Emeka Walter Dinjos's Blog, page 4
May 17, 2014
Being a Dada in Igbo Land
In Igbo land, it is believed that children born dada are of spiritual origin – the dark side – and are possessed because their mothers visited shrines and made pacts with deities to conceive them. And I am dada. I should be furious. I should claw my way into my mother’s grave just to ask…
April 23, 2014
Walter Dinjos, Author of “Beyond Bermuda” and “The Forbidden Sea”
I just had a wonderful interview with Pat Betram. Follow the link below. Walter Dinjos, Author of “Beyond Bermuda” and “The Forbidden Sea”. By the way, did you know that in many parts of Nigeria Town Criers are still very much active? They roam the night striking their ogene(s) or ekwe(s) and crying out their…
April 9, 2014
Bush Babies: Facts and Fictions
When I was little, my village elders would fascinate and frighten my peers and I with fables about bush babies at moonlight gatherings. Back then, we thought the tales were true, and I used to picture bush babies as dollish creatures the size of a three-year-old, but now, I scoff and shake my head wistfully…
March 9, 2014
My Eyes Have Seen My Ears
I must point out that at the time it happened I had no mirror or a picture of myself with me. Neither was I near anything glassy. I was girdled by village elders who sit on carved stones, drink wine – palm wine, by the way – from cattle horns, and are as addicted to…
February 15, 2014
Handling the Disappointment of Rejections
I use Grammarly’s online proofreader because a single error can translate to a hundred rejection letters. Along the road to becoming a successful novelist, every writer bumps into a set of unavoidable potholes, one of the most devastating being rejections. Of course, those depressing replies will always come – worse, in dozens. It doesn’t matter…
January 9, 2014
Iba Mmuo: The Ordeal of Becoming a Masquerade in Juju Land
Iba Mmuo, meaning ‘initiation into the spirit’, is mostly practiced in Igbo land in south-eastern Nigeria, the term ‘spirit’, in – and only in – this particular instance, implying ‘masquerade’. Not that masquerades are spirits, but Igbo folk prefer to delude themselves with the lie to preserve the mysteries and excitement surrounding the culture prior…
December 9, 2013
The Do-As-I-Say Charm
You have probably read (or watched) one of those paranormal books (or movies) with characters possessing magical powers of persuasion, and you have probably dismissed such powers as imaginary while wondering how cool it would be to have them. I have two things to say to you. One, such powers do exist – we call…
November 17, 2013
Being a Dada in Igbo Land
In Igbo land, it is believed that children born dada are of spiritual origin – the dark side – and are possessed because their mothers visited shrines and made pacts with deities to conceive them. And I am dada. I should be furious. I should claw my way into my mother’s grave just to ask […]
October 15, 2013
Handling the Disappointment of Rejections
I use Grammarly’s online proofreader because a single error can translate to a hundred rejection letters. Along the road to becoming a successful novelist, every writer bumps into a set of unavoidable potholes, one of the most devastating being rejections. Of course, those depressing replies will always come – worse, in dozens. It doesn’t matter […]
October 1, 2013
Samkos Plaza: A Tale of Misfits
If there is a place most unsuitable for writing, it is Samkos Plaza. Riddled with the unending drone of motor engines and the cries of marketers, the park made me feel noisy inside and drained my mind of creativity. My walk there was like one on a wasteland, and the air reeked of weed smoke […]
