The author Balthasar Edipissi who included ‘Mbéni sa kono’ to his poem collections recently published by Ifrikiya editions said it’s inborn and he likes to write.
This financial expert acquired the gift of writing since his teen years. Here is how an interview with Culturebene went.
Q: You are a financial expert, but you decided to pursue a career as an author beginning with a collection of poems. Is that not amazing?
A: I do not know if it’s amazing or not because for me it wasn’t difficult to switch. (Laughs).
Numbers to letters, let's say it takes more of a consuming passion.
I prefer to say that writing is my resting place. It is a place that comforts me, a place that allows me to be more efficient in the numbers (finances). It means that between two files when I take a second to either read a text or to write one, it refreshes my brain and from the moment I gain more strength, thoughts, and more energy for my financial expertise.
Q: It is almost difficult to detect the financial expert behind this work just published, Mbéni sa kono. It is so well thought out and written, let’s say it’s according to the rules of art. Would you have benefited from other authors advice to achieve this literary masterpiece?
A: Honestly, no; I have not had a coach. It is an inspiration. As Baudelaire said: “poetic inspiration is a gift of nature”, so for me, writing is a gift. It is true that with regard to the language itself, I have always mastered since my college years. I was illustrating well the art of writing, and I was always topped my philosophy class. So the language of Molière has always fascinated me.
Q: Let's talk about this poems requiem, Mbéni sa kono; it’s like a back to roots story in which you mention your native town Ombessa
A: It’s just a part of my life that is told in this book and experience and some key moments too. Where this depth and originality that one feels it’s simple reading. His coffee is rich and we do not trouble...
Q: How will you briefly summarize this collection?
‘Mbéni sa kono’, I would say it's two things. It includes memories of my childhood, including what I learned considering the nature in which I grew up. And the second thing I would say was my thoughts as a writer on the issues that revolved around our lives. That is why you will find contents on lies, death, the confrontation of genres (male and female), love, etc.
An example is the theme between the male and female gender, I try to demonstrate that the male is not the dominant gender like some of them try to let us know. For me, it is actually the woman because of her cries and pains during labour. That indescribable pain, but the moment she delivers, she gives all her love to the baby. Believe me; you have to be a woman to understand this.
Q: You could make a novel downright...
That's true, but let me tell right away that I have three novels already written and they will be published in the coming years.
Q: So that’s the path you took for a real writing career?
A: Absolutely because I have been writing for a long time, but it took relatives and friends persuasion to realize my writing career. I have also a collection of news and a collection of tales. You know, I had to rub shoulders with the old men in villages where I went, who told us very interesting stories, then from time to time I write them down.
Q: We get you now but why the first poetry?
A: Poetry? Well, I cannot tell you exactly how I got there, because I was not prepared for this. Actually, I’ve never written to publish, at the start. I wrote simply, until someone read my writings and advised me to publish. So that’s where I started.
