Konya Shamsrumi

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Poet's Talk

Poets Talk: 5 Questions with Kayeon Onyeka

My sense of identity is that of an observer making sense of every scene that presents itself. More like a camera capturing what is presented as it interprets the images into photos. But I must admit that even as lenses get blurry. ...

Poets Talk: 5 Questions with Jakky Bankong-Obi

Poets Talk: 5 Questions with Odu Ode

Poets Talk: 5 Questions with Fatima Adamu

KSR Specials

The Forgotten Sorcery Of The Poet || Suleiman Zailani

[Slideshow] Orange Poetry Live Show: Round Two – Even Hotter!

(Pre-orders) Konya Shamsrumi Press Acquires Two Compelling New Poetry Collections

From Our Columnists

In The Poetry of Life: The Poetic Side of Melancholy | Nasiba Babale

It isn’t that I have never written a poem in the absence of melancholy. I have. But there is a way melancholy pokes into your soul; it makes you feel things; it lifts the curtain over your eyes and makes you see the world with vivid alacrity. There is a way it sequestrates the feelings out of you and turns them into words. There is a way melancholy does these that joy simply doesn’t know how to. Melancholy is poetry’s favorite child.

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.

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.

Verse As Muse for Memory – #Luqman

Hence, while the historian's mind is riddled with events, the poet's is bursting with colour, having memory as its minefield. However, there is no fixity to verse. Not in its fidelity to what was or its facility for what will follow. Both past and future are the canvass upon which imagination subsists. Along the way, it rids itself of all ethical sympathies.

Abdullahi Ismaila’s Our Country Holds a Whip Against Us: Toneful Wailings And Wakeful Laughters || Paul Liam

The society is depicted to be expectant. Waiting for a turnaround to the challenges that plague us. We are described to be ‘waiting so long for our laughter' but it never comes. The culprits responsible for this tragedy are ‘pol- thieves-cians' as rightly described by the poet via the application of poetic license.

Umar Abubakar Sidi’s Search for Poesy || Paul Liam

There is a rawness and a tangibility to this struggle, asserting itself like a shawl over the spirit and engendering a gradual fading away of the substantial, particular (in)carnation we occupy. Essentially, we become apologists in an oppression we neither deserve nor comprehend but in which we are too lost to realize the extent of our performance in the disservice.

A Review of Lukman Umar Kankia’s Brevity of Life and Other Poems | Ismail Bala

Everything

1 .

THE AFRICAN [SUB]TEXT IN OGUNDARE’S GRIEF DIARY: A REVIEW by Hyginus Ekwuazi

2 .

Stories From Young African Poets: Saada Isa Yahaya’s Consistency, Discernment, Poetry Amidst Mentorship.

3 .

NIGERIA’S HALIRU ALI MUSA BEATS SEVENTY-ONE COMPETITORS TO WIN ALEXANDER NDERITU PRIZE FOR WORLD LITERATURE, 2024.

4 .

Stories From Young African Poets: Love of Nursery Rhymes And Poems of Isah G. Hassan.

5 .

Stories From Young African Poets: Crime, Poetry and Musaa King.

Sisi Akoko Magazine

Chinua Achebe Appears In Gen Z Style, Declares A New Version Of Vulture— Selfishness Bruh

From Rappers And Poets, Umar Farouk Adeiza Reveals His Relationship With Words.

Kindergarten Maths Is Hard Says Nigerian Poet, Ayobami Kayode.

…To Write Memories That Tears You Apart After Haruki Murakami.

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! ...

BroDa SaMson [A Poem] by Oyindamola Shoola

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

Café 24

Cafe 24 || Winner: Lost And Found By Stephen Olayemi.

Cafe 24 || Winner: Future Plans by Akumbu Uche

Cafe 24: Call For Submissions.

Cafe 24 || Winner: I Am North By Shehu Mubarak Sulaiman

Orange Poetry NG

In The Poetry of Life by Naseeba Babale

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.

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

In The Poetry of Life: Dear Friday | Nasiba Babale

In The End We All Become Our Mothers | Nasiba Babale

Everything Here

Portsmouth Football Club Appoints Bash Amuneni As New Poet In Residence.

Bash Amuneni, renowned Nigerian spoken words poet has been appointed as the new poet in residence (Poet Laureate) for the Portsmouth Football Club, an England club with 126 years of history.

What ‘Nigeria Meets Sweden: An Intercultural Cookbook by Philippe Glago’ Shows: A Review by Soji Cole

Stories From Young African Poets: Ngatha Faith’s definition And DNA.

However as I grew older shyness overcame the confidence that I initially had and I did not get to interact with poetry again up until I got to university.

Wendy Okeke Portrays Her Humanity in Grief’s First Kiss is an Avalanche

Stories From Young African Poets: To love a “no name” And Zainab Tijani Mohammed.

Initially, poetry was just another subject in school, words strung together, one after the other. As a child, my mind was more focused on the empty cans waiting to be filled with sand or crushing biscuits into paste to bake into cake. I don’t know where the concept of time immemorial fits into the corners of my memory, but words have always lived somewhere in my heart. I just didn’t know exactly where, so I never bothered to visit.