I asked a boy, an orphan, bathing the street with waters
from his body, what led his pedigree to rest.
He said it was a bullet from a drunk policeman’s riffle.
the village chief’s wife & the boy who told tales to a blue bird (a poem by Kukogho Iruesiri Samson)
Today, the chief’s wife visited the village square
her once-rectangular parts now are square!
but we dare not boo or harry her…
ALBERT JUNGERS POETRY PRIZE 2022: OLAJUWON JOSEPH OLUMIDE, OSIEKA OSINIMU ALAO & JEWO OGHENETEGA MAKE 3-POET SHORTLIST
Three poets, Olajuwon Joseph Olumide, Osieka Osinimu Alao, and Jewo Oghenetega, have been shortlisted for the 8th Albert Jungers Poetry Prize (AJPP 2022).
NWUGURU C. SULLIVAN, HUSSANI ABDULRAHIM & OLUWAFISAYO AKINFOLAMI SHORTLISTED FOR THE ₦100,000 ERIATA ORIBHABOR POETRY PRIZE 2022
On the Top 3 shortlist of the 2022 edition of the ₦100,000 worth Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize (EOPP) are Nwuguru C. Sullivan, Hussani Abdulrahim, and Oluwafisayo Akinfolami.
#FOW2022— 7TH ‘FEAST OF WORDS’ LITERARY FESTIVAL HOLDS DEC 10 IN LAGOS
It is here again! Feast of Words 2022 (#FOW2022) is billed for December 10, 2022, and is themed ‘WORDS FOR A NATION AT CROSSROADS.’
TIME TO PIPE PEPPERY VERSES — OF LUSH IMAGERIES, ORIGINAL & WITTY METAPHORS | A Review of James Eze’s NLNG Prize 2022 Longlisted “dispossessed” by Ugochukwu Anadi
dispossessed, with lush imageries and original and witty metaphors presents us with the chronicles of Eze’s growth as a poet, his intellectual maturation and the heights of his social consciousness.
OF IMAGINATIONS & IMBIBING: A BOOK LOVER’S TRIBUTE TO AFRICA’S FINEST AUTHORS | an essay by Enit’ayanfe Ayosojumi Akinsanya
They merged all the way from my childhood and became the flame in my rocket today. It is only natural that, like murals, their portraits keep surfacing in my works, and yet, they leave me whole, undefiled, true, the writer child they had raised.
A LETTER TO MY MOTHER | a short story by Abdulrazaq Salihu
Mother, I fear I have lost a whole lot of contacts and relationships as a mango tree loses its leaves. Our street looks smaller now. It is now a strange place even to people like me who once had only its scent inflected in their nostrils.
A STAR & A SUN: TRIBUTE TO CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE | art by Kukogho Iruesiri Samson
Chimamanda has been a Star & A Sun [from the East] lighting the path for many Nigerian writers, myself inclusive.
BEHIND THE SPECTACLES: WOLE SOYINKA & CHINUA ACHEBE | art by Ibrahim Ajani Lawal
This set of artworks on the other hand attempts to recreate yesterday and reimagine tomorrow under today’s watch. Since literature is a mirror of society, this series strives to project the views, thoughts, and imaginations of leaders—writers—who see through the lenses of others.