INTALK CONVERSATION: Fatihah Quadri Eniola Explores The Artistry Of Spoken Word

In this short interview, Fatihah shares her perspectives on being a spoken word artist and highlights why it is among the most effective forms of art.

Fatihah Quadri Eniola Explores The Artistry Of Spoken Word

Fatihah Quadri Eniola's spoken word, What Do You Remember, was shortlisted for the Pawners Paper's Spoken Word and Poetry Contest.

Fatihah Quadri Eniola is a young contemporary poet from Nigeria. Her works have been published in Torch Literary Arts, The Strange Horizons, Blue Marble Review, and elsewhere. She is currently gathering experience in law at the Nigerian University of Ibadan.

 

IG: Fatihah_Quadri_Eniola

In this short interview, Fatihah shares her perspectives on being a spoken word artist and highlights why it is among the most effective forms of art for conveying messages and evoking emotions.

How does it feel to make the shortlist? Did you anticipate it?

I am a contemporary poet, which means I am a published writer, which also means that I have both the experience of poetry and spoken word. However, through this journey, I have come to the realization that the difference between the two is the visibility of the emotion.

In written poetry, the poet writes out the emotion, while in spoken poetry, the poet performs the emotion with an action.

 

 

What do you think are the most effective ways to spur the listeners' interest during a performance?

 

The cadence, the emotion, the actions, the truth, the choice of words, and the courage to render your voice to the world

 

Will enough grammar or a figuratively condensed message evoke the emotions the spoken word purportedly intends to perform?

 

Poetry is known for its denotative and connotative meanings. However, I would say that in spoken-word poetry, the message should be easy for the audience to understand.

Unnecessary grammar isn't what makes a performance a spoken word, but the simplicity of the words and the meanings they carry.

 

How immense are the essences of clarity of message and simplicity in the spoken word?

Deeply immense. When one performs spoken-word poetry, there is always an audience listening, either physically or perhaps virtually. One has to come straight in terms of words in order to seize their attention. 

When spoken word poetry is vague, unclear, and too figurative, not all the audience is a poet, and the non-poet will definitely be left to wonder what the work is all about.

 

 

What are your future expectations as a poet?

As much as I have the strong intention to take my poetry along with me as my life moves on, I mean, poetry generally, be it spoken or written poetry. I want to live a happy life with a silent mind, a silent job, silent children, a silent spouse, my silence God, and a home so silent that I can continue to write my poems.