Carved is a brief biography of the changes in me.
Carved, Zakiyya Dzukogi’s poetry book is out and available for orders. Enter HERE to get your copies.
This book of poetry written by the 16 years old Zakiyya is a testimony that poetry, in the African continent, is the vehicle through which arts guides the human to the path of transcendence.
In a blurb for the book, SAI Sabouke has written that “Zakiyya has carved a deep signature with this compelling collection of poetry. This is a “tour of heaven” that brings you somewhere between the philosophical brevity of David Ishaya Osu’s poetry and the striking precision in the verses of Tomas Tranströmer.”
In a chat with Konya Shamsrumi about the duration and difficulties encountered while working on Carved, Zakiyya revealed;
“It took me a whole year. The idea of Carved came up mainly because of the Nigeria Prize for Teen Authors, a competition in which I entered for and emerged 1st runner up with Carved in 2020. Writing poems is what I extremely love. Even if there is any difficult stage in the process of giving birth to Carved, it will be the decision of the title. It gave me a hard time because at that moment, I had a deadline, a short time deciding what name the book would hold.”
We believe that working on a poetry book teaches a poet what they don’t know about themselves. When asked, “what did Carved carve out of you?” Zakiyya answered that;
“Carved is a brief biography of the changes in me. After meeting poetry again, I felt re-carved into a finer artist after my first collection. My latest chapbook, Winters and Summers, which won 1st position in this year’s Nigeria Prize for Teen Authors appears to have confirmed that feeling. This means with every collection, a poet should ascend higher to the poetic realm.
Carved sketched a lot out of me, that is what the book revolves around. I have learned to love and understand poetry intensely while writing Carved, giving my whole self to it. I’ve learned to reach God through poetry. I have learned to have things I want, as if God answers prayers faster in poems. Poetry is a therapy and so I’ve enjoyed that a lot as a poet.”
About the author:
Zakiyyah Dzukogi is a Nigerian poet. She is published in Upwrite Nigeria, Wind and Water chapbook, The Nigeria Review, INNSAEI Journal, Konya Shamsrumi, Literature Voices, Book O’clock, Corona Blues, Heart Links Magazine, etc. She has featured in many Zoom panels discussing poetry including Red Eyes Development Initiative, PIN, 16 days for 16 poets, Open Arts etc. Zakiyyah is the winner of the Nigerian Prize for Teen Authors, Poetry 2021.
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