Wole Soyinka: a special gift for Calabash

Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

The scorching sun met head on with the freezing cold Red Stripe, and there was no need for an ultrasound device to picture the refreshing gush that Nigerian Nobel laureate Akinwande Oluwole 'Wole' Soyinka felt when he swallowed 'the great Jamaican beer'.

"I feel better. I feel much better now. I feel like I am in Jamaica," he exclaimed, minutes before it was his turn to be part of 'The Chatterbox' interview at Calabash 2010.

Organisers Justine Henzell, Kwame Dawes and Colin Channer had pulled off a major coup by getting the man who says theatre makes his fingers tingle. He was one of the organisers' special gifts to the literary audience that sat glued to their seats under the famous white tent.

Theatre for Soyinka is a strong response to times of duress; times of crisis; and this time, more than ever, there was a great need for him to be in Jamaica, owing to his understanding of the events that had unfolded in Kingston two weeks ago.

The Nobel laureate has great empathy for the victims of the recent violence in Jamaica. He hopes that people will give up some of their differences and exchange the orange and green flags of politics for the black, green and gold flag of the nation.

Soyinka's interview in 'The Chatterbox' was done by Paul Holdengraber. Later, there was the general consensus that Soyinka's comments were inspiring.

Award-winning writer Louisa Calio-Fray had this to say: "His interview gave me hope there would be leaders again if people were willing to give up their factions."

'Person of great depth'

A poet and writer of fiction and essays, Calio-Fray remained transfixed to her seat as she watched a man she has come to admire. At times, she seemed to be in a world others could not penetrate. "He is a person of great depth and I felt privileged to be a part of such an intimate moment," she told The Gleaner later.

The author of numerous plays, essays, poems, and several novels about growing up in Ake, the village where he was born, Soyinka used the opportunity to talk about his 22 months in solitary confinement on death row in Nigeria during the civil war in the late 1960s. Like his hero, Nelson Mandela, he kept his sanity by creating tools from feathers or twigs to write on toilet paper. He spoke of the tragedy of injustice in Africa that resulted from power struggles among the people after British colonialism.

With 'So Much Things to Say', Soyinka poured from another bottle of Red Stripe, this time he offered some to the eloquent Paul Holdengraber.

He then told a story of a visit he made to South Africa in which he almost turned around and left because of ill-treatment at the airport, but then thought of the man he was there to honour, Nelson Mandela. Mandela's enormous discipline and self-sacrifice for the good of the nation and the world, he said, made him think it would be petty to leave for that reason.

He calls Mandela his model, an avatar, a man all could learn from. When he spoke about his own book on forgiveness, he emphasised the importance of both clemency and the need for reparations and change.

Complementing wisdom

His wisdom was complemented by the amazing finale of Calabash 2010 and tribute to the lyrics of Bob Marley by Wayne Armond, Ibo Cooper, Steve Golding and Seretse Small, capped by a surprise visit by Myrna Hague.

As the poetry in Bob Marley's lyrics resonated throughout Treasure Beach, the words 'One Love, One Heart Let's get together and feel alright' seemed even more relevant.

So, what was missing at Calabash? Wole Soyinka should have been given two hours instead of one. He barely scratched the surface before it was over.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com