CRITICISM SHARPENS MY ABILITY TO
EXPLAIN IDEAS CLEARLY, RECOGNISE PATTERNS, AND UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES WRITING
EFFECTIVE - JEFF
IWU
Jeff Iwu is a Nigerian novelist, poet, and
playwright, and a doctoral student of African Literature at the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka. He studied at the
Federal College of Education, Kontagora, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and
holds a Master’s degree from UNN. His research interests
include African literature, gender studies, and clinical narratives. He is the author of Cold Things,
Files of the Heart, and the solo play Gone with the Winds. He has received
major honours including the 2017 Green Author Prize and the 2024 Akachi Ezeigbo
Prize for Literature. In this
interview with the ANA Interview Series, he talks about his works and writing
journey.
AIS: HOW HAS YOUR ACADEMIC JOURNEY—FROM THE FEDERAL
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION KONTAGORA TO YOUR DOCTORAL STUDIES AT UNN—SHAPED YOUR
VOICE AS A WRITER?
JEFF: The
truth is, my academic journey has really shaped my voice in a very quiet and
steady way, even when I did not fully realise it. I began with English (Double
Major) at the Federal College of Education, Kontagora (now Federal University of
Education, Kontagora). Studying English there opened my eyes to the power of
language beyond description. I learnt that words could carry emotion, preserve
memory, and give structure to experiences that are often difficult to
articulate. At Ahmadu Bello University, where I studied English and Education,
I began to see literature not only as a creative space but as a lens through
which we can explore human behaviour, including the clinical and psychological
issues such as trauma, grief, and emotional conflict.
During
my master’s degree in Literature at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, I
discovered more on literary theories, narrative structure, style, and the psychological
dimensions of storytelling. I began to
understand more that how a story is told can affect a reader’s perception, empathy
and emotional engagement. Now, in my doctoral studies in African Literature, I
examine issues like silence, alienation, trauma, and the human struggle for
healing. These studies naturally shape my writing; they give it precision,
depth, and empathy. The journey has taught me patience and responsibility, and
they push me to tell stories with honesty, clarity, and a conscious engagement
with the emotional and clinical realities of human life.
AIS: YOUR WORKS SPAN FICTION, POETRY, AND DRAMA. HOW
DO YOU NAVIGATE THESE GENRES, AND WHAT DOES EACH ALLOW YOU TO EXPRESS
DIFFERENTLY?
JEFF:
I see each genre as a different way to
approach the same questions about life, human behaviour, and emotion. Fiction
allows me to explore characters and situations deeply, to create spaces where
readers can live inside someone else’s choices and experiences. In novels like Cold Things or Files of the Heart, I look at how people respond to trauma,
betrayal, and resilience, love, pressure, and the small emotional shifts that
shape their lives. Fiction gives me room to build worlds that feel real but are
also reflective, almost like a laboratory for human behaviour and emotion.
Poetry,
on the other hand, is immediate and intimate. It distills emotion, memory, and
observation into moments that are often more visceral than narrative. A single
line can carry the weight of grief, love, or loss in a way that a paragraph in
a novel cannot. Drama, including my plays like Verdict of the Gods or Gone
with the Wind as a solo performance, allows me to bring these ideas into
space and time with an audience present. It makes human emotion and conflict
live and breathe in front of people. It creates a shared, almost clinical
observation of how characters act under pressure or trauma. Moving across these
genres lets me approach the same themes from different angles, each offering
its own rhythm and way of connecting with people.
AIS: COLD
THINGS AND FILES OF THE HEART
EXPLORE DEEPLY EMOTIONAL TERRAINS. WHAT INSPIRES THE THEMES YOU CHOOSE TO WRITE
ABOUT?
JEFF:
My interest in the themes I write about
comes from paying attention to how people handle the emotional and clinical
sides of their lives. I like stories where the mind and the heart are connected,
and where people struggle with things they cannot easily name. This is part of
why Cold Things and Files of the Heart lean toward trauma, silence,
memory, guilt, infertility, and the long after-effects of difficult
experiences.
I
am very observant. I have seen how people carry emotional wounds quietly. I
have seen how those wounds show up in their behaviour, relationships, and daily
choices. My academic work also plays a role because I engage a lot with
clinical narratives, psychological readings of texts, and the ways literature
can reflect real human conditions. This has made me more sensitive to subjects
like trauma, depression, emotional fatigue, and the tension between what people
feel and what they are allowed to say.
So
the themes I depict come from life around me. They come from real
conversations, from watching how people suffer and still try to cope, and from
my own reflections. I try to write about experiences that many people live with
but rarely discuss openly. My goal is to tell these stories with honesty and
care, without sensationalising them, and to give readers a chance to recognise
themselves or someone they know in the pages.
AIS: WINNING THE 2017 GREEN AUTHOR PRIZE FOR FILES OF THE HEART WAS A MAJOR
MILESTONE. HOW DID THAT RECOGNITION INFLUENCE YOUR WRITING CAREER?
JEFF:
Winning the Green Author Prize in 2018
was a turning point for me because it came at a time when I was still trying to
understand my place as a writer. The prize, organised by Words, Rhymes and
Rhythm Publishers in Abuja, was designed to give young writers a platform and
to encourage voices that were still finding their shape. For me, it did exactly
that. Files of the Heart was still an
unpublished manuscript then, and having it recognised gave me a quiet sense of validation.
It told me that the kind of stories I wanted to tell mattered.
The
award also opened practical doors. It came with the opportunity for
publication, which meant my work could finally reach readers beyond my own
circle. That changed the way I approached writing. I began to take my craft
more seriously because I realised people were paying attention to it. It
strengthened my confidence. It pushed me
to write with more discipline, and reminded me that storytelling is not just a
private act; it is something that enters the world and touches others. In many
ways, that recognition helped me move from being someone who simply wrote to
someone who embraced writing as a lifelong commitment.
AIS: YOUR
PLAY VERDICT OF THE GODS EARNED THE
2024 AKACHI EZEIGBO PRIZE FOR LITERATURE. WHAT SPARKED THE IDEA FOR THAT WORK?
JEFF:
Winning
the Akachi Ezeigbo Prize for Literature (Drama) was meaningful to me,
especially because the prize honours a writer and scholar I know. A mother I
love and respect. Her contribution to African literature is immense. Professor
Akachi Ezeigbo’s life, her work, her commitment to imagination, creativity, and
the freedom of expression, has shaped generations of writers, even me. To
receive an award named after her felt like a recognition that carries real
weight.
The
idea for Verdict of the Gods began
with my interest in how communities interpret suffering. I have always been
drawn to clinical and communal narratives, not only trauma itself but the ways
people make meaning out of crisis. In many African societies, when something
goes wrong, the search for answers is collective. The land, the people, and the
spiritual order are understood as connected. I wanted to depict what happens
when this balance breaks, when fear takes root, and when a community must
confront the truth about its own actions.
The
story grew from that curiosity. I imagined a land that is overwhelmed by
strange afflictions. Children are born with deformities, families lose loved
ones, and the king, Eze Obioha, becomes a symbol of the community’s collapse.
His personal tragedy mirrors the suffering around him. Writing the play allowed
me to examine guilt, silence, moral failure, and the difficult journey toward
renewal. I was interested in how people face wrongdoing, how they negotiate
fear, and how they attempt to heal when everything familiar feels threatened.
So
the spark came from that desire to understand communal responsibility and the
psychology of restoration. When I learnt that the play had won the Akachi
Ezeigbo Prize for Drama, it felt like a confirmation of why stories like this
matter. The prize was created to honour excellence across African literary
genres, and to celebrate writers who continue to expand our imaginative possibilities.
I am grateful that Verdict of the Gods
became part of that vision.
AIS: AS A POET WITH MULTIPLE NSPP AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE,
WHAT ROLE DOES POETRY PLAY IN YOUR BROADER CREATIVE PRACTICE?
JEFF:
The NSPP (Nigerian Students Poetry
Prize) was instituted by the Poets in Nigeria (PIN) organisation. Poetry was my
first doorway into writing. I was still an undergraduate when my poems were
nominated for the Nigerian Students Poetry Prize in 2016 and 2017, and those
early recognitions gave me a sense of direction. They showed me that my voice
could travel beyond the classroom and that I had something worth shaping with
more discipline. The later Awards of Excellence from NSPP strengthened that
confidence and pushed me to deepen my craft.
Poetry
remains the place where my creative instincts sharpen themselves. It trains me
to pay attention to silence, rhythm, and emotional clarity. Even when I am
working on fiction or drama, the discipline of poetry stays with me. It helps
me choose language with care and listen for the emotional truth of a scene.
Poetry allows me to explore inner states in a focused way, which supports my
interest in clinical and human-centred narratives. It keeps my writing honest
and grounded, and it reminds me that every story, no matter the form, begins
with a single precise moment of feeling.
AIS: HOW HAS YOUR RESEARCH INTEREST IN AFRICAN
LITERATURE, GENDER STUDIES, AND CLINICAL NARRATIVES INFLUENCED YOUR CREATIVE
WRITING?
JEFF:
My
research shapes my writing in very direct and practical ways. I work within
African literature and this keeps me rooted in the textures of everyday life on
the continent: communal memory, silence, displacement, resilience, and the
constant negotiation between tradition and modernity. These concerns naturally
find their way into my characters and the worlds they inhabit.
Gender
studies has helped me approach stories with greater sensitivity to power and
the ways people, especially women, overcome restrictive social structures. It
allows me to write with a clearer awareness of how gender shapes experience,
not in a theoretical sense alone, but in the small, lived details that define a
person’s emotional reality.
My
interest in clinical narratives brings another layer. I am drawn to the
emotional and psychological aspects of human life. How people process pain. How
they carry memory. And how healing
happens in quiet, uneven steps. This research helps me write characters who are
not merely experiencing events but responding to them in honest human ways. It
teaches me to slow down, observe emotional shifts carefully, and give my
characters space to feel, break, and rebuild. Together, these interests push me
toward stories that are thoughtful, empathetic, and attentive to the realities
of human experience, stories that respect both the cultural terrain they emerge
from and the inner lives of the people within them.
AIS: WHAT DOES BEING A FINALIST FOR THE 2024 BEETA PLAYWRIGHT
COMPETITION MEAN TO YOU AS A DRAMATIST?
JEFF:
Being
a finalist for the 2024 Beeta Playwright Competition meant a great deal to me.
My play Beneath the Garment was
chosen from over nine hundred entries, and that alone felt like a confirmation
that my voice in drama is growing in the right direction. For a playwright,
visibility is often slow, and opportunities like this remind you that the work
is reaching people, even when you are writing in silence.
It
also encouraged me to keep paying attention to the kind of stories I want to
bring to the stage. The Beeta platform is known for celebrating new voices and
socially conscious drama, so being recognised there strengthened my confidence
in the themes I explore, especially the emotional and psychological layers that
shape human behaviour. It was not just an honour. It was a moment that told me
to keep going, to keep refining my craft, and to keep trusting the stories that
come to me.
AIS: YOUR SOLO PLAY GONE WITH THE WINDS IS UNIQUELY STRUCTURED. WHAT DROVE YOU TO
EXPERIMENT WITH SOLO PERFORMANCE?
JEFF:
The
idea started years ago when I was a student at the College of Education. My
friends and I often argued about harmful cultural practices and the emotional
damage they cause. One friend described a troubling incident he had witnessed,
and another supported it with a related story. Those accounts stayed with me. I
sensed there was a deeper narrative within them, and over time I felt the urge
to build a larger story around those fragments.
Much
later, during my postgraduate studies, there was a project to publish an
anthology of Nigerian solo-plays. I began to reflect more seriously on how best
to present those experiences. I was already working within the space of
clinical and psychosocial narratives, so I wanted a form that could stay close
to the emotional truth of the character. The solo-play structure offered
exactly that. It allowed one performer to carry the memories, the voices, the
grief, and the shifting identities of the protagonist in a very focused way.
Choosing
the solo form also aligned with my interest in the psychological and physical
dimensions of human experience. The play follows a childless woman who moves
through different shades of grief, trauma and isolation. Presenting her story
through a single body and voice made the emotional journey more intimate and
honest. It also gave the play a flexible life, and allows it to work both on
stage and in audio formats through strong visual and sound techniques.
In
the end, I chose solo performance because it provided the most direct path to
the heart of the story. It allowed the character’s pain, resilience and longing
to speak without interruption, and that felt true to the kind of narrative I
wanted to share.
AIS: MANY OF YOUR WORKS ENGAGE WITH EMOTIONAL AND
PSYCHOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES. HOW DO CLINICAL NARRATIVES SHAPE YOUR STORYTELLING
APPROACH?
JEFF:
You’re
right if you say that. Well, clinical narratives shape my writing; they give me
a clearer way to understand how people carry pain, memory and healing. I do not
approach stories only from the angle of trauma or conflict; I pay attention to
how emotions move through the body, how people respond to pressure, and how
silence, avoidance, shame or resilience shape their choices. This helps me
build characters who feel real, not just dramatic figures placed in a plot.
Clinical
thinking also guides the structure of my stories. I try to follow the rhythm of
a person’s inner life instead of forcing events to unfold in a predictable pattern.
I ask questions such as: What does this character fear? What are they
protecting? What are they unable to say? What defence mechanisms are at work? I
reflect on these things, and they push me to write with empathy, even when the
characters are flawed. They also help me hold both the emotional and
psychological layers of a narrative at the same time.
Most
importantly, clinical narratives remind me that storytelling can be a form of
witnessing. It allows me to take readers into private spaces of struggle,
healing and self-confrontation. This approach shapes the tone and texture of my
work. It gives my work the patience and attentiveness required to honour the
full weight of human experience.
AIS: AS A DOCTORAL STUDENT, HOW DO YOU BALANCE
RIGOROUS ACADEMIC RESEARCH WITH CREATIVE WRITING?
JEFF: Balancing academic research with
creative writing has become an honest rhythm for me. Academic work gives me
structure and sharpens my thinking, while creative writing offers the freedom
to follow emotion and imagination. I no longer treat them as opposing forces. I
allow each one to lead when it needs to.
At
some days the academic voice is stronger, so I stay with my research. At other
days, the creative impulse is what rises first, and I follow it. Working this
way keeps me grounded and helps both sides enrich each other. It reminds me
that scholarship and storytelling are simply two paths toward understanding
human life, and I need both to remain whole as a writer.
AIS: WHAT WRITERS OR SCHOLARS HAVE HAD THE MOST
PROFOUND IMPACT ON YOUR LITERARY JOURNEY?
JEFF:
Several influences have shaped my
literary journey, though not in the usual sense of pointing to specific names.
What has shaped me most is a steady exposure to works that take language
seriously, treat human emotion with honesty, and recognise the tensions that
define everyday life. I learnt early that writing is not just about telling a
story. It is about listening to the unspoken parts of human experience and
giving them shape.
Texts
that lean into introspection, strong narrative structure, and psychological
depth sharpened my sense of craft. Critical essays and theoretical works helped
me understand how stories function, how silence can be as expressive as
dialogue, and how form can guide meaning. My growth has also come from
observing disciplined craftsmanship: how writers build scenes, how they hold a
reader’s attention, how they create emotional movement without excess.
Equally
important is lived experience. My academic training in literature, my
engagement with cultural narratives, and my interest in clinical storytelling
have all pushed me to write with more clarity, empathy, and responsibility.
These influences continue to shape my voice, reminding me that every piece of
writing is both an intellectual exercise and an emotional commitment.
AIS: YOUR
2023 LONGLISTED ESSAY FOR THE SEVHAGE/EE SULE PRIZE SHOWS YOUR RANGE IN
CRITICISM. HOW DOES WRITING CRITICISM ENHANCE YOUR CREATIVE WORK?
JEFF:
Writing criticism sharpens my attention
in a way nothing else does. When I analyse a text, I am forced to slow down,
notice choices, and think about why a story works the way it does. That close
reading strengthens my sense of structure, character development, pacing, and
emotional tone. It also gives me a clearer understanding of craft. Criticism
trains me to explain ideas with precision, to recognise patterns, and to
identify what makes writing effective. These habits naturally flow into my
creative work, making my stories more thoughtful, more grounded, and more
intentional.
AIS: CAN YOU
SHARE SOME EXPERIENCES FROM THE IMODOYE WRITERS’ RESIDENCY AND HOW THEY
INFLUENCED YOUR RECENT PROJECTS?
JEFF:
My time at the Imodoye Writers’
Residency in Ilorin remains one of the most grounding periods of my creative
life. The enclave offered a calm, natural environment that allowed me to slow
down, listen to myself, and write with clarity. The quiet mornings, the simple
routines, and the sense of retreat from everyday pressures helped me reconnect
with my work in a more focused way.
What
shaped me even more was the sense of community. I lived and worked alongside
other writers, and we all shared the same drive, same curiosity. We had
conversations. We exchanged stories. Even our small daily rituals created an
atmosphere where ideas flowed easily. It reminded me that creativity is not
only a solitary act; it can also be nurtured through companionship, humour, and
shared discipline.
So,
the residency deepened my commitment to thoughtful writing. It influenced the
emotional texture of the projects I worked on afterwards. It strengthened my
confidence, sharpened my process, and gave me a renewed appreciation for how
supportive spaces can transform a writer’s work. I must appreciate the
organiser of the residency, Dr Usman Akanbi, the president of the Association
of Nigerian Authors, for what he is doing there.
AIS: WHAT
RECURRING THEMES DO YOU FIND YOURSELF RETURNING TO IN YOUR FICTION AND DRAMA?
JEFF:
Across my works, certain themes keep
returning because they feel true to the worlds I write about. I write about emotional
pain, grief, and the psychological struggles people carry in their daily lives.
In Cold Things, Verdict of the Gods, Gone with the Winds and Files of the Heart, my characters often wrestle with inner turmoil
while trying to live with dignity.
I
also keep coming back to how culture shapes people. Many of my stories show
individuals trapped between tradition and personal desire, and how these
individuals try to make sense of practices that bring both comfort and
conflict. This tension allows me to explore how people search for meaning
within systems that sometimes overwhelm them.
I
have discovered that belonging and alienation run through my writing too. My
characters often feel out of place or misunderstood, and this shapes their
choices and relationships. Their struggles reflect the battles many people face
when the world around them does not fully recognise their pain.
Finally,
maybe because I am influenced by clinical narratives, the human body and mind
often become central to my storytelling. Illness, trauma, and healing appear in
different forms because they reveal vulnerability and strength in simple but
powerful ways. These themes return because they speak to the human story I feel
compelled to tell.
AIS: HOW DO
YOU ENVISION YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN LITERATURE?
JEFF:
Okay,
I see my contribution to contemporary African literature as a commitment to
honest and thoughtful storytelling. I love it when stories are grounded in
emotional and psychological truth; this guides the way I approach every
project. By bringing clinical insight into conversation with lived experience,
I try to create characters whose struggles, hopes, and silences mirror the
realities around us. My focus remains on clarity, purpose, and the ways culture
shapes inner life, because I believe these elements deepen our understanding of
pain, resilience, and healing. If my work helps broaden how African narratives
engage with memory and the human mind, then I feel I am offering something
meaningful to the continent’s evolving literary voice.
AIS: GENDER
PERSPECTIVES FEATURE IN YOUR RESEARCH. HOW DO THESE FRAMEWORKS INFORM YOUR
CHARACTERS AND NARRATIVES?
JEFF:
Gender
perspectives shape the way I write. This allows me to consider the social,
cultural, and emotional realities that define how people live and interact. In
my work, whether it is Cold Things, Verdict of the Gods, Files of the Heart,
or Gone with the Winds, I pay
attention to how gender roles, expectations, and inequalities influence
decisions, relationships, and inner life. These frameworks help me create characters
who are fully human; I mean characters whose struggles with power,
vulnerability, and identity feel authentic. When I embed gender awareness into
my narratives, I aim to show how societal structures shape individual
experiences, while still allowing for moments of choice, resilience, and
personal growth.
AIS: WHAT
CHALLENGES HAVE YOU ENCOUNTERED IN THE NIGERIAN LITERARY LANDSCAPE, AND HOW HAVE
THEY SHAPED YOUR GROWTH?
JEFF:
The
Nigerian literary landscape is full of both opportunity and challenge. Indeed,
there are challenges. Access to publishing, the struggle to reach wider
audiences, and limited platforms for emerging voices have all tested my
persistence. At the same time, these challenges have sharpened my focus and
discipline. They taught me to value every opportunity to write, publish, and
connect with readers. They also taught me to approach storytelling with care
and clarity. Rather than discouraging me, these challenges have strengthened my
resilience and deepened my commitment to producing work that is thoughtful,
honest, and meaningful.
AIS: IF YOU
WERE TO ADVISE EMERGING WRITERS IN AFRICA, ESPECIALLY THOSE JUGGLING ACADEMICS
AND CREATIVITY, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM?
JEFF:
I
would tell emerging writers to be patient with themselves and stay consistent,
even while balancing academics or other responsibilities. Writing grows from
both discipline and inspiration. Listen to your own voice, give yourself space
to reflect, and let your stories unfold naturally. Let your scholarship inform
your creativity, and let your creativity enrich your learning. I always remind
myself and others: A mind that learns
deeply imagines freely, and a writer who embraces both will create work that
lasts.
AIS: WHAT
UPCOMING PROJECTS, ACADEMIC OR CREATIVE, SHOULD YOUR READERS LOOK FORWARD TO?
JEFF:
Well,
I am working on new projects that continue to engage with the human experience
and the ways we live, feel, and connect. These stories aim to capture the
subtleties of everyday life and the emotions that shape us. I want readers to
see themselves, their struggles, and their joys reflected in the narratives. My
goal is to create literary works that lasts. I mean, works that prompt
reflection and empathy. These projects seek to explore what it means to be
human in all its difficulties and beauty.
