Nana Agyemang Ofosu, born on February 3rd, 1985 in Kumasi, Ghana, is a young poet. He holds a degree in civil engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of science and technology and is currently honoring his national service at the Department of Urban Roads, Kumasi. As a student of science, he accidentally discovered his interest in poetry when he made a bad comment about a poetry piece of his younger brother. He is a member of an open mic poetry team in Kumasi and also a founding member of Unified Talents, the organizers of Open Mic Poetry.
Five Questions with Nana Agyemang Ofosu:
1. What inspired you to write this poem?
The African approach towards politics really inspired me to write. I, having witnessed political take overs in the current dispensation of democratic governance in Ghana has made me aware of the behaviours of leaders in Africa. And more importantly the Ghanaian family system is no different from politics.
2.Why did you choose to include the refrain in the poem?
This was added for spoken word purpose just to include something comic when I do recite it someday. The very statement "Wofa Adwo ei, Nkaafa, Nipa eregye den" is an old saying of one of my grannies who used to serve in the shrine and the attitude is one similar to the character described in this work. It also brings the poem to life should anyone read it.
3. In June you spoke with us about your upcoming Open Mic Poetry project organized by your group Unified Talents. Do you have any updates on how that project is doing?
The program visited some schools and witnessed massive performances from students. Unfortunately the final event could not be organized due to lack of funds and support. Still, we were able to visit schools and had excellent preliminaries which to us was encouraging. It is hoped that poetry will go down well to the populace, and enjoy the support it deserves. We are still forging ahead to ensure that a final event is organized to give young talents in the senior high schools an opportunity to express themselves through poetry.
4. Can you tell us a bit more about Unified Talents in general?
Unified Talents is a group made up of young minds like myself bringing into life the dreams we have and poetry is a segment of what we do. We are working hard to break grounds to make our seed of greatness germinate, because that is the purpose we believe we are here.
5. Do your colleagues at the Department of Urban Roads know that you write poetry? If so, what do they say about it?
It's surprising how people sometimes cast doubts about one's abilities. People did not believe I could write good stuff, but now they have come to accept that I am talented and have a good taste for creative writing, especially poetry. But one thing is important: when you find what makes you happy never give in to the derogatory remarks of people. I have suffered these before and they can sometimes discourage you.
Contact Nana:
bunitslove(at)yahoo.com, unifiedtalents(at)hotmail.com
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