Literary Projects

Literary Projects generally features the current and future works of Senator Ihenyen in the field of writing. This comprises of Research Works.

The young Nigerian writer, who was the main founder of the now defunct Apollo Writers Online as far back as 2004, has in his own little way been involved in pushing the boundaries of Nigerian literature. He with his colleague, Opeyemi Ogundele, ran a listserve that served as a creative forum where both young and upcoming Nigerian poets and other international writers sharpened their writing skills through constructive criticisms and feedback.

Together, they explored publishing opportunities on the Internet. Apollo also collaborated with the Lagos branch of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA Lagos) under Folu Agoi’s chairmanship to provide reading materials for members who were to read or perform their unpublished works in ANA meetings. Soft copy submissions made to Apollo Writers Online were processed and made available to everyone in hard copies.

In 2004, Apollo with the aim of bridging the wide gap between Literature as a creative writing exercise among writers and Literature as an academic study among students came up with a Literary and Educational Project. This project involved writing a JAMB syllabus poetry-based literary text for students at the University Matriculations Examinatins (UME) level. With Senator Ihenyen as author, and Opeyemi Ogundele as contributor and Assistant Project Coordinator, the book was completed in August 2005. The duo were interviewed by Juliet Bumah, Art Editor, Daily Times of Nigeria, and Henry Akubuiro of The Sun in the same year.

But after an unsuccessful solicitation for sponsorship to fund the publishing, and failing to get a publishing contract that would see the book in the market within the two-year period the mainly syllabus-based book would last, the project remained in the pipeline. Four years later, it is a different story and a redefined focus with this unrelenting and energetic young writer, with a continually deepening interest in creative writing and literary research. The Law student and literary writer remains strongly committed and dedicated to realising his vision for a more vibrant Nigerian literature in many ways than one.

Today, after extensive research, the determined author of Colourless Rainbow has been working on a new compprehensive textbook covering the three genres of poetry, prose and drama. According to the author, “No doubt, having finally completed such a highly researched and standard textbook based on the peculiar genre of poetry, it is intellectually rewarding. However after considering the wider needs of target market and expert advise, I have decided to expand the scope of the proposed book to prose and drama as well.”