IN DEPTH INTERVIEW SERIES: Week of 21 February 2016

This week BEST NEW AFRICAN POETS has a double interview with Fiona Khan and Magno Domingos

 

Em ser um PEN- GUINÉ , Fiona Khan leva-nos profundamente em seu mundo bonito e animado como um poeta , pessoa, mulher, artista e pensador, e cito: " Tudo é por uma razão ou uma escolha ou uma motivação . Nada é incidental. O Universo eu vejo como uma criação relativa. É uma fonte de energia transiente e é binária . Nossas vidas aqui são apenas uma passagem, uma passagem ou um cruzamento. Não há permanência de qualquer coisa " .

And here is Magno Domingos secret. Some day he went to church late with his wife, thus they had to sit at separate places since the church was almost full. Midway into the preacher man’s boring sermon, he left for home, forgetting he had come with his wife to church. Midway home he remembered he had left his wife at church, thus he drove back to pick her. Magno says this still embarrasses him

ON BEING A PEN-GUINE:   Fiona Khan

       

My literary meandering started in 1992. It was my first poem published in America entitled The Cheetah and the Antelope. It was the start of many successes. These successes came from a very painful backdrop of domestic violence, emotional and mental abuse. There was only one thing that could save my sanity and that was one thing I was born with. My writing! Being gifted was something my teachers discovered when I entered school. They groomed and nurtured that talent through much toil and encouragement because I guess I always broke the conventions. I made and lived by my own rules and restrictions. My appetite and thirst for writing and reading was and still is voracious. I feel bereft or lost without it. Having a lonely childhood with very much older brothers and sisters my only companions were music and books. I am a fantastic singer from opera to pop. I wrote on everything. Toilet paper, tissues, newspapers, walls, books, pages ….

There were many poems published internationally in many magazines and anthologies. In 1995 I had my first children’s book published called I Am What I Am in five languages. It set me on a path that has been an adrenalin rush and I marvelled and cherished every moment.

What sets me apart from other poets is that I was raised and taught classics in literature. So I write with an excellent vocabulary and many feel that it makes me too bourgeoisie. It was a harsh lesson to tone down. I started spoken word poetry in 1995 and even converted it into a dramatic art form on stage with Windows of a Women’s Mind. I know how to teach students and children to write and perform poetry using rap, musical instruments and drama. I can write immediately on any topic and that’s versatility. I don’t need prompts. I have not been promoted much because of racism. Writing and publishing in South Africa has always been white and elitist and sadly I stood alone all these years fighting the system. Now we have young black yuppies who have taken up the fight and I am glad. I was really ostracised for speaking out against the system.

I am a bookaholic and invented the word ‘únputdownable’ in 1982. I live breathe and write books. I am listless if I do not read. I have become more sophisticated now with the social media where I receive all my news, reviews and the latest on everything. I have quirkiness like I must read a new book or the daily paper that is untouched. I love the fresh smell and the crispness of the pages.

My favourite books started at three years old. I was raised on fairy tales and there was one story that was edged in my mind as it was used to scare or control my waywardness. It was called The Hobbiyas and little Dog Turpy. At 4 years old I was an avid reader. At 5 the librarian used to keep all the Noddy books for me. I revelled in Enid Blyton and Beatrix Potter and read them voraciously. I was fluent at 5 years of age. My appetite for books was unstoppable. Even the librarian and my family couldn’t cope. As I grew as an orphan it became my only solace.  I was captivated by Shakespeare at the age of 12 and Thomas Hardy and Dickens, then the Iliad and the Odyssey, I read Lady Chatterley’s Lover at 12 years. It was a banned book in South Africa. My brother brought history alive with his vivid narratives of Egypt and Rome and those books filled my imagination with Helen of Troy, Cleopatra and Julius Ceaser. I loved French books from Napoleon and Three Musketeers, then Jules Verne and his Science Fiction, Wilbur Smith because being a South African he never supported the SA government and apartheid. Unlike other authors who cried apartheid but forced us to study their hardcore narratives at school and were supported financially by the education department. I loved the Orientalists in Ghalib, Tagore and Khalil Gibran. Gibran inspired my love for poetry until I found that he was very inspired and indirectly copied the styles of Indian Poets and writers. To Sir with Love was my first introduction into African literature, then Things Fall Apart. Bessie Head and the American writers.

I am presently working on a youth novel, a collection of essays on a gender issue, and my novels, two of them actually. I break this up with poetry and indeed I work so I have a full day. My social life is my writing and my followers or my colleagues. I am the project manager of the Minara Aziz Hassim Literary Award that focuses on debut and published writers. We kick started the project last year to a resounding success. I am presently completing my MBA and I am loving it. It’s my dabbling in the corporate world and its exciting.

I write every day even if its dabbling, doodling or just toying with ideas. I start at 4 am till 6am then again at 6pm until 10pm. I am flexible with time. My greatest distraction is procrastination. I do get a bit lazy. Sometimes I ponder both sides of a story or thought or idea. It takes a few days to reach a resolution. Then I get back to the writing process. I have had many challenges to divert my attention and time is not my best buddy write now. There is too much to do and too little time.

Everything inspires me. From a bee on a flower, to prayer, to the weather. I see beauty in all of God’s creation. Because I am a spiritual being, everything is viewed on a metaphysical level. Everything is for a reason or a choice or a motivation. Nothing is incidental. The Universe I view as a relative creation. It’s a source of transient energy and is binary. Our lives here are just a passage, a passing or a crossing. There is no permanency of anything.

Food for me has no value anymore as it has become too genetically modified and engineered. As a third world country we have become the dumping ground for the rest of the world. I am an award winning environmentalist. I firmly believe in permaculture and organic grown foods. The effects of climate change is devastating and has created a world -wide compromise on food, water and survival. It’s the catalyst for future wars and civil unrest. So I eat organic with a balanced diet and keep living simple. My vice is chocolate.

I am most cautious in everything I do. I know what’s my destination and I don’t allow people to deter me. If they do deter me it’s through scheming and conniving. And I do believe that karma is a bitch scorned. It comes back ten-fold to bite you in the ass and how.

The Leaf did not Fall is based on my observation last Winter and is an allegory for our political restlessness. I watched a tree shed its leaves but this one leaf, grey and shrivelled, refused to fall. For 4 months it bobbed and twirled and sung to and fro but would not fall. I thought of our President. Tenacious and indefatigable in keeping his position. No matter how hard his opposers and political foes dig up the evidence against him, he rises above them and does not fall.  Almost like a weed. I included this line which is very biblical and a metaphor.

‘Shaded by the Leaven’

In the Gospel of Luke, they speak of leavened bread. Leaven is a raising agent like yeast used to make the bread rise. But is also speaks of the work Jesus did in the community for which few people valued, most never appreciated his prophethood. And it refers to women being domesticated. When one looks at the president it is the women who are his strongest supporters, they who keep the home fires burning.

So the humble beginnings of our President has now become infected and has grown and has become too large for his own good and that of his country.

‘The parched thirst of African soil . . .’

Are the people of SA. They are tired of being raped and ripped. Then will come the succession after the elections. People are fickle and feeble with minds that change all the time. If they are not in favour of a leader ,they will be vocal by the way they vote. A typical

comparison to Animal Farm by Orwell.

BNAP is innovative in this continent in its strategy. It was researched and targeted well, looking for a niche market. This concept is only found in America but has been adapted to suit the African market and expand the opportunities in publishing. The strategic marketing via social media and using the poet’s websites and social media site to promote the book in fact encouraged the self -awareness and sales of the book. Publishing of poetry is limited to an elite few in Africa. BNAP has created a platform for emerging poets and a jump for established poets. At cost free the exposure and marketing of the talent and profiles related in making the poets a commodity and improved their profiles and saleability. With BNAP on their CV’s they are on the move. BNAP is the springboard for success for emerging poets.

My suggestion is that the poems be converted to a spoken word poetry slam at relevant venues. Its art. Its performance, its poetry.

 Magno Domingos

Conte-nos sobre si mesmo e sua formação literária .

 - Não tenho propriamente uma formação na área de literatura. Sou gestor, agricultor e estudante de economia. Tenho 39 anos de idade, sou pai (de muitos filhos), e participe das coisas da sociedade. Sou do tipo que não olha a sociedade a acontecer, prefiro me envolver.

O que você acha conjuntos que mais além da sua geração de poetas ?

- Creio que não escrevo para ser melhor, nem almejo ser especial. Apenas escrevo o que me vem à alma, sem seguir as regras e padrões impostos pela literatura. Na realidade escrevo de forma solta, de forma algo rebelde. Aí possivelmente está a diferença.

Quais são seus livros favoritos , autores, artistas e por quê

- Já li muito... Muito mesmo. Sou absolutamente fã da criatividade de Uanhenga Xitu retratada em Mestre Tamoda, Caito, Bola de Feitiço. Sou fã de Pepetela desde as suas Aventuras de Ngunga, Lueji até ao que ele escreve agora.

- Na verdade aprecio quase tudo que se escreve por aí, desde que eu consiga por as minhas mãos nas obras.

- Mas foi The Canterbury Tales de Chaucer que mais me impressionou até agora. Acho aquilo uma estrela de obra.

O que você está trabalhando agora?

- Neste momento estou a escrever dois livros (nem entendo porquê não terminei ainda), um sobre contos populares, e outro sobre uma infeliz experiência de cadeia por que passei a alguns meses atrás.

Quantas vezes você escreve?

- Escrevo sempre que tiver chance, escrevo a toda a hora, estou sempre a escrever.

O que leva a sua criatividade?

- Tudo que acontece na vida, me inspira a escrever. Absolutamente tudo. Eu escrevo sobre alegria e sobre tristeza. Também escrevo sobre os momento intermediários dos dois extremos.

Qual é a sua comida / bebida favorita?

- Gosto de comer massas, mesmo não sendo italiano.

- Ando a algum tempo a lutar contra um mini-vicio em Coca cola.

Conte-nos algo que você fez ou o que aconteceu para você que você ainda pode se envergonhar

- Fui uma vez com a esposa a igreja, chegamos tarde e o protocolo sentou-nós em lugares diferentes. No final, como não gosto de ficar nas rodas de conversas, levantei fui para fora, peguei o carro e fui-me embora... Só já quando estava chegar a casa é que recordei que havia ido com a esposa e deixei-a na igreja. Esqueci totalmente que não havia ido sozinho. Voltei, pedi desculpas... Mas enfim, até agora me envergonho de ter esquecido que fui acompanhado.

Conte-nos sobre seus poemas em BNAP

- escrevo esporadicamente. Nunca planeio o que vou escrever. Acho que sou uma espécie de observador das coisas que acontecem em todas as dimensões da vida, e está me inspiram a escrever.

- Os poemas que estão no BNAP foram feitos assim, a partir de observações que faço das moções da sociedade em angola.

O que você diria que é único sobre os melhores poetas novos africanos ( BNAP ) antologia e que tipo de impacto você acha que BNAP terá sobre a próxima geração de escrita Africano ?

- A liberdade e espontaneidade que estão patentes nesta obra, não têm par. E a obra acaba também por dar espaço a poetas, escritores e pensadores que de alguma forma não tinham espaço para fazer sair o que escrevem. E de repente temos esta visibilidade toda.

- É um exercício bom, que espero que continue é que tenha também divulgação a nível mais local.

- Claro... A continuidade vai certamente dar aos mais jovens a oportunidade de poderem influenciar-se naquilo que já está escrito, e a terem também a sua oportunidade de se anunciar.