SOURCE: An interview in The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, Vol. 9, July, 1970, pp. 28-37.

In the following excerpted interview, which originally took place in March, 1965, Okigbo discusses such topics as négritude, religion, African culture, and his own poetry.

[Whitelaw]: Christopher, do you think of yourself as an African poet?

[Okigbo]: I think I am just a poet. A poet writes poetry and once the work is published it becomes public property. It's left to whoever reads it to decide whether it's African poetry or English. There isn't any such thing as a poet trying to express African-ness. Such a thing doesn't exist. A poet expresses himself.

What about poets who express négritude?

Yes, but that is different because it is a particular type of poetry. It is platform poetry. It is platform writing. It is just like being invited to deliver a lecture on a particular subject...