OSEMWENGIE ZION FROM BENIN CITY, FEELS AT HOME WITH THE HAIKU

Osemwengie Zion (Courtesy photo)

  WHAT DREW YOU TO ENTER FOR THE COMPETITION?

Having stopped writing haiku for some time, the competition came as a path leading one home and I couldn’t help but follow. When I wrote my first haiku, I had a deep connection with it but gradually, the love started to wear out till we became silent lovers on separate shores bearing broken memories of the sweet past.

So when submissions were called for, I hurried to write mine not mainly for the contest but as a way of an errant coming back. A lover returning home after all is spent.

  DO YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR STORY WITH HAIKU?

The first haiku I wrote was in 2014 for a contest organised on Facebook to promote haiku. When I read about it, I rushed to learn a few things about the style. It was not just a style but a world of its own. It was beauty locked in a small room. However, after that time, I wrote quite a number of them until the love wore out.

  WHAT DO YOU FEEL GENERALLY TOWARDS THE SHORTLIST?

Haiku is melting a century into the body of a decade. It is telling so many in very few. The task before the poet is a very taxing one and anyone who can write such poems is a miracle.

The shortlist is indeed magic and the writers are a miracle. The poems are beautiful.

 What motivation do poets need, to keep writing, in this ridiculously competitive world that vies for their attention?

Writing in times like this is difficult but not impossible. Writing should not be seen as a substitute for anything but as a soul without which one can not live. To keep writing, place value on it and see it as breath. Motivation comes from within and the value we place on things determines how we see them.

    IF YOUR 2017 SUBMISSION WERE FOOD, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

First, I’m glad it isn’t food as the meat of a man may be another’s poison.

But, if it were, it would have been Éwa Ágoyin, a special kind of beans.

Only those who suffer amnesia would forget the taste in a hurry.

We at Babishai, congratulate him again. The winners will  be announced at the #Babishai2017 Poetry Festival dinner on Sunday 6 August at Humura Resort, Kitante Close. Cards are on sale at 40,000/- Call +256 703147862. The full festival programme is here.

#BABISHAI2017 POETRY FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

The full winning haikus are here:

http://bnpoetryaward.blogspot.ug/2017/07/the-babishai-2017-haiku-shortlist.html

CHARLOTTE AKELLO FROM UGANDA; PROUD TO BE ON THE BABISHAI 2017 HAIKU SHORTLIST

Introducing Charlotte Akello.

Charlotte Akello from Uganda, was shortlisted for the Babishai 2017 haiku prize. She is proud that Ugandans have represented well this year and if her haiku submission was a food, it would be cooked pilau, she says.

What drew you to enter for the competition?
I love writing haikus so when I heard about this competition, I decided to submit.

  Do you have a particular story with haikus?
I love nature and I love poetry. It’s only natural that I fall in love with haikus. I usually take pictures and transform them to haikus. I started writing haikus last year and there’s nothing more relieving. I can still capture memories with haikus even when I don’t have a camera.

        What do you feel towards the shortlist in general?
It’s great. I love the depth in the little poems. Too much is said in a few syllables. I also love the fact that Uganda is well represented unlike last year. This shows that Ugandan poets are getting on board.

   What motivation do poets need, to keep writing, in this ridiculously competitive world that vies for their attention?
Poets need to be patient and aim to become better each day. Some poets tend to give up after a year or 2 yet writing in general needs a lot of patience.

 If your 2017 submission was food, what would it be?
Pilau. It is eaten on festivals but everyone has his or her definition of a perfectly cooked pilau.

Here below is Charlotte’s haiku.

A slice of the moon

swimming in the calm night pond–

another festival

Charlotte Akello is proud that Ugandans are representing well this year. We at Babishai, congratulate her again. The winners will  be announced at the #Babishai2017 Poetry Festival dinner on Sunday 6 August at Humura Resort, Kitante Close. Cards are on sale at 40,000/- Call +256 703147862. The full festival programme is here.

https://www.babishai.com/2017/07/17/babishai2017-poetry-festival-programme/

The full winning haikus are here:

http://bnpoetryaward.blogspot.ug/2017/07/the-babishai-2017-haiku-shortlist.html