Hi guys, I will be having a reading this evening, Saturday 28th November 2020 and it will be live on Instagram by 5pm at @yelffoundation and probably on my handle @sueddieagema. See you there! Continue reading Sueddie Agema Reading 28 November 2020 by 5pm Live on Instagram
The fires that could not consume us
Made our bones metals
This is how boys are forged into men
The world is for tungsten hearts
Men who dare their beast in the face
And carry their mountains in baskets
The world is for those who dance
In gatherings of hurricanes
And still survive its suffocation.
Continue reading “Dance amongst the Hurricanes (A Poem) by Fubaraibi Anari Benstowe”
In summary:
This is a scholarship for 3 African women to do any of the following eligible Programmes at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London (United Kingdom):
This award is for a student with a particular interest in African Literature with the aim to support a new generation of African female writers
I don’t know who this might help but please pass on the word.
(Being the text of a talk delivered at Sussex Nigerian Society’s Black History Month event at the University of Sussex on Wednesday, October 10, 2019)
One of the things I remember while growing up in Ìbàdàn was that almost every technological item in the house was made in China. I knew this because it was written there: “Made in China.” It was hard to avoid. You just needed to look a bit under the item, or around it, and the sign was there: “Made in China.” I know this hasn’t changed as much today because a couple of weeks ago, my son, who is now almost six, asked me, “Is everything made in China?” He must have been observing too.
But it was not just electronic items that I associated with a particular place. I remember the razor blades we used — probably the same ones we still use in Nigeria — were made in Czechoslovakia. Well now, the country no longer exists, so it will now likely be written as “Made in Czech Republic”, but the association persisted long enough in my mind that I could not associate razor blades with any other place than Czechoslovakia, a country I could not place on the map, nor even properly spell if not for the razor blade.
As part of our Benue Book and Arts Festival in Makurdi on June 20 to 22, 2019:
THREE WORKSHOPS – And you can apply for any or ALL of them!
1. If you are interested in any of the writing workshops (Fiction with Abubakar Adam Ibrahim; Spoken Word with Efe Paul Azino; Poetry with Chuma Nwokolo), kindly send us an email saying why you would want to attend the workshop and then a sample of your work (a piece of fiction not more than 2,000 words for the fiction workshop; a poem that is not longer than 40 lines for poetry; and an audio recording or video for the spoken word workshop) to benuefestival@gmail.com. Kindly ensure you have the subject written as ‘Interest for [Genre] Workshop.’ Don’t forget to include your name, your address and phone number. Those selected for the workshops will have to pay N2,000 for the workshop.
Continue reading “APPLY FOR LITERARY WORKSHOPS AT THE BENUE BOOK AND ARTS FESTIVAL”
Only yesterday, it feels like that, Nigeria went into mourning over the death of Pius Adesanmi, our much beloved Professor of many letters and social critic. Our eyes are still wet with the tears.
Continue reading “PIUS, NAIJA SCHOOLS AND THE LAGOS COLLAPSE”
A brief account of the poetry workshop:
The Poet as Witness,
guided by poet Kwame Dawes.
A rainy Saturday winter morn-ning in Oxford. I started walking at 7.45am from Iffley up to the north area of Woodstock in order to reach the Radcliffe Humanities building of Oxford University. I was excited. First, because I was going to go into the architectural entrails of the building that held the philosophy department of the university. This was exciting, because four years before I had intended to volunteer (research for free) in the department in order to soak up in the knowledge I was so hungry to learn and discuss with others. The intention was a failure. Second, because an unknown poet for me, had offered a ‘free’ workshop with the enticing title of The Poet as Witness.
Last year came to an end with me getting a mail from the Nigerian Writers Award group that I had been listed on their 100 Influential Nigerian Writers Under 40. Not a bad way to end the year, right?
My second year on the list and I smiled at the group of names there too: friends like the phenomenal Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, my brothers, Kukogho Iruesiri Samson, T. J. Benson and Romeo Oriogun, the poetic maestros Basiru Bash Amuneni, Dike Chukwumerije, Efe Paul Azino and Graciano Enwerem, the graceful Amara Nicole Okolo, Dami Ajayi, Kenechi Uzor, Eketi Edima Ette, Elnathan John, Emmanuel Iduma, Olulu Holloway, Jumoke Verissimo… to mention a few of my people on the list.
Continue reading “ON BEING ON THE LIST OF 100 INFLUENTIAL NIGERIAN WRITERS UNDER 40 (2018)”
It isn’t always one wakes up in Oxford or to a day when you would attend Kwame Dawes’s poetry workshop. But that was the case on this fine Saturday, 1st December, 2018. The clouds were gloomy but that was the least of my concerns. I had spent the night in the town after coming in from Brighton the previous day. Kwame had had a reading, followed by a showcase of the African Poetry Book Fund books. It was fun but that is story for another day.
Life is one big contradiction in every field but it is more so when you are a writer—or so I think. You think you are there, you think you have the right words. You are in the moment and you bask as Mother Muse slowly pours herself unto your pages through the medium of creativity. … Continue reading RISE, LIVE TO YOUR WRITE!
Su'eddie in Life n' Literature 