear you

Your voice is the expanse of everything there ever is to fight for
I wonder, why you choose to subdue the song that fell from your father’s bones into your belly
It was this song that saved your ancestors from the thick of vanishing
This choosing to disrespect darkness, through shining
Through singing

Oh what light we are
Oh what light we are
When the death of night pursues
Oh what light we are

I wonder, why you choose fear when courage is so near
Your voice is louder than every monster, wider than every voice in your head
Telling you you are not enough.
Remember your mother calling you a miracle
Three times. Saying, “no matter the drowning & the turmoil,
This life is a song you’ve got to sing brave”
So I wonder, why you choose to whisper,
When scream-singing is what your voice was made to do.

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