W: Rachel June

An overarching theme in my conversation with Lookman was storytelling, and I was desperate to delve deeper into his ideas and discover some of his idols and inspirations. When asked about the importance of poetry and storytelling, Lookman explained that “Our prime language is storytelling; everything in between is what’s within storytelling. Our whole world structure is built on stories, our whole moral landscape is built on stories.” We as humans crave stories because it is through the lived or fictional experiences of others that we are able to make a slither of sense of our jumbled lives. Without stories, life would be like trying to build Ikea furniture without instructions, confusing and frustrating. A captivating story is not an easy thing to tell, and some are noticeably better than others. Three names came up frequently in my discussion with Lookman, the first I’ve touched upon in Bob Dylan and the next’s tales take place in a galaxy far away. 

Lookman is a massive Star Wars fan, not only could I hear it in his voice and see it in his body language as he visibly perked up when he began to describe his affinity, but I saw it predominantly in the way his eyes lit up. It was like two lightsabers had been unsheathed. George Lucas is the architect of Lookman’s obsession with Star Wars, and in his own words he described Lucas as “not the greatest director, cinematographer or writer but an amazing storyteller, one of the best ever.” He used the comparison of modern versus original Star Wars to drive home this point. “Modern Star Wars have hundreds of millions in budget, incredible ensemble casts and CGI that will blow your mind but the story just isn’t there and it’s painfully evident how important that is.” The last member of Lookman’s holy trinity of storytellers is JR Tolkien, author of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but you probably knew that already. 

Lookman’s appreciation for Tolkien lies predominantly in his world-building ability and prioritisation of lore. This is exemplified by the fact that Lookman used to sit in the bookstore as a kid whenever he had free time to read the anthology of Lord of the Rings. He said that it became his bible and further explained that he’s spiritual, not religious, but reading Tolkien’s anthology showed him the importance of the Bible. A handbook on life for those whose thoughts and beliefs align with it. Lookman explained that the Bible is the ultimate story, it’s been around for thousands of years and will undoubtedly be around for thousands more. 

You know how sometimes you leave a conversation with someone and you feel like your life and perspective have changed? That’s how I felt leaving my chat with Lookman, and I want to wrap up this article with something he said about poetry:

“Poetry is words used every day but arranged in a way to evoke a power that says something that is otherwise unexplainable”.