When I was young, despite not knowing what poetry was, the lines stayed with me from the very first time I listened to the audio on my sister's phone.

On this week's episode of Young African Poets, we step into a particular childhood memory of the Intellectual poet, Micheal Imossan and a poem he titled "What Guilt Did To Me".

I am an African female being who absorbs the pain of other African female beings - FGM, forced marriages, miscarriages, sexual assaults, depression, domestic violence; who writes about pain she did not experience because others, like her, have; and writes about it. I just want to say: “I see you”, “I feel you”, and most importantly, “someone cares”.

The project includes an all-expense paid five-day workshop to be co-facilitated by another NLNG Nigeria Prize-winning author, Chika Unigwe, in Abuja from 24 to 28 June 2024 in Abuja and participants will receive expert guidance in writing a short story suitable for publication in an anthology of new writing during this period.

Sometimes, I need something to remind me I exist in the world and poetry usually brings both the questions and the answers. .. If we do not know who we are, then how can we find out what we are here for?

...I can't detach the nexus of unmet desires so I attach it with glue, set it to dry under the sun to loose myself off the claws of nostalgia, to alight at the range of where I mount the transport.

Meanwhile, the infectious energy of Yoruba movies drifted in from the living room. My dad, a fervent fan, would often have them playing in the background. The booming pronouncements, and the lyrical exchanges, often delivered in poetic verse, were a constant companion to my afternoons spent with African poetry. It dawned on me – both the poems and the movies revelled in the power of words. They held the magic to weave stories, paint pictures, and stir emotions, all with the simple tools of language.