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Poet's Talk

Poets Talk: 5 Questions with Jakky Bankong-Obi

I like forests because they are full of mystery and are mystical. I love that they are full of life and yet quite secretive. If you’ve ever lived near a forest, you get that sense of latency, something just coiled and waiting, a sense of fullness even when you don’t see anything but the trees. It’s like a hum, a ...

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Poets Talk: 5 Questions with Odu Ode

Poets Talk: 5 Questions with Fatima Adamu

Poets Talk: 5 Questions with Ruth Mwanza

From Our Columnists

On Peace and the Essence of Chaos || Star Zahra

So, I understand what it means to come into the peace of wild things – like lakes – who do not tax themselves with the afterthought of thoughts.

In The Poetry of Life: Things I Remember About My Grandmother | Nasiba Babale

I remember my grandmother by a lot of things, and when I picture myself in old age, I see myself in her image. Tall, lean, with a slightly curved back, a head full of gray hair that tangles and covers my eyes when being loose. Rheumy eyes set on a dark lean face, hands that are ever generous, and a serious demeanor that resets naughty grandchildren back to their default setting.

The Question of Hybrid in Deaf Birds & Frozen Frames || Salamatu Sule

Alabi likens this to the little value we place on what we used to have that is free but never allowed ourselves to explore at a new place where we can no longer enjoy that freedom but are happy to explore.

In The Poetry of Life: The What-Ifs | Nasiba Babale

In a lot of ways, ending a year is like ending a poem. Like a poet approaches a finished poem in scrutiny, going over and reading it again, sometimes reading it out loud to hear the rhythm and make sure it flows smoothly, so too do we go over the events of an ending year. But unlike a poem, we cannot remove the words or the lines we feel are obstructing the flow of a year spent. There is no going back to remove a word or insert a new one. There is no changing the events of any moment. There is no altering the flow. There are only the what-ifs.

Black Poets

Black Poets: Ikeogu Oke.

Ikeogu Oke was a Nigerian poet and journalist who died in Abuja on November 27th, 2018, at 51. He hailed from Ohafia in south-eastern Nigeria and was considered a deeply spiritual person. He sought to embody traditional African beliefs, notably wearing the Ohafia war dress to high-profile events to highlight his Igbo heritage. 

Black Poets: Warsan Shire.

Black Poets: Véronique Tadjo.

Black Poets: Bassey Ikpi.

Displacement Poetry, Meta-fluidity, and a little bit of Love and Grief

Poetry Meets Sciences – #Andrea

Despite the coldness, I feel inspired to travel to the polar regions to create words of silences, of darkness during the polar nights. I wish my words to touch the extremities and the absoluteness of being.

Surviving Love and a Pandemic – #Malumfashi

Most people are wearing cloth made masks they lower to their chins when they want to talk to you – there is something about the need to communicate with the lips visible, moving. Some are wearing matching Ankara and facemask prints, in a fashion statement that even Covid-19 cannot mask.

On Reading “Gathering of Spirits & Other Poems” by Umar Abubakar Sidi || Paul Liam

Back to Sidi. I continue my reading or misreading of his poems. I am searching for that single line in “Gathering of Spirits” that would resonate and strike me as a thoughtful punctuation of our proselytism.

From The Editor

BIRTHING WORDS: Will you buy my words… or An Author’s Short Introspection on His Writing Odyssey – Tope Ogundare

Tope Ogundare is a psychiatrist and poet who was recently shortlisted for Association of Nigerian Authors/KMVL Poetry Prize (2023). In this piece, he gives a brief glimpse into his writing and inspiration. Do read, do share! ...

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BroDa SaMson [A Poem] by Oyindamola Shoola

IMISIMOLE’S BALAD by S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema

Orange Poetry NG

In The Poetry of Life by Naseeba Babale

In The Poetry of Life: The Last Stanza | Nasiba Babale

But life isn't always like poetry, it hardly ever starts from the last stanza. Sometimes, you have no idea if there will be a last stanza at all, or if it will continue in long lines that do not have an end. Like the cliffhangers at the end of thrillers. And these cliffhangers of life... these events that continue to infinity like a recurring decimal, are the parts of life I struggle to deal with. My mind shifts and fidgets endlessly when it goes on a journey that does not seem to have an end. 

In The Poetry of Life: Dear Friday | Nasiba Babale

In The End We All Become Our Mothers | Nasiba Babale

The Goat on The Old Gate | Nasiba Babale

Everything Here

Stories from Young African Poets: Letters, Love And Time Of Ameer Naseer Ameen.

At first, the idea of sharing it with girls in our class never came to mind; but, soon the spirit of youth began to spring in our souls, we began to hear the whispers of our hearts and our minds believed it was love.

Ketty Nivyabandi

Ketty Nivyabandi, born in 1978, is a Burundian poet and human rights activist.

Nottingham Hosts the First UK Edition of the Benue Book and Arts Festival

Stories From Young African Poets: Letter Writing And Hader Otaki.

For some reason, my then-class mistress singled me out of the kids to run her errands, having me go to the post office whenever she had a letter to post, this was often a weekly or every fourth night. These letters, I went to the post office for were the foundation of my creative writing path. I didn’t know this simple errand would be an adaptation that would follow me into adulthood and later become an integral part of my life.

BENUE BOOK AND ARTS FESTIVAL DEBUTS IN NOTTINGHAM, UK ON 25th JANUARY 2025.

The Benue Book & Arts Festival (BBAAF) is set to make its exciting debut in Nottingham on Saturday, 25th January 2025. The event, organised by the SEVHAGE Literary and Development Initiative and SEVHAGE Publishers, will take place at the Central Library in Nottingham from 10:00am to 3:30pm and promises to be a day filled with thought-provoking discussions, performances, and networking opportunities. This inaugural edition marks a significant step in SEVHAGE’s mission to create a platform for cultural exchange, celebrating literature, art, and the power of storytelling.

Stories From Young African Poets: Nonexistent Boundaries Of Pamilerin Jacob.

So when in the psych ward in 2016, words leaked out of me like pus, I did not worry about the boundary of this or that. Cows and pigeons filled the room from the fields of childhood. I let the sun be a coin, did not resist seeing the moon’s arc as a shiny scar in the night sky.

A Review of Love Grows Stronger in Death Anthology by John-Paul Kunrunmi

Stories From Young African Poets: Love and Poetry of Boluwatife Emmanuel.

Through poetry, I was able to express the inexpressible, to give voice to the emotions that threatened to consume me. I wrote about love, loss, longing, hope and the universal human experiences that connect us all.