Contrary to the notion that poetry does not pay in Ghana, Ghanaian poet and literary coach, Nana Asaase says he has made gains from it.

Born Philip Boakye Dua Oyinka, Nana Asaase has been in the creative industry for eleven (11) years.

According to him, quitting his job to concentrate on poetry, has really paid off. 

“This is my eleventh year since I quit my job. Poetry has been my biggest payer. On stage, off stage, whichever way it is, it’s been poetry all along,” he told Joy FM’s Kwame Dadzie on ‘Joy Entertainment Unpacked.’

Contributing to a discussion on how to create more commercial avenues for poets in Ghana, Nana said “it is possible to take poetry as a full-time job although it might not be like the kind of turn-overs we are expecting when someone is in a regular 8 to 5 job making a lot of money.”

“Consistently, it’s growing. It will get better. It can be done. It has been done. We are doing it. Maybe without knowing it, everybody is doing it,” he added. 

He made this statement, when poet and playwright Chief Moomen said during the conversation that it is impossible for anyone to take poetry as a full-time job. 

“Can you practice as a poet, as a career full-time, and that is what you do, that is what you survive on completely until your retirement? From my experience I don’t think so and I don’t necessary think it should be so,” Chief noted. 

Apart from Nana Asaase, two other poets, Emma Ofosua and Poetra Asantewa also said they have been able to make a living from poetry after quitting their corporate jobs. 

‘Joy Entertainment Unpacked’, is a weekly Twitter Spaces conversation on Joy FM’s Twitter page.