An Interview with the poets Chaun Ballard and Samantha
Akwei a.k.a Brok'N Sylance
African Writing from the Diaspora
When “African literature” rose in popularity in the
1960’s times where much simpler: the great writers of the time had been born
and raised on the continent and the issues they tackled could easily be
identified as “African problems.” Fast forward to the 21st century and now
there are many writers of African descent who are writing outside Africa’s
borders. The recent anthology of African poetry edited by Tendai Mwanaka and
Daniel da Purifacação has included voices from over 23 African nations and
their respective diasporas.
Tariro Ndoro speaks to contributing poet, Chaun Ballard,
about poetry, forms and writing in the diaspora.
TN : How long have you been in the poetry game?
CB: I have been exploring the art of poetry for five
years now, which is still relatively a short time. In many ways I still feel
like an infant. I am currently entering my fourth year of graduate study, and I
am working toward my Master of Fine Arts at the University of Alaska,
Anchorage’s Creative Writing and Literary Arts Program.
TN: What kind of poetry/ storytelling tradition exist in
your culture/country and has this had any bearing on your writing?
CB: In the US, we typically focus on the use of forms.
Explorations of traditional forms and finding ways to deliver modern content
within those restraints are some of the approaches that literary magazines and
journals seem attracted to. In addition to “taking the old and making it new,”
the US has really embraced poetry written from spoken language. I can
write in my dialect, with all of its historical connotations, and that is
welcomed. As far as my own poetic content, it mostly consists of finding
the right metaphor to express my past and present experiences.
TN: What urban influences have influenced your writing?
CB: I have been influenced by all of the above (hip hop
and slam poetry) subconsciously. The trick is finding the right way to include
a broader audience. One way to do that is through the use of forms.
TN: What style of writing (free verse, lyrical etc) do
you lean towards?
CB: I have to say, currently, I am tinkering with both.
Really though, the poem does the deciding for me. I may sit down to write a
formal lyric poem, and it will come out as a Bardic free verse, or vice versa.
TN: Which writers have influenced your writing?
CB: I’m always in search for that poem that resonates.
I’m in constant search of that “Wow!” moment. I have too many poets I
enjoy—many more I have yet to discover. Currently I am reading Zeina Hashem
Beck, but in the past I have found inspiration from Kwame Dawes, Patricia
Smith, Linda McCarriston, Terrance Hayes, Yehuda Amichai, Yehoshua November,
Fady Joudah, Agha Shahid Ali, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Pablo Neruda,
Kahlil Gibran, Danez Smith, Tarfia Faizullah, Tara Ballard (my wife)…the list
goes on.
TN: How has writing in the diaspora influenced you
writing?
CB: As a poet of the diaspora, I often find myself
attracted to poetry that either expresses moments in transit, of longing,
forced or reinforced settlement. Visiting the places that my family has come
from has helped to broaden my perspective on history and colonizers. My poetry
seeks to marry to two, literally and metaphorically.
TN: In what ways have you used poetry to engage with
your community?
CB: As with anything a poet writes, my hope is that it
will encourage readers to take a second look at what is being addressed—the
content and its purpose—even if it is from a different angle or perspective.
TN: Which emerging African writers do you think will
make it big in the next 10 years and why?
CB: That is a great question, and a difficult one to
answer because there are so many new and fresh faces out right now. In the US,
I believe we are witnessing an emergence in the realm of “queer poetry,”
especially in the African American poetry community. I believe that much of the
strong and new poetry coming out are from those like Danez Smith and Cameron
Awkward-Rich. I think their challenge, like many of our challenges, will be to
resist the categorization of their poetry that may limit their readership.
TN: How do you think this anthology changes the face of
modern African writing?
I believe what this anthology has set out to accomplish,
and is accomplishing, both for the continent of Africa and the diaspora is
ambitious and necessary. At its most basic level, The Best “New” African Poets
2015 Anthology looks to creates a contextual dialogue between continental
Africans as well as with Africans of the diaspora. In a much broader sense, it
unites all those of continental descent, whether localized, and of
the diaspora, through our “deal[ing] with a panoply of issues, feelings,
thoughts, ideas, beliefs..., on identity, Africanness (Blackness, Whiteness,
Arabic, Asian...), culture, heritage, place, politics, (mis)governance,
corruption, exile, loss, memory, spirituality, sex, gender, [and] love...”
Through this anthology we are made known to one another, both visibly and
audibly, and, as with all things written, this anthology creates a lasting
platform to address various issues spurred by open dialogue. It is proper and
right that such an ambitious endeavor has risen out of the continent of Africa
herself—this anthology is the response of her children and their ideas about
place and home.
Chaun Ballard was raised in both Missouri and
California. For six years now, he and his wife have been teaching in the Middle
East & West Africa. He is currently a graduate student in the University of
Alaska, Anchorage’s MFA Program. He’s had poems recently accepted by Apogee,
The Caribbean Writer, Grist: The Journal for Writers, Sukoon, Orbis: Quarterly
International Literary Journal, Off the Coast, and other literary magazines. His
photos can be seen in the latest issues of Gravel and The Silk Road Review.
Brok’N Sylance
“I was introduced to poetry when at the age of 8,” says
New York poet Brok’N Sylance, “when my second grade teacher; Sharon Taberski
read a poem to start each day. Above every other assignment, I looked forward
to the free form of the words and the rhythm and sound of each line.” A year
later she wrote her first poem and a year after that she penned her first
poetry anthology as a part of a class assignment. It was not until I got into
high school that I was moved to join the spoken word scene. Growing up in
Harlem, in the late 80’s, early 90’s introduced Brok’N Sylance to Hip Hop
and was a pivotal part of her relationship with the spoken word tradition: “I
enjoyed watching music videos, free style battles and anything lyrically based
that required an artist to purposefully choose their words in order to convey a
certain point. I was blown away by their craft.” 2pac, Biggie, Eve and Lauryn
Hill were some of the MCs she looked up to. Spoken word hasn’t just been a
mouthpiece for Brok’N Sylance but has also allowed her to step into different
communities and be the change, “spoken word poetry awakened me to becoming more
engaged with my community. I would be hired by an organization just to share a
poem about a particular issue and then would end up volunteering. I did not
just want to talk about the change I wanted to see but began to realize that I
needed to be actively engaged as well.”
As a girl growing up in a family of immigrants, she
first felt an awareness of not belonging when she saw her grandmother struggle
with language barriers, “I would have spoken more about language barriers, what
it is like having to transform into another human in order to become a part of.
I caught on early even when my grandmother spoke no English. I saw how she
struggled, how she was respected and I told myself that was not going to happen
to me but still quietly, I admired her strength. Sadly, I do not know enough
major African writers and I will blame my Eurocentric education for that.
Ironically as a first generational Ghanaian, my parents did not speak much of
our oral tradition but as I was in college, I began to look deeper at its
comparisons especially through spoken word. However, I am proud of Best “New”
African Poets Anthology and the poets that have dared to share their soul and
look forward to supporting their work in the future.”
