● Pacella: Good day, Chinecherem Enujioke. We are very grateful that you accepted this interview. It is no news that female writers have been breaking boundaries and suppression over the years, and we want to contribute to uplifting these great feats in the littlest of ways we can. That being said, we would love for you to tell us about your writing journey through the years.
Chinecherem Enujioke: Hello, Pacella. Nice to meet you. Just as I breathe, I write every day but for different reasons. I was never intentional about my writing, poetry particularly, until 2022. I met Chinedu Gospel in school and everything changed. He introduced me to contemporary poetry and I read for a year and wrote a few times. He was a good teacher and I was a fast learner (I mean to brag). But, that was my turning point.
From January 2023, I wrote enthusiastically about everything; poems for everything I felt in class, on the streets and at home. I am slow now, but I know writing will always be my only true expression. A lot has happened from then till now and I am grateful for every writer whose work has inspired me and all my wins.
● Pacella: As a writer, what would you call your greatest motivation?
Chinecherem Enujioke: My greatest motivation as a writer is other writers—The Poetic Collective, Chinedu Gospel, Chiwenite Onyekwelu and Chisom Nsiegbunam. These are writers who have intentionally and unintentionally pushed me to write and continue writing. They and their works have forced me to unfurl every line I have written and will write. I did not have such a community growing up. Now, I do and I am a testament to their love and friendship.
● Pacella: Do you think being female has affected your writing in any way? If yes, don’t hesitate to share your experience with us.
Chinecherem Enujioke: Being female, a woman, affects everything I do. I have never had to try. It is always there. My writing says everything I cannot say about my society and where I come from. Occasionally, it also slips out. I think an artist is present in their art, in whatever amount. You will always find sprinkles of my nature in my writing and this is not an apologia.
● Pacella: What is the funniest response you have gotten after telling someone that you are a writer?
Chinecherem Enujioke: I think it is ironic that almost everyone writes, where I come from, but only a few people have done something serious with it.
It was probably why someone from my class had said on one of the anonymous nights that I should stop that poetry thingy I am doing because it is never going to give me fame. I think about it, sometimes. Do I want fame? No. Do I want money? Yes!
●Pacella: What are your aspirations as a writer, and where and how would you see yourself and your art in five years?
Chinecherem Enujioke: For now, I only want to write and continue writing. My course of study is already hectic enough, and it comes first, for me. Upon graduation and internship, I plan on getting an MFA in Creative Writing. God willing! Writing is what I can and want to do all my life, but I want to take it slowly. I want to savour every beautiful line. In five years, my art should improve. In five years, I may not be writing. I just realised I cannot tell.
● Pacella: You would be hosting a writer’s commune on March 23rd, in your campus at Nnewi. Tell us how you came up with such a brilliant idea and what you aim to achieve.
Chinecherem Enujioke: I have always wanted to attend the Lagos International Poetry Festival and Ake Festival, among others, but due to factors that include but are not limited to financial constraints due to distance and insecurity, it is sad that I and many other writers, particularly in the Southeastern part of Nigeria, are incapable of attending these literary events and many others held outside our geographic region. There are not even enough literary events, particularly in my state, Anambra.
The Writers’ commune I am hosting in my school, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nnewi campus, is themed Construct. It stems from the need for up-and-coming and established writers in the Southeastern part of Nigeria to access literary events that will foster their growth and find themselves, a community of like minds, with fewer constraints.
I believe that growth can be immensely affected by the environment. Every writer needs a supportive environment, a community. That is the only way one can grow, alongside their art.
Construct will offer that community to writers of all levels—an ecosystem where they can learn, unlearn and relearn everything that improves, structures their art and by extension helps them grow as people and writers.
• Pacella: Thank you so much for this beautiful interview, chain- breaker! We can’t wait to see the beautiful things you have got to offer.
Chinecherem Enujioke: It was a pleasure speaking with you, Pacella.
Biography
Enujioke, TPC XV, is a budding poet. Her works have appeared in Lolwe, Brittle paper, IHRAM publishes, Nigerian NewsDirect and elsewhere. She was shortlisted for the 2023 African Human Rights Spoken Word Contest, SEVHAGE-KSR Hyginus Ekwuazi Poetry Prize 2023, and the 2023 Unserious Collective Fellowship. She is the Research Editor of The Moulder, a print magazine that publishes girl-child-related issues in Nigeria. She is currently an undergraduate at Nnamdi Azikiwe University where she studies Nursing Sciences. She tweets @VCEnujioke.
