All I Remembered in the Bush of the Impossible Virus
Emeritus Professor Wole Soyinka: In Celebration (born 13 July, 1934)
We are because you are
If there is a man worthy of brandishing the armor as a warrior of light for our humanity, if there is a man the African world must adorn with medals for his moral courage and emulate, and if there is a man deserving of being celebrated time and time over, from this July to June of the following year, and on again, that nominee who fits the bill squarely is none other than Emeritus Professor Oluwole Akinwande Soyinka.
I: A Celebration of Scholarship
Harry Garuba, internationally acclaimed Nigerian scholar, poet, journalist, editor, anthologist and theorist.
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN
in conjunction with
PACE RESEARCH NETWORK
presents
Remi Raji’s LOVESONG FOR MY WASTELAND*
(choreopoetry)
Cultural Night of the International Conference on Postproverbials
Venue: Wole Soyinka Theatre, University of Ibadan
I: A reason for flying
If you have an account in any of Nigeria's numerous banks and you do not yet have a story of frustration or disappointment to tell, you have not started being served.
If, like me, you have enlisted in any one of the internet banking systems of these financial corporations, you must now be familiar with the various kinds of disservice that have become the staple experience of many customers or clients already conscripted into the industry.
Mila. Rijeka. Leukaemia. Croatia.
Four words that end in the exclamatory sound “a”.
Four words that bring attention to the human acts of love, kindness and heroism.
This is the story of uncommon solidarity displayed by common people in southeastern Europe, the region once, and still, described as the Balkan Peninsula. It is the story of kindness, fellow feeling and absolute love which is worth the value of a film script. It is the story of how a people chose to help the helpless and make a new meaning of patriotism in the Balkan.
To kill a fear…
I used to have a huge fear of flying.
In honour and trepidation of the airspace, I had cancelled some pre-scheduled flights after the plane crash that took away my mentee, friend, collaborator, brother and confidant, Pius Adesanmi. I had lost the energy to do any work, and now they pile up before me. What really is the worth of man, and what is the value of all our aspirations to be, to grow, to plan even for the next day, when there's a pre-ordained schedule for all our steps, a divine boarding pass in hand for us all...?
Mark Nwagwu’s Time Came Upon Me and Other Poems: How to Love a Woman Forever
Title of Book: Time Came Upon Me and Other Poems
Author: Mark Nwagwu
Publisher: Bookbuilders, Ibadan
Year of Publication: 2019
Pages: 70
Price: Not stated
Reviewer: Aderemi Raji-Oyelade
Dear Payo,
when it hurts, that you do not feel the hurt
that you stoke in the hurt,
that you are the vigil of hurt.
It’s been a week now I have not heard from you.