Eresia-Eke’s Uncovers His ‘100 Poems In 25 Words’

Yinka Olatunbosun

Brevity has always been his style of writing long before it became a necessity in our contemporary writing culture. Kudo Eresia-Eke, an acclaimed writer and former General Manager of External Relations of Nigeria LNG disclosed this while introducing his new collection of poetry, titled 25 Words Of Gold to a handful of journalists in Lagos. The book, which is a compilation of 100 poems, treats issues about life, love, faith and power as well as other life-changing messages.

According to the poet, it was a personal choice to make his poems brief, simple and accessible to all for impact. “What you see in the 25 Words of Gold is a reflection of discipline, that rigour to have the ability to say things simply and briefly so that you can reach almost everybody and there is none that is read that will not give you something to take away so that you have value for your time,” he said.

The author also challenged the notion that difficult writings are more appealing to the elites. With his new piece, the trained communicator hopes to change the narrative. “Through my training, there a few things I learnt. The prominent one is: ‘if you really know anything, you know it well. Then you should be able to say it briefly and simply.’ That has informed my entire outlook on life. If I am not able to say something briefly and simply then I need to work a little bit harder, I need to understand it better.”

All genres of literature, he added, have suffered a setback, especially poetry with the new generation of readers. With the disruption caused by technology, many readers prefer less difficult writings. Then there is the advent of social media applications, which has tailored people to discipline themselves into writing things briefly.

“In today’s world, first a lot of people are not reading and, secondly, they are having difficulty even trying to follow a difficult reading: reading that requires you having to consult an encyclopedia or dictionary before you make progress.

“For some reasons, poets believe that the more esoteric, difficult and the high the profile, the more of an appeal it has to the elite to enjoy it. But I am an African, being an African I know that poetry is not for some people, poetry is for everybody. If you ever grow up in the village, the songs that we sang and folklore that we relate to, everything was done in such a manner that even a little child will understand. They are usually brief and not too lengthy.

“It’s that tradition of African folklore form of poetry and today’s reading culture, the fact that everyone is in a hurry, that informed and trained me to believe that if you ever knew anything well, then you should have the ability to say it simply and briefly. Those thoughts and constraints gave birth to what I hope will be a continuous stream of 25 words as poems.”

The author, therefore, encouraged young poets to write in plain simple words, and not to imitate poems that are conveyed in an inaccessible language.