Soonest Iheany Nathaniel aka SIN-Da-Poet is a graduate of mathematics and computer science from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo state, eastern Nigeria. He is a scientist that believes Albert Einstein would have done better as an artist. He is a renowned page and spoken-word poet who has become a household name in the corridors of poetry in Nigeria.
He currently holds the title of Poet of the year from the just concluded Korea-Nigeria Poetry Festival; one of many such titles and awards bagged over the years. He has been published in Kalahari Review, Sentinel Nigeria, Ilume and many other international journals of art. His first collection of both written and spoken poetry is billed for publication in the 3rd quarter of the year. You can catch him playing soccer or acting when he's not weaving words.
First, we want to congratulate you Soonest for your recent award. How has the journey been for you poetically?
Thanks for the felicity. The journey has been rough, tough, tasking, demanding; but above all rewarding. We bless God.
When did you start writing poetry?
I hope I won't sound cocky if I say I was born with poetry.
Were you taught to write poetry, or you just started to write words until you found the poet you now are?
I was not taught poetry, I had the poet in me and I used personal study to bring him out. The muse was put in my heart divinely and my passion proclaimed it forth from my mouth.
Do you think that African and Nigerian poets have inspired this generation of poets?
A lot of poets from this generation do not have proper acquaintance with the older generation; at best what they know of them is just shallow. This generation has been acculturated, but even the poetic culture imbibed was not digested properly. A lot of the fledgling poets do not read, and if they read they do not study, a proper mentor-ship is lacking, hence the emergence of many non-grounded poets and watery poetry.
Have you published any of your collections?
I don't have a personal anthology published yet, but I have been published in different magazines and journals within the country, continent and across the borders. In as much as I desire to have a collection of my own, I must say that I don't want to rush, I want whatever I offer to be befitting, up to standard anywhere in the world.
You are seen as one of Nigeria's biggest poets, how have you been able to make this happen?
Wow! That is a big one, I am yet another emerging poet, still honing my craft. I guess with God and handwork, one can get to the peak. Ardent study and continuous practice is the key, one must thrive to be enshrined in this art; like I say always, to me poetry is a religion and I serve in spirit and in truth.
Where do you see poetry and the spoken word in Nigeria in years to come?
Poetry and spoken-word will thrive, in fact its already thriving but I fear that it will be bastardized in the sense that every Tom, Dick and Harry will parade himself as poet and offer anything in the name of poetry.
How challenging is it to be a spoken word artist?
Spoken-word is quite challenging, for me, I always want to ensure that the word spoken will still read as poetry when it appears on paper, I always want to keep my identity as a crusader of good poetry. I fear that the commercialization of spoken-word might cause many to play to the gallery thereby losing the essence and potency of poetry.
Committing the poems to memory is another trouble with spoken-word, but when you can do by heart you have the key to your audience heart. You pass the message clearly with fineness and that is the beauty of the art.
How many awards have you won, and how do feel getting such rewards?
By His grace, I have many accolades, many awards and many notable mentions. It feels really great to be rewarded for your works we artist love rewards it spurs you to do more,and more I am prepared to do to achieve greater success.
Do you deliberately make use of poetic devices when writing your poetry, or do they come naturally as you write?
Poetic devices make up poetry, sometimes I employ them deliberately, other times the muse speaks and I write what the voice in my head is saying.
Where do you plan to see Soonest Nathaniel the poet, in the coming years?
In the coming years I hope to see myself as a voice to reckon with, published, well read with works that would impact this world and cause even the addle bones of old brigadiers to wriggle in their earthen beds. I want to be remembered!
What is your message for aspiring poets that want to get to where you now are?
Eat verbs drink metaphors; digest the muse. Sleep in meters, dream in rhymes; bask in the rhythm. let it flow, imageries cascading down in the symbols. Breathe it! Live it! Be it!
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