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"It all began the day Jean Fande, my French teacher at the Collège Catholique Père Aupiais, introduced us to the art of writing, and more precisely to poetry," says Capuchin Father Armel Fakey.
The 34-year-old native of Benin remembers that day nearly 20 years ago at the school in the West African nation's port city, Cotonou.
"I had composed a poem entitled 'Hommage au Collège Aupiais'," recalls the friar.
His teacher was amazed when he read the young man's poem and exclaimed: "This is how great writers are born!"
Those words were all it took to ignite the young student's passion for poetry.
Father Fakaye highlighted that early work in his very first collection of published poems (Confidences d'un prêtre. De roses et d'espérance, Éditions Maïeutique d'Abidjan, 2018).
"It all began that day," he continues his reminiscence.
"In the days and months that followed, without having read a single collection of poems, my pen gave life to my words, my thoughts and my emotions," he explains.
"Beyond emotions, my poetry is a life that is written"
Fakeye's commitment to poetic writing is a way of honoring the compliment his French teacher paid him, which made him discover a talent that had been latent until then.
"Poetry has remained for me the privileged channel to pay tribute to my history, to the word," he says.
He notes that poetry goes beyond the field of emotions, as it is also interested in the human condition.
"Beyond emotions, confidences, experiences and thoughts, poetry is a life that is not only written, but also said and, above all, lived," the Capuchin explains.
"One of the recurring testimonies from readers is that Confidences d'un prêtre changed their view of poetry and life," he says.
Fakeye's collection is ranked among the three best books in the poetry category of the Grand Prix Littéraire du Bénin 2020.
He compiled a second collection of poems in Italian called Solchi Stellati (Starry Furrows). It was published this past March.
Taking up the challenge of literary posterity
Father Fakeye believes it is important that more priests and religious become involved in literature.
"There are many African priests and religious authors, but few of them choose to be writers (strictly speaking, editor's note), let alone poets," he laments.
The Capuchin is convinced that a greater number of priests and religious poets would "make the cry of humanity heard more loudly and heal the wounds of a society lacerated by so much violence and disoriented in the heart of a disembodied politics and economy".
"As Africans, we are challenged not to limit ourselves to the oral tradition. The challenge of a literary posterity is to be taken up by every writer, as well as by priests and religious writers," he says with conviction.
Father Fakeye firmly believes that poetry can inspire readers to good and, consequently, transform the face of the world.
"My wish is that, as a priest, I can turn my poetry and my literary works into a traveling pulpit," he says.
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