The Word was made Flesh….

Hi, welcome to AfamWrites. I am Ebubechukwu Bruno Nwagbo. I promised that I will be writing a series on Writers, Consumers & Depression. I wrote the introduction two days ago. You can check it out herehttps://afamwrites.com/2021/02/05/writers-consumers-depression-1/ Today, I will be writing on the topic “The Word was made flesh….” to show how a writer’s words can become the reality of his readers.

The Word was made Flesh….

This is a quote from the Bible. Some versions of the Bible end it with: “and dwelt amongst us,” “and took up residence among us,” “and began to live in our neighborhood.”

For the sake of this series, let us make “the word” here “poetry or literature.” And the type of poetry/literature, here: sad-themed ones. Imagine that they become humans. Imagine that they live with us. This is possible. This is the possibility creatives create when they dedicate their works solely on sadness, depression and suicide. It dwells amongst their readers.

A Nigerian writer Afolabi Ogundele, popularly known as Mystique refers to this as the projection of emotions.
According to Mystique, ” this projection of emotions is why sometimes, I would rather not write. If I eventually do, I won’t share it.” He went on to say: ” I have realized this ability of poets over the years. I have experimented with it severally and deliberately projected certain feelings sublimely.”

Just like Mystique, I know I have the power to project feelings. That these feelings become those of my readers. As such, before projecting certain feelings, I guage the mood of my audience.
I will give an example with a recent event, in Nigeria. During the EndSARS protest, many writers wrote on police brutality. The social media was awash with such contents. Some of them were very graphic and popped up on our screens, in our bedrooms and dining tables.

I wrote four works then, on police brutality. But I didn’t share them with anyone. During that period, I told those in my circle that in the midst of the killings, that poetry gives me a feeling of home. One of them, Itunu retorted “then, why haven’t you written a piece about the ongoing protest on police brutality?” I told her that I would rather deal with it by writing and not sharing them.

To conclude today’s episode on the series, let me ask my fellow writers a question I often ask myself:
” If the world is full of trauma, will you be helping her, by putting out works filled with more trauma?”

Follow me next week Sunday, as I continue this series Writers, Consumers & Depression.

• Writers, Consumers & Depression III
  What makes some readers depressed is their inability to define who or what to read. Or what kind of support to expect from the work of a writer. It is true that some of these readers have family, friends and other people who should be their support system. Sometimes, they do not find support in… Read More »Writers, Consumers & Depression III
• The Word was made Flesh….
  Hi, welcome to AfamWrites. I am Ebubechukwu Bruno Nwagbo. I promised that I will be writing a series on Writers, Consumers & Depression. I wrote the introduction two days ago. You can check it out herehttps://afamwrites.com/2021/02/05/writers-consumers-depression-1/ Today, I will be writing on the topic “The Word was made flesh….” to show how a writer’s words… Read More »The Word was made Flesh….
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    It was a cool evening on the 16th of January 2021. Creatives from around the country were seated for an open discussion. This was at  Eriata Heights Oriokuta-Ikorodu, Lagos. The evening talks was on Mental Health, the moderator of the session asked a question: do writers go to poetry, or does poetry come to… Read More »Writers, Consumers & Depression 1
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