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Poetry: Now and the Future

By Akinlolu Oluwamuyiwa
14 November 2016   |   1:15 pm
During the military regime, a lot of writers turned their pens to writing poetry, protesting the state of affairs in the country in verses. With democracy came a level of freedom and poetry became a form celebrated more within the academic environment. A new generation of writers are however now using poetry – spoken word…

During the military regime, a lot of writers turned their pens to writing poetry, protesting the state of affairs in the country in verses. With democracy came a level of freedom and poetry became a form celebrated more within the academic environment.

A new generation of writers are however now using poetry – spoken word – to channel their stories and empower themselves, raising their voices to talk about their hopes, fears, and frustrations. Poetry has began to enjoy a renaissance that has seen the emergence of different poetry slams and open mics; poets invited to perform at corporate and national events, and there have been talks of collaborations between spoken word artists and mainstream musicians.

In 2015, leading performance poet Efe Paul Azino organised the first Lagos International Poetry Festival (LIPFest), with the theme, Borderless Words, bringing over thirty African poets from all over the world and establishing it as West Africa’s first international poetry festival.

“We set out to create an annual point of convergence, in Lagos, for poets and artists from across Nigeria and the world, to engage the art form and its interaction with society, cater to the growth needs of young and established poets alike through master classes, create shared performance spaces, engender collaborations and hurl our songs at the wind for three days,” Azino said.

With the memories of Borderless Words still fresh, Paging the Future took place in Lagos from October 26th to October 30th with most of the events happening in different locations in the city. The 2016 LIPFest coincided with the 50th anniversary celebrations of Lagos state and under the direction of Prof. Wole Soyinka, fifty poems by fifty poets were blown up to life size and placed at around Freedom Park, the central point for the festival.

African Poetry

For four days, participants were immersed in a series of events including workshops facilitated by renowned poets: Inua Ellams, Ladan Osman, Kwame Dawes and Titilope Sonuga who taught ‘Sister Circle’, a poetry masterclass for women.

The panel discussions were insightful: poets locating themselves in their own space and the spaces inhabited by other creatives with a variety of ideas expressions that made for sometimes volatile sessions. ‘Through Space and Time: 50 years in African Poetry’ explored the past of poetry as a way of looking to the future.

Another important part of the festival was the bringing together of poetry of the page and stage. According to Azino, “We were fortunate to have poets who straddle both mediums, poets whose poems sit beautifully on the page and sing just as well on the stage, which is something I consider valuable to the emerging poetics and to the poetry of the future.”

African Poetry

And the poems sang across the stage at the R.A.P Party with Inua Ellams, Womanifesto produced by Titilope Sonuga and the main festival concert which held at MUSON centre. The audience cried with Wana Udobang as she spoke of the pain of abuse, laughed with Dike Chukwumerijie and agreed with him that it is normal to reserve a table for the family of the groom and shook their heads at the raunchiness of Sage Hassan.

Shailja Patel told of the love of parents who wouldn’t say the words, Poetra shot barbs into the hearts of lovers and Chika Jones left the hall with words that will linger on till the next festival.

“Next year we expect to, again, increase the guest list, expand the program of events, host a slam and launch a pan-African poetry prize,” Azino said.

 

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