The Alt Black

From its inception, poetry has been a literary tool that has helped people express themselves in ways that actions could not. Poetry has been used to preserve history, inspire others, or provide relief. Suleiman Adeyemi is a poet, who has declared in his latest work that,  I’m not a poet. According to Adeyemi, the name I’m not a poet was born out of the self-doubt he had while writing most of the pieces in the collection. A self-aware poem that is offset by stories that detail his rich Nigerian culture and love for knowledge.

I’m not a poet chronicles the life of Suleiman Adeyemi, a budding poet whose self-aware poetry challenges his merit as a writer, while also becoming more confident with each chapter. Throughout eight chapters and 53 poems, we are introduced to a world of a man expressing self-doubt, longing for love, throwing playful jabs at pop culture, and narrating stories of his youth and his faith. For instance, Suleiman’s poem, Poetic Justice, is a self-aware poem that confronts receiving praise while feeling that your work is not praiseworthy. I am thankful that Suleiman gave me access to his work while answering questions about the book.

When did you begin writing?

Answer: Although I started writing about a decade ago, most of the poems in the book were written during the pandemic.

What is the story behind the name I’m not a poet?

Answer: The name I’m not a poet was born out of the self-doubt I had while writing most of the pieces in the collection. I was always fascinated by poetry and thought it would be cool if I could write “good poetry” someday. But I never thought I had the language prowess to be a poet. I would occasionally put pen to paper and scribble lines that sounded like poetry, but they were never good enough in my estimation. As time went on, I started sharing some of these pieces with my friends. I would ask, “Do you consider this poetry?” They usually would reply in the affirmative. I kept writing pieces and expressing doubts in them until my friends bullied me into compiling them into a book.

Could you explain the process of writing I’m not a poet for me? As a writer, I know that each person has a different process.

Answer: I would be telling a lie if I said I had a process or system. Writing the book was an accident as I stated earlier. Almost every piece in the collection came to life by a peculiar process. There are pieces in the compilation that I had the idea of their beginning and ending before conception. Some poems created themselves as I sort of followed the flow. There are verses that I made out of an existing essay. Some poems were typed on a gadget while others were first written on a page or tablet. So, there’s no defined process.

What does this piece of work mean for you?

Answer: A lot of the pieces in the book chronicles my take on life, and it feels like I’m sharing a piece of myself with the world. So, I had a chance to reflect on the complexities and realities of this world and my minute role in it.

Is there a message that you want readers to take away from I’m not a poet?

Answer: While there are noteworthy messages in the collection, I hope that the book would evoke emotions in my readers. I want them to smile at the humor, reflect on the life lessons, and appreciate the simple but meaningful use of language in the poems.

Could you explain how your religion and nationality influence you and your work?

Answer: I did not make a conscious effort to showcase these identities. However, because I am a Muslim from Nigeria, the realities of who I am naturally appear in the collection as most of the pieces were inspired by my personal experiences.

How would you describe your approach to poetry?

Answer: My approach to poetry keeps the audience in mind. Poetry has a reputation for being abstract and obscure. However, when I write, I desire that readers understand my poems as intended. As a German writer said, “And yet nothing is easier than to write so that no one can understand; just as contrarily, nothing is more difficult than to express deep things in such a way that everyone must necessarily grasp them.”

Why release your work now?

Answer: I would love to give you a profound answer. However, the simple truth was that we felt that we had enough poems to make a book. So, we did.

You can purchase I’m not a poet here.