When did the issue of climate change get personal for you?

Oliver Sopulu: The issue of climate change became personal to me because climate change happened to me. One of the many effects of climate change, flooding, met me on my bed while I was sleeping. How much more personal can this get?  Lol! I was a victim of Flooding. I ended up in the hospital because I almost drowned in an episode of flooding. It was a flood that took our home with it. I have also seen people become poor because they lost their property and houses to flooding . So, writing about that traumatic experience of almost drowning because of flooding makes me emotional.

There is a strong presence of nostalgia in your story. Could this sense of nostalgia be of loss or hope?

Oliver Sopulu: For me, it is more of a loss. It is also not nostalgic because it was not a good experience. It is more of a loss because my story is a recollection of the incident. So personally, I do not feel nostalgia for that bad experience;  it’s a memory, and that memory was of loss.

What inspired your story for The Green We Left Behind nonfiction anthology? 

Oliver Sopulu: My story was drawn from my experience. That drowning incident inspired the story. Therefore, climate change is something important to me to talk about. As a writer, it was fulfilling to tell the story of the experience. 

As an artist, how are you able to merge beauty in language with such a dire theme on climate change? 

Oliver Sopulu: A writer’s role as an artist is also to design, to create something in a special way. Part of that, I believe, is being able to merge beauty with language.

As you release your story to the world, what is your wish or hope for the story?

Oliver Sopulu: I  wish and hope that the  story touches the world, and makes the world see the urgent need for something to be done as a way to curb global warming. 

Aside from writing, how else do you intend to contribute towards curbing climate change?

Oliver Sopulu: I have already continued contributing towards the curbing of climate change by talking about it to people around me so that we can join hands as a team to stop the abuse of the earth. 

Biography

Oliver Sopulu Odo has published works in okadabooks, fifth Chinua Achebe memorial Anthology and End SARS Anthology both organized by society of young Nigerian writers in 2020. His poem is also published in J.J Rawlings memories and Mementos Anthology 2021. His flash fiction is longlisted for Engaging Borders Africa, KEPRESSNG Anthology 2022 Prize Winner.