By Nathaniel Bivan
Last Sunday, I had the honour of being the keynote speaker at EBink Writers’ Academy’s 2024 graduation of her third cohort of eight writers. It was a rare privilege to get to pour myself into young writers, a vision that continues to burn brighter by the day.
I am glad it never dims.
Forgive me if I bypass every other aspect of the event and dive into what was the highlight for me—an anthology of short stories and poems put together by the writers. Now, this is no ordinary feat for the simple fact that the entire team worked at producing it from start to finish. Here, I must commend the founder and proprietor of the academy, Elisha EB Bala and the board of governors of the school for this ingenious thought. From the writing to editing, typesetting, cover design and all, the students took charge of everything. There was practically no external touch on that work, Bala insisted.
This blew me away.
When the book was officially released for free download, a couple of days after the event, what caught my attention was the cover design by Michael Hosea. The image of a squatting female holding on to a broken rope, and another person who could be of either gender, shrouded in what could pass for a cloud or even a blazing inferno, was surreal. Strange because that person was standing and grasping what was left of the other end of the same rope.
Beautiful art is my thing. Beautiful writing even more so.
The students wrote with one theme in mind—My Old Friend. A remarkable subject to explore, if you ask me. Totally relatable. I myself, like everyone else who might be reading this, has gained and lost friends over the years. Maybe through death or simply the fading away of time and distance. Friendships come, friendships go, just like the fickleness that is life itself.
While some of the poems hit the theme sledgehammer style, recounting tales of brotherhood or sisterhood—that easily takes my mind to the Bible’s Proverbs 18:24 that says “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother,” (NIV)—others meander to capture the burial of a sibling who was more than just a blood relative (I’m sure many can relate to this too).
Here’s an excerpt, a worthy opening piece by Emmanuella Ogochukwu Obi:
I stood on the balcony thrown into a bout of nostalgia,
As I recalled the wonderful old days entombed in memorabilia.
The voice-thrilling laughter firmly ingrained in my memory,
The indelible imprint of your smile rounds my neck like an accessory.
I must point out here that, even though the editing is commendable, a few missteps, as is expected with any work of art, reveals the indispensable role of an editor, and equally important, that of a proofreader. But let’s backpedal a bit to the striking words in the introduction that set the tone to this work of art.
It reads:
I once read a quote by Amy Marie Waltz that says, “We all lose friends. We lose them in death, to distance, and over time. But even though they may be lost, hope is not. The key is to keep them in your heart, and when the time is right, you can pick up the friendship right where you left off. Even the lost find their way home when you leave the light on”.
Now, this isn’t the entire intro, but I love it so much that I wonder why it lacks attribution. Was it the writer’s intention to remain anonymous, or was it an oversight? That brings me to something I detest as regards punctuations. A blasphemy of sorts in my rule book, and I dare say, in that of English literature—Do you notice that the full stop in the end is outside the quote marks instead of inside?
Okay, so this is a remarkable work and this is why I am giving it my precious time. You will agree with me that except a woman is worth it no man takes his time pouring his heart about her to potential thousands of readers. This justifies just how much I am enamoured by this woman called My Old Friend.
PS: I totally wish every piece had a unique title even while staying true to the theme. Peace.
Nathaniel Bivan is the author of a memoir My Time as Chaplain: An Account of Venerable Onwuzurumba, the SSA on Christian Religious Affairs under the then president Goodluck Jonathan (2022); a children’s storybook courtesy African Storybook titled Flower Blind (2018); a novella, The World Has Eyes (2011). His forthcoming works include a chapbook 20 Love Letters to the Christian Fiction Writer currently up for pre-order from Room Three Press, and a speculative fiction novel from Masobe Books. He is also an independent solutions and conflict journalist who contributes to local and international platforms, particularly The Christian Science Monitor.
