ROX-TV’s “Artist 5 Series” is back with Nigerian Poet Peter Okonkwo. Tonight we discuss his background, new books, and much more.

I like to thank you for speaking with the ROX-TV readers for the “Artist 5 Series” that highlights amazing talents like yourself from around the world, who promote the arts, whether that be by painting, poetry, writing, or music. So once again, we appreciate you taking the time to talk with us today. So without further to do, let’s begin shall we….

Peter, before we get in too deep with the interview, I’d like you to tell the readers about where you came from?

Thank you very much, I was born in Akure, a city in the South-Western part of Nigeria.

Can you talk a little bit about what life was like for you in your earliest years as a child in Akure?

Hmm, life was fine growing up in Akure, you know it’s a pleasant city with lovely inhabitants, and one of those kind of joy that one could imagine then is the old African child’s play which majority of those sort of plays has been abandoned today due to the effect of civilization. As far I could remember, it was a memorable and lovely old time.

At what age did you first become aware of poetry, and how was it introduced to you?

It was somewhere around my 9th – 10th age time, but that was just a shallow acquittance. You know, then, poetry was made a compulsory book. But, the exact time that I became aware of the realness of poetry itself, was two years ago, and of which I’d start developing myself in it.

Peter if you could talk to the ROX-TV readers for a moment about the decision to go from just enjoying poetry to actually creating it.

Well, as much as I love reading poetry, my sense of creating one increases. It was in my early 20’s, and my first ever inspiration came from something as confidential to me, to explain better – it was a sad experience, and as I could write a poem about what has happened under a specific circumstance. I discovered that the aftermath of such poem was didactic and profound. So, I began to develop more likeness for it, and the inspiration now expounds beyond my personal experience, to an insight of a theme, and course of things around me.

How did your immediate surroundings and daily life affect your poetry and content?

Well, I will say that my immediate surrounding drastically affects my writing in a lot of ways. For instance, in terms of content that are more specific to the exaltation of ethics, the dignity of humanity, and some other related themes, my environment plays a crucial role in the making of poems that fall under this category, because I came from a place where the dignity of humanity is nothing to write home about, where dehumanization and evil are gradually turning to a norm. This extends to the unconcerned attitude of the ruling class over the ruled, the ineptness of the so-called political leaders, and even the instance of gruesome enactment from one man to another. So, growing up in this kind of society is enough to turn one into a poet, and that has made my immediate environment to have a drastic influence on my poetry and its content.

For the ROX-TV readers who don’t know, could you talk about what it means to be a “fatalistic writer”?

The word “fatalistic” is the adjective of the noun “fatalism”, and it means the doctrine that all events are subject to fate or inevitably determined in advance in such a way that human beings cannot change them. Well, I won’t consider myself a deep-rooted fatalistic writer, because apart from my intuitional, and intellectual ability to expound on the realness of human fate, I understand a few principles about the philosophy of human fate itself. You know, fate philosophy has its different ways of explanation, and this is where Stoic and Epicurean ideas come in. But philosophy aside, I think the mystery of human fate can be explained if it has distinctively experiment itself in one’s life, and this is more specific in my second anthology – Fate, In the Dungeon of Doom. So, being a fatalistic writer is when one is gifted with the ability to deeply expound on the topic of human kismet, destiny, and its interrelationship in a man’s life, either one debates it biblically, philosophically, atheistically, or in any manner, one chooses to confront the subject.

We are happy to hear that you published your debut title “Ecstasy of the dead: An anthology of poetry” in 2020. Please talk about this release if you could for a moment, and give the readers a sense of what the publication is all about and what type of readers would enjoy it?

Apart from kids, Ecstasy of the Dead is a book for everyone, it’s something that everyone will find life in, even if one is new to poetry. You know, the content of the book is theoretical, impulsive, thoughtful, and existence-centered. It emphasizes the human psyche, human initiatives amidst several life’s issues; be it, anguish and its alleviation, depression, hopes and impediment, love and betrayal, the afterlife, mystery of delay, fate, and doom. Ecstasy of the Dead has a philosophical tone, it is profound and it exposes humans to the effective management of diverse saddening occurrences that birth tears, death, and suicide. Should I say beyond words? It’s something everyone should consider reading.

Please tell us about your latest release “Fate, In the Dungeon of Doom” and much like the previous question, if you could, please give the readers a sense of the newest material?

Fate, In the Dungeon of Doom, is much like a continuation of Ecstasy of the Dead, but diving into a deeper and thought-provoking theme about the kismet of a man. This book can be read as a Fate Philosophical book and that was why I initially explain myself as being a fatalistic writer.

The book passes different questions that would make a reader cogitate each line and stanzas of every poem. It is presented in three parts; The poems of Fate, The poems of Kwame, and Other Poems, collectively in a single book, each section having its message to convey.

The first part exposes different thoughtful, uneasy questions about the reality of the human kismet; whether or not human has the power to alter his destiny; whether or not kismet is a making-of ourselves or an anonymous destination; whether or not the path laid down before us by fate could be swayed; whether or not human Fate is in control amidst circumstances like impediment, abnegation, success, and doom. It has a lot of spiritual contents, as to what is or may be wrong with humans and fate. Well, there is more to this book, it will be a long conversation if I proceed on illustrating the book in this interview. The second part, The Poems of Kwame, the fate of a traumatized lad, was the story of a Nigerian man gone missing and the effect that the aftermath of his disappearance had on his family(mother and siblings). This part is very vexatious, as Vanessa, Kwame’s mother anguish could be felt in most poems. A detailed explanation of this story will continue in my upcoming novel, Etean’s Destiny. The third part, other poems, explains different topics.

Peter, can you tell us about how your career has been going lately? I heard that you’ve been doing lots of interviews. Where can people find these interviews?

My recent interview was with the United Kingdom Central Booking hosted by John Valeri, it was a pleasurable session as we discussed my two poetry collections. The video can be found on the “Central Booking” YouTube channel.

Can you tell the ROX-TV readers about any new projects that you might be working on now? Or are you doing promotions for the previously released work?

To be honest, I haven’t found a better platform to promote my books because it was self-published. Moreover, I am currently working on my first novel, Etean’s Destiny which will be released next year or so, but I have another poetry anthology that I have planned to publish on my birthday in July, and even if I cannot publish it by July, it will be released before the end of the year.

Has the Covid virus affected your ability to connect with fans of your work? In America, things have been locked down for over a year. If there are lockdowns there as well, do you use the time to work on your new projects?

Well, I think Covid 19 affects connection with fans. You know, it is a prayer point that my family and friends should be safe from the virus because if the virus doesn’t affect them, it won’t affect my work and vice versa. And as long as we want good for ourselves healthiness is also imperative, because a book can only be purchased by an healthy person, someone who is sick won’t consider reading poetry but would seek for a way to be healed first. So, as long as we all have lives and we are all protected and stay safe from this deadly disease, a connection is always ascertained.

Do you have any advice for the readers out there that maybe thinking about trying their hand at poetry? Where should they begin?

Any reader who would want to start writing poetry should begin from the beginning, which was where I began. No one wakes up to be a poet, it is an act that you nurture, you develop, you embrace. So, I’ll advise whoever wants to start his/her hands in poetry – to write irrespectively, and pay less or no attention to destructive criticism.

Why do you believe that poetry, literature, and the arts are important?

Poetry, Literature, and Art generally are vastly important in the preservation of posterity, in the passing of cogent information, in reservation and keeping of our stories and history, and the shaping of the world at large. It is an essential part of every life.

This is where you get to shout out your friends, family, or anyone you want. Who is Peter shouting out tonight?

Oh! I will shout out to a lot of people, Firstly Joshua Keown, he resides in New York. Joshua was the editor of Fate, In the Dungeon of Doom, and I so much appreciate the fact that he edited my book for free. To my friend Gregory J. Ramsey, author of Dust After Death. To Mr. John Valeri, to Kevin M. Kraft,(Author of, DOBORO the Bottlenecker book series, Momo), he contributed to the making of my second anthology too. To my friend, Omotoyinbo Babatope (Author of, On The Spectrum: Among The Neurotypicals) a powerful autobiographical novel on autism. Also to Agesin Oluwatosin John, and Prince AB Newland

Please tell the readers where they can reach you or contact you to purchase your wonderful work.

My two books are accessible on Amazon. I also have a YouTube Channel where I do book reviews(P. English Literature) I would specifically love ROX TV readers to check it out, I’m on Twitter as Peter Okonkwo, and also on Instagram. I can be reached at any time.

Well, that about does it for tonights episode of the “Artist 5 Series”. I’d like to thank Peter for taking the time to talk to the ROX-TV readers and I wish him all the best with his new releases. As always at ROX-TV we encourage the arts, whether it be music, poetry, painting, or anything else that makes the world a better place for the human experience. We enjoy giving a platform for all artists at ROX-TV no matter what the craft or where people are from. In the end, we all live on the same planet…..so if you view our address in terms of Earth, than we are all equal and deserve a chance to be heard. Thanks for tuning in. Until we meet again….

Signing Off,

Mike Shepard

ROX-TV Head Writer

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