By Prisca Sam-Duru

THE saying, “give honour to whom honour is due”, once more, played out last Saturday, at the Conference Hall B, University of Lagos, in the life of  one of Nigeria’s finest literary icons, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo when she was honoured for her immense contributions to the development of Nigerian Literature.

The occasion was the 2nd edition of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Lagos Chapter’s novel initiative; Vintage Wine  and Fresh Blends (VWFB) monthly event held in conjunction with Literamed Publications, Lagos, publishers of the popular Lantern Books and Comic series, to celebrate writers. The event commenced on a solemn note as a minute silence was observed in honour of Femi Segun, the late son of veteran writer, Mabel Segun.

Interactive session

Performance poet, Iquo Diana Eke of ANA-Lagos read an abridged version of Prof. Adimora-Ezeigbo’s literary merits before an interactive session featuring the Prof. Ezeigbo and the editor of children’s books and comics, Lantern Books, Ms Busanyo Sanyerr, began, with Evelyn Osagie of The Nation newspaper moderating.

Explaining her journey into the world of literature, Ezeigbo said that, n“I started writing creatively for a long time but I was not in a hurry to publish because I tried to develop a style and I made sure I edited myself before giving the work to the publisher.”

On the issues of self publishing, Ezeigbo said that “It is not bad to self publish since there’s limited number of publishing houses and if you want to self publish, make sure the book is in good form.” She however noted that the problem with self publishing is that there are usually, so many errors due to the fact that few editors work on the manuscript,” stressing that “Abroad, people usually have literary agents who pass the manuscript through more than ten editors before it is published.” She said stressing that there is a tendency that a writer who hurriedly submits works to the publisher would face a lot of rejections but “Do not be discouraged  by rejections from publishers rather, wait and improve yourself before you take the work to any publisher. Even Chimamanda Adichie received many rejections on some of her works.”

Winning Award according to the iconic writer, “makes you know that someone is appreciating your work and makes you want to do more. It is good to understand that everyone cannot win a prize. That you did not win a prize does not mean that you did not do well.”

The impact of criticism on a work for Ezeigbo is sometimes negative as according to her, “critics can sometimes, damage writers with blanket criticism of works. She advised parents and schools to begin early to train children in creative writing explaining that “many countries such as UK and Japan start very early to train children in creative writing. If the government is not helping, we should move on and establish things like dramatic society, teach creative writing, identify talents and train them later.”

“One advantage of being a creative writer is that you can comfortably combine writing with your profession and to be a successful writer, one must imbibe constant writing because any break makes it difficult to launch a come back.You must have a mastery of the language otherwise, you won’t be able to write well.”

Prof Ezeigbo also boasts of her ability to write in her native language as according to her, “My proficiency in my language has helped me a lot in my writing career. Right now, a publisher has asked that I write an Igbo novel and it is what I am working on now.“

Contributing to the programme, Prof Christian Ezeigbo, husband to the award-winning writer, who was present to celebrate with his amiable wife said: “If you are lucky to have somebody who is successful, the least you can do is to encourage that person to the utmost, because your joy and that person’s joy will multiply”.

“I advise people to encourage their partners so as to excel in their chosen career. Encourage both young and old people not just your partner but also, people around you because when you do so, you are encouraging yourself.” He added.On why Literamed publishers publish more of established writers than works by fresh voices, Busayo Sanyerr said it was  because “we discovered that most fresh voices we have come in contact with, have exhibited very bad writing skills”, adding that good good script speak for itself.

She explained that, “for 45 years now, and from my experience so far,  the major challenges Literamed is facing are piracy, lack of power supply, poor reading culture of Nigerians  and the social media which has caught the attention of the youths, as militating factors to the growth of publishing in Nigeria.

Chairman of Writer’s Guild Lagos, Mr. Femi Onileagbon, in his opening speech said that, “This programme invites the best of established literary figures, publishers and political figures (Vintage Wine), whose experiences and life paths have the weight to influence positively the creative development of new, young or aspiring writers (Fresh Blends) with the aim to nurture them.” adding that “if we fail to build the future of the young ones, the older society would carry their burden later in life.”