Everything Here
The ZODML poetry prize competition has been declared open for submission with the theme "Hopefulness" targeting public Nigerian Varsity students.
Although this poem speaks to the loss of my mother, while also paying homage to the very essence of womanhood, my mother is still very much alive and well. In an interview with Chimee Adioha of Black Boy Review, Ukata Edwardson once said: "The truth is, in all reality, every piece of art and literature performs a little lie."
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”.
Ikike Arts is committed to enriching the literary landscape with a diverse range of offerings, including the Oriọna Literary Magazine, the Direwords Annual Writers' Workshop, Poemify Podcasts, The Fellowship, and awesome literary prizes," said Tochukwu Precious Eze, formerly of Direwords and now Co-founder/Chief Editor of Ikike Arts.
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”.
