The Writer's Column ft Mudashir Olayemi Adewale

Mudashir Olayemi Adewale is a poet, writer, and editor. He believes writing is therapeutic as much as it is inspiring. He often writes from a place of deep emotions which gives him a sense of control knowing that someone out there who can relate is reading.

Writing Journey

He did not start writing officially until late 2016. He had lost a relative and felt hurt, so he just wrote down something, he did not even know what it was called until someone read it and told him that what he had written was a poem. It came from a place of intense emotion. He shared it on Instagram and got interesting feedback, that is how he got into writing. He wrote more poems and posted them on Instagram.

He describes his writing journey as an amazing one, because he has met with people in the writing community, made friends, and built meaningful relationships. It has been awesome for him and he does not take it for granted.

Yemi did not have a background in art so he never really understood poetry. As a child, he never wrote anything, well except school assignments and the likes. So up until that incident, he had never written anything before.

Writing Challenges

He has never considered himself a serious writer. He feels like he does it for fun. Until recently, he always felt his writings were not good enough, but thankfully, that has changed. In the past year, he has felt this confidence that overshadowed the feeling of self-doubt.

Also, he has gotten to understand that his writings never make sense to him. No matter how good it is, it just never makes sense to him. This realization has made him resilient, there is nothing he cannot do, all he needs to do is put in a little more effort.

Inspiration

As a Nigerian, he believes inspiration is everywhere. Every day comes with its issue. There are a lot of things going on in Nigeria, so Nigeria itself is an inspiration.

Love, life, and humans are his ultimate source of inspiration.

 

Yemi writes poetry, although he has written a few short stories, articles, and essays. However, he is most interested in poetry. As unbelievable as it might sound, he does not read much poetry as much as he reads prose, novels, etc. He is not really into reading poetry even tho that is what he writes the most. 

He loves Afrocentric books.  One contemporary African piece of literature he loves is Born on a Tuesday by Elnathan John. The book talks about religious extremity in Nigeria amidst other societal problems. It wowed him. Another book he enjoyed reading is titled Season of crimson blossoms by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim. Other books by Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani are also really good.

Monetizing his writings 

The first pay Job he got was from a friend he made online. This friend sent a poem and asked him to edit it. 

He got into a freelancing community, but due to the situation in Nigeria, the community itself was not encouraging. Thankfully we can connect with international writers and make profitable use of our talents.

He has earned, is still earning, and wants to earn even bigger as a writer.

Achievements

His most recent achievement is the SprinNG writing fellowship which he concluded a few months ago, he is also inspired by the Alumni community. He won an award for the writer of the year while he was still an undergraduate in University. It was a kwara based award.

Publications

He has been featured in a few digital anthologies; Face Tanke or Faze Tanke by WGU (Writers Guild of Unilorin), and Emotion, Thought and Expression by Talents, contributor for a few blogs and literature websites, and finally in-print a few magazines.

Currently, a friend of his is working on a book, he and a few writers are coauthors of this book so watch the space. 

 

Yemi wants to explore a particular societal problem in Nigeria and/or a combination like the EndSARs, Lekki-Toll Gate Massacre, Banditry, Extortion, and Kidnapping. He wants to go as far as writing a book on it, not just an article, essay, or whatever short piece. He does not know when that will be published, but it will get released. He also looks forward to more achievements, perhaps winning a literature prize someday.

You can follow him on Instagram @yemightwords

Thank you for reading and see you in the next episode.