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Sentinel
Poetry (Online) #37 3rd Anniversary Issue – December
2005 ISSN 1479-425X |
THREE YEARS OF SENTINEL POETRY MOVEMENT
A report by Nnorom Azuonye
The International Community of Poets
that Sentinel Poetry Movement (SPM) has become can be summed up as an act of
faith: my faith in God and in the oneness of all the creative peoples of the
world.
The Beginning
It was never going to be easy. I had
a few sleepless nights making the transition from the original Sentinel Poetry
Bar at www.nnoromazuonye.com to
Sentinel Poetry Movement at www.sentinelpoetry.org.uk.
Today, Sentinel Poetry Bar is an interactive members-only Yahoo! forum attached
to the SPM website. The original poetry bar started out as a place to entertain
and feature guest poets at my website (nnoromazuonye.com) and featured Kodi Azuonye (September 2002), Nathan Lewis (October 2002)
and Esiaba Irobi (November 2002).
Some visitors to the Sentinel Poetry
Bar at nnoromazuonye.com suggested that the project was viable, but that I must
depersonalise and move it away from my personal website. The strongest of these
voices was Dr Esiaba Irobi. He gave me the e-mail address for Obi Nwakanma and
suggested that I invite him to be my guest for December 2002. I heeded Irobi’s advice and registered the Sentinel Poetry
Movement, and then proceeded to register the magazine with the British Library.
Once I had the ISSN issued, I invited Obi Nwakanma who kindly accepted to be
the very first SPM guest, and on December 1, 2002, Issue #1 of Sentinel Poetry
(Online) was published and featured “My E-Conversation with Obi
Nwakanma” – an interview, and poems by Obi Nwakanma, Esiaba Irobi,
Nnorom Azuonye, and Nduka Ejibe Nduka.
That first issue set SPM up either
to grow or fail. I received countless e-mails of encouragement. I also received
e-mails that were not so encouraging. The e-mails I recall most are the ones
that said, ‘don’t let it go like all Nigerian projects.’ It
disturbed me that these messages, mostly from Nigeria seemed to have accepted
as a matter of fact that nothing good or sustainable could emerge from Nigeria.
I made it a habit to respond to such e-mails with one of my favourite quotes of
all time by Theodore Roosevelt: “Far better it is to dare mighty things,
to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by
failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much
because they live in the gray twilight that knows
neither victory nor defeat”, to which one cynical man replied and happily
informed me that the only thing that has ever been sustainable from Nigeria is
failure. In a way, these unhealthy expectations made me rededicate my energies
to the project, with a near-obsessive
single-mindedness.
With time, the concept became more
focused in my mind and achieved a definition: I wanted to build a stimulating
and exciting creative environment inclusive of all peoples of the world
regardless of their colour, gender, age, or religious affiliation. I was not
interested in creating a black or African organisation publishing black or
African journals, although I shared the views articulated by Nwakanma in
“My E-Conversation With Obi Nwakanma” (Sentinel
Poetry (Online) December 2002):
‘The politics of publishing is
critical. My analysis is that it is often the prerogative of the metropolitan
press to promote what it finds most amenable, and to silence the rest…It
is about economics. It is also about affirmation. It is about the narrow
corridor in which publishing simply lives. It is also about something in the
western consciousness that insists upon an assumption that poetry, literature,
in fact, does not exist in Africa - only wars, and pestilence, and anarchy, and
dictatorships…It is about the selective rituals of international publishing
and I think, its imperative of deliberately silencing the African side of the
story in the late 20th century, (and early 21st c.) because it is a terrifying
story - one which the rest of the world is too guilt-driven to hear.’
The Sentinel dream was for a series
of publications and interactive communities providing a level playing field for
all poets. I figured that if African writers from Africa were published
alongside Europeans, Americans and Australasians not
only shall we all learn more from one another, but we shall also learn to
respect the creative outputs from every corner of the world. Realising a vision
like this of course means that somebody from South Korea for instance would be
sufficiently aware of poetry and literary traditions in Argentina or Togo. For
instance, in “My E-Conversation with Stephen Vincent” by Nnorom
Azuonye (Sentinel
Poetry (Online) July 2003) American poet and Publisher, Stephen Vincent having
been exposed to sufficient Nigerian poetry was able to make statements like
these:
‘I was happily listening everywhere I could place my ear. And there was no
shortage of voices and materials in the air! ...Poetry in sixties Nigeria often
seemed academically rooted in European modernism. I could read Christopher
Okigbo with respect for his careful ear and phrasing, but I could not connect
with the mythic content. Similarly Gabriel Okara
could write quite beautifully and, I think, more movingly. J.P.Clark
was more solid. His "Abiku" poem still
resonates for me… Soyinka's London encounter
with the English landlord (Telephone Conversation) was, however, in my terms
something I could "hear." …Much of the language I encountered,
however, was rendering a world of which I had no empirical sense, so much of
what I read seemed to stake its significance through reference to symbols
inherent and important in traditional life where on the other hand - I was
trained to be hungry for literal evidence or content. It's probably why I
initially loved going to Onitsha where as legend then
had it someone could find all the parts required to build a 1952 Chevrolet. But
I also loved the chapbook culture of which Donatus Nwoga
had first introduced me. Onitsha was full of a kind
of factuality that I found fascinating…The Nigerian writing on the campus
that most impacted me was not popularly known or accepted. Akomaye
Oko's poetry immediately caught my ear particularly
for its literalness about his circumstances. He was able to write quite
directly without having to invoke a whole mythological world surrounding a
circumstance. And yet there was such work say that of Pol Ndu that was built around
ritual whose language remained attractive and compelling. …Frankly I
became stuck between two worlds. On one hand, working hard to engage the
mythical "other" and yet hold my ground and look for objective
manifestations of this other that I could embrace in my writing. As I once
paraphrased Robert Creeley at a campus poetry
workshop, I wanted to make the movement of language as genuinely felt as the
kick of a foot. Yet, retrospectively, in terms of the development of my work, I
also wanted to achieve an incorporation of the mythical into that process.
After all, Charles Olson who also very much ascribed to the physical fact of
language was also equally embraced in part by the world of myths…
When
I asked my colleague, Peter Obang, what accounted for
this poly-lingual play, his answer was, "The more languages you know, the
further your song will travel." And that was the local creed among the
creative makers of language.’
Some of
the problems Vincent highlights, such as being caught between two cultures or
not quite connecting with mythic elements of some Nigerian poetry are things
that should open the door to discourses, to a whole world of wonder. Some
things may never be understood of course because they might be quite
untranslatable. I have often quoted William Cookson
and Peter Dale on this. In their ‘Creditorial’
(Agenda Vol.28 No.2. p.3) they write: “We believe that some of the most
poignant poems are local, national, regional and untranslatable…we
believe that poetry of the highest order is that which survives
translation.”
I believe
that Sentinel Poetry Movement is a good place to make these local or regional
poetry and the mythic influences behind them to yield their meaning. Although
no experience can be as complete as living and working among people different
from ourselves. The fact is that majority of us will never physically visit
every part of the world. The virtual world of Sentinel Poetry Movement is
easily the best approximation of this I can imagine.
The Journey So Far
Sentinel Poetry (Online)
As
Founding Editor, I held the wheel at Sentinel Poetry (Online) through 27 issues.
Now in its 37th issue, the online journal has been edited by
Amatoritsero Ede, an award-winning poet and Writer-in-Residence at Carleton
University, Ottawa, Canada. Through the issues since 2002, Sentinel Poetry
(Online) has published hundreds of poets from all backgrounds, and featured an
impressive line up of Guest Poets; Chimalum Nwankwo, Stephen Vincent, Roman Graf, Lola Shoneyin,
Rebecca Steltner, Goran Simic, Adam Dickinson, Toyin
Adewale-Gabriel, Obiora Udechukwu,
Remi Raji, Chiedu Ezeanah,
Kola Boof, Chika Unigwe, Chukwuma Azuonye,
Amatoritsero Ede, Rob Mclennan, Afam Akeh, Alison
Chisholm, Uche Nduka, Emman Usman
Shehu, and Andy Weaver among others.
All the issues
of the magazine are archived and accessible to everyone at www.sentinelpoetry.org.uk/magazine
and provide an extensive resource of poetry, articles, reviews, profiles and
interviews, for students, researchers, academics or anyone interested in poetry
and what makes poets go. Easily the most consistent and most ambitious poetry ezine today, Editor Amatoritsero Ede has vowed to raise the
barrier even higher than it is at the moment. It is his vision that Sentinel
Poetry (Online) will attain such a level that for a poet to get his or her work
into the journal will be like winning a lottery. Going by the levels of
materials that have appeared in the last three issues, there is no arguing with
him about his vision for the journal. That dream though is dependent on receipt
of the materials. It is my hope that all the hardworking poets out there
reading this today will send their very best work for the editor’s
consideration.
The
Sentinel Poetry Collection – an anthology of poems selected from Sentinel
Poetry (Online) December 2002 – December 2005 (edited by Nnorom Azuonye
& Amatoritsero Ede) is currently being worked on and should be released in
the 3rd quarter of 2006.
Sentinel Poetry Quarterly
Once we
had the Sentinel Poetry (online) going well, our next phase in the development
of Sentinel Poetry Movement was the launch of Sentinel Poetry Quarterly, our
print journal. The journal began in July 2004 as a humble 28-page chapbook
style publication, growing to 44 pages by the second issue in October 2004. By
the 3rd issue in January 2005, the journal was 60-pages long, and
the subsequent issues have remained at 60 pages. The eventual aim is a 120-page
international literary journal offering well-researched essays, book reviews,
interviews, and poetry of exceptionally high standards. The journal started out
with me as the Editor, with four Contributing Editors; Obi Nwakanma, Pius
Adesanmi, AnnMarie Eldon and Rebecca Steltner.
We are now
reorganising the editorial board completely to strengthen it further and ensure
a thorough refereeing of the materials that appear in the journal. The new
Editorial Board shall include Nnorom Azuonye (Editor), Pius Adesanmi and
AnnMarie Eldon (Contributing Editors), and Molara Wood (Reviews Editor). Obi
Nwakanma moves from being a Contributing Editor and joins three others to be
named within a fortnight as Associate Editors. The 8-member Editorial Board
will assess and approve all materials before they appear in the journal from
Issue #7 of Sentinel Poetry Quarterly due out 30th March 2006. The deadline for submission of materials for
that issue is January 31, 2006. It is the aim of this journal to attain a fair
balance of critical materials as well as poetry itself, afterall if people did
not publish poems, there would be no poetry to review or talk about. www.sentinelpoetry.org.uk/quarterlymagazine
Sentinel Poetry Bar
Somebody
once described the Sentinel Poetry Bar as the Sentinel Poetry School. That is
the general idea, but it is more like an exclusive club of poetry enthusiasts.
For some time now, the main focus of the bar has been the monthly poetry
writing challenges, whereby every month, members pick a topic and write on it.
At the end of the writing period, members vote for their best poems. The poem
with the highest number of votes wins a book prize. The winning poem also gets
published in Sentinel Poetry (Online).
Before
now, it was possible for anyone to apply and become a member. This meant that
the bar’s membership once shot up to 97 members, with only about 30 being
really active. The membership is down to 74 now, and new members will only be
admitted by invitation. The reasons for the slight change in the admission
procedure are to prevent anonymous registrations, and to ensure that anyone
joining the bar will be an active member. Because there were no fixed
participatory criteria earlier on, it is not practical to insist without
problems on a compulsory level of participation. New invitees from December
2005 will agree before hand that they will enter at least 1 writing challenge
every quarter, and actively post work for review and review other
people’s work. To join the bar, interested poets may ask an existing
member to nominate them. If they don’t know any members, they may
approach the bar’s moderator in by e-mail to sentinelpoetry@yahoo.co.uk
With 16
Poetry Writing Challenges successfully held since July 2004, an anthology of
the top 5 poems from each challenge is currently being compiled under the title
“Poems We Drank: The Sentinel Poetry Bar Challenge Frontliners”
(edited by Nnorom Azuonye & Malcolm Fabiyi) In
addition to the poems, this workshop anthology covering challenges held between
July 2004 and June 2005 features independent reviews of the individual
challenges by independent writers who are not members of the bar. This anthology is expected to be released in
the 2nd quarter of 2006.
The
Sentinel Poetry Bar is moderated by Malcolm Fabiyi, a
United States-based poet and Environmental Engineer.
The Sentinel
International Poetry Competition.
The
Sentinel International Poetry Competition is an on-going series of 4
competitions a year with a small prize fund of £200 per competition. The Winner
receives £100 plus 1 year’s subscription to Sentinel Poetry Quarterly,
whilst the first and second runners-up receive £60 and £40 respectively. Unlike
some competitions, the Sentinel Poetry Competition will pay out the prizes
whether or not the entry fees cover the prize fund and the cost of
adjudication. The aim is to encourage poets to create poetry that will be
judged best among their peers.
The 1st
Sentinel International Poetry Competition was held in July 2005 and was
adjudicated by Martin Holroyd, editor of Poetry Monthly. That competition was
won by Jane Gyamfi-Sarkodie with her poem
“Rwanda”. The second prize went to William Birtwistle
for the poem “Oh Brad” and the third prize to TM Dowling for
“Farm Hand”.
The 3
prize-winning poems were published in Sentinel Poetry Quarterly #5, September
2005.
The 2nd
Sentinel International Poetry Competition was held in November 2005 and is
currently in the adjudication stage. The adjudicator is Tom Chivers,
editor of Keystone and Associate Editor, Tears
In The Fence. The results will be announced as
soon as he hands them in on or before the 10th of December. The
prize-winning poems will be published in Sentinel Poetry Quarterly #6, December
2005.
The Future
The
immediate plan is to consolidate all the components of Sentinel Poetry Movement
into one strong force for the development of poetry and the study of poetry,
and to maintain the consistency of our publications whilst raising their
standards. We can do this by locating strong and sustainable sources of funding
and by retaining the commitment and enthusiasm of our editorial teams, our
contributors and our readers as well.
We
encourage members of the Sentinel Poetry Movement and members of the Sentinel
Poetry Bar, (I make this distinction because there are some members of the bar
who are not registered on the main list of the movement and hundreds of members
on the main list who are not members of the poetry bar.) to subscribe to the
quarterly, and to buy their books through the sentinel poetry bookstore. We
encourage members who work within academic institutions to suggest our journal
to their libraries. There are also huge advertising opportunities within the
Sentinel Poetry Movement structure. Publishers and authors may advertise in the
print journal, the online magazine or any of our information pages.
Ultimately,
we want to afford to commission essays, and to pay poets for their work. As far
back as 1990, I received £12 for my poem that appeared in Agenda, UK and it has
been a constant prayer of mine that the Sentinel Poetry magazines afford some
authors’ fees. If we are able to harness all the potentials that our publications
have, we should be happy to remunerate our contributors. Until such a day, we
ask our contributors to stand by us. We are only as good as the last issue with
outstanding materials. I have no doubt that if we continue to strive for
excellence all other things shall be added unto us.
Once
again, on behalf of all the members of the Sentinel Poetry Movement and The
Sentinel Poetry Bar, I will to express my appreciation for your support through
all these years, and I pray that we can count on your continued support in the
coming years.
Nnorom
Azuonye
Founder
& Administrator
Sentinel
Poetry Movement
December
1, 2005