Most of my poems are bold and unapologetic. My wild imagination plays a big role in my thought process. I keep a notebook beside my bed in case an idea comes to me.
Western arrogant rationality, which tends to overhaul other perspectives has ushered every part of the world into the age of "posts": post-modernism, post-marxism, post-truth, post-humanism, and we even hear things such as post-Africanity. Fortunately, Africa has not caught the flu of this chaos completely. And, as the overfed children of hypercapitalism and consumer culture get exhausted in their boredom, Africa will be the place of what being human looks like—albeit if the Western power doesn't change us too soon.
I am an African female being who absorbs the pain of other African female beings - FGM, forced marriages, miscarriages, sexual assaults, depression, domestic violence; who writes about pain she did not experience because others, like her, have; and writes about it. I just want to say: “I see you”, “I feel you”, and most importantly, “someone cares”.
Sometimes, I need something to remind me I exist in the world and poetry usually brings both the questions and the answers. .. If we do not know who we are, then how can we find out what we are here for?
Konya Shamsrumi: What is the process of writing a poem like for you? Is it a lot of hard work or easy? James Eze: Any writing that requires the use of the imagination does not come easy to me. It is often a cross between inspiration and hard work. For me, the process of writing a poem begins with an inspiration and ends with a lot of hard work. Usually, it comes in form of an idea, a thought or an impulse in the deep recess of my mind which could be triggered by an experience, an observation or a flash of insight from a book, a song, a movie or a mere ripple on the face of a stream.