Welcome to Konya Shamsrumi, the capital of African poetry.

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Poets Talk: 5 Questions with John Chinaka Onyeche

I am that song you nod and hum to but still can’t sing along with, because, sometimes, it’s too deep. Yet, it flows, attracting passersby who know nothing of the sadness within. ...

Poets Talk: 5 Questions with Kayeon Onyeka

Poets Talk: 5 Questions with Jakky Bankong-Obi

Poets Talk: 5 Questions with Odu Ode

Three Poems by Sulaiman Zailani || The Bala Selection

Three Poems by Toyin Adewale-Gabriel || The Bala Selection

Three Poems by Usman Karofi || The Bala Selection

From Our Columnists

Crossing the Rubicon by Sulaiman Zailani: A Note || Ismail Bala

In Crossing the Rubicon, Suleiman Zailani takes readers on a lyrical journey of love, memory, grief, faith, longing, and spiritual awakening.

How to Read Poetry | Sumaila Isah Umaisha

This is why I believe that, when reading a poem, we should pay less attention to what we imagine the poet intended to say and more attention to what the poem itself communicates. Instead of asking only, What has the poet said? we should also ask, What is the poem saying? What does it evoke in me? What meanings can I discover in its images, symbols, metaphors, language, structure, and silences?

The Woman Who Made Us Wait | Aliyu Jalal

I think about this now, sitting beside her bed, listening to the difficult machinery of her breathing, and I find myself revisiting some of the memories I had filed away as childhood grievances. .. Age has a way of returning old memories to us with their labels removed.

Poetic Soundscapes of Morocco – #Andrea

I would go on to discover that the opportunity to read poems in Morocco liberated the silenced voice within me: the empathic pain I had carried in my body, shaped by the violence of the world, by barbarity that tears away people's dignity and lives.

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.

I Hate Poetry – #Naseeba

Most importantly, I hate poetry for teaching me how to love. Poetry made a lover out of me. Before poetry, I didn’t know that the gaze from my lover’s eyes could loosen my joints. I didn’t know that a single touch of his hands could melt me like candle wax. . .

“Here Comes the Rain Again” – #Andrea

Perhaps, given the new shame in so many places around the world, it is especially urgent for humanity not only to read “Es werde liecht” (Let there be light) but also to live it.

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 CRISIS OF INTERPRETATION AND THE TEMPER OF NEW NIGERIAN POETRY by Oko Owi Ocho

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

Konya Shamsrumi Publishes Tanure Ojaide’s Adult Love

Konya Shamsrumi Publishes Tanure Ojaide’s Adult Love ...

[News Alert] Garba Dakaskus Sighted at Roving Heights Bookstore, Abuja

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

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

In The Poetry of Life by Naseeba Babale

In The Poetry of Life | Nasiba Babale

That being said. What on God’s green earth is wrong with you? I do not understand you at all! You have caused me a lot of trouble, embarrassed me, put me in situations where only the Grace of God saved me, and made me look stupid in places where I was supposed to maintain my steeze. And if you cared to know anything about me, you would know that I take my steeze seriously.