ktravula – a travelogue!

Bloomsday in Lagos

For the first time, Bloomsday is happening in Lagos.

This is the celebration of James Joyce’s work, which happens annually around the world on June 16, the day that his seminal novel Ulysses takes place in 1904.

This year’s event is hosted by the Irish Embassy in Lagos. It will be online.

The event will feature a conversation between Dr. Adrian Paterson and Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún, and moderated by Àdùkẹ́ Gomez, focusing on the theme of isolation and the links between the work of Joyce and that of Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wọlé Ṣóyínká.

Source: Irish Embassy Twitter.

Oyin Oludipe Reviews “Attempted Speech”

One of the questions we asked guests coming to the Aké Arts and Books Festival in Abẹ́òkuta this November was whether they read reviews about their work. The responses were intriguing, from “No, never!” to “Well, only if it’s good” to “Oh, why not?” I’m paraphrasing. You’ll need to get your hands on the Aké Review 2015 to get a better idea!

In any case, my response to the question would not be published in the Review, since I’m one of its editors. If that were not the case, you’d have read something like “Well, why not, as long as it’s thorough — and thoroughly fawning, ha ha!” Or something.

Yesterday, I came across the first review of my recently released chapbook of poems which I’ve talked about here once before. It wasn’t fawning, but it was thorough. It was published in the Luxembourg Review which I was also discovering for the first time. At times I had to go check the collection itself again to be sure that the lines being referenced were indeed mine. It’s true what they say that when you’re writing, you’re often possessed by something more than yourself.

A quote?

“One prominent quality of Kola’s poetry, as it is with Lola Shoneyin’s, Jumoke Verissimo’s and others, is that it is structured within a fluid framework which very effectively navigates the core of the sentiments of human consciousness. What ensues is a powerful inter-fusion of muse, thought and story.”

Now, you’ll have to go read the rest for yourself!

EVENT: Writing a New Nigeria

Representations of Nigeria in contemporary fiction and poetry

Time: Saturday 14 November 2015, 4pm – 5.30pm
Venue: Freedom Park, Museum Building
Admission: Free

Panelists

Elnathan John, author of Born on a Tuesday
Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, author of Season of Crimson Blossoms and The Whispering Trees
Jumoke Verissimo, poet and author of I Am Memory and The Birth of Illusion
Dami Ajayi, poet and author of Clinical Blues
Toni Kan, author of Nights of the Creaking Bed and the forthcoming Carnivorous City
Kólá Túbòsún, linguist and writer, author of Attempted Speech & Other Fatherhood Poems

Moderator

Wana Udobang, journalist, writer and poet

A selection of celebrated contemporary writers and poets discuss representations of Nigeria in fiction and poetry. The panelists will consider how writers are reflecting the issues and concerns of Nigeria today and their role in holding politicians and society to account. They will debate how Nigerians navigate by language, slipping in and out of character, dialect and language according to the circumstances, and the importance of writing and publishing in languages other than English.

The significance of identity and place will be discussed, with two authors bringing a perspective from Northern Nigeria and another who says he couldn’t live – or write –anywhere but Lagos. There will be an opportunity to hear authors read from their works – and for audience discussion.

‘Writing a New Nigeria’ is a 2-part BBC Radio 4 documentary giving a portrait of Nigeria, seen through the eyes of a new generation of writers and poets, presented by Wana Udobang and including contributions from our panelists. Produced in partnership with the British Council as part of UK/Nigeria 2015–16, it will be available on www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 from 28th November 2015.

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Photo from Lovenwords.com

Attempted Speech & Other Poems

Some good news! This morning, my first (adult*) chapbook of poems was published on Saraba Magazine. It is a collection of 15 (mostly*) never-before published poems. It is titled Attempted Speech & Other Fatherhood Poems.

Most of the poems centre around the birth of my child, my contemplations of the fatherhood process, and other ruminations about him, children in general, and surrounding experiences. Please head here and download it. It is free to download and to read.

The publication also features an interview with the magazine, along with readings of three of the poems in the chapbook, uploaded to Soundcloud. I hope you enjoy the package as much as I did writing it. Special thanks to Emmanuel Iduma, Dami Ajayi, and Adebiyi Olasope for their work in bringing this to life.

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* I say “adult” only because I find it necessary to give a hat tip to my first (and altogether ill-fated) outing from ten years ago in a collection called Headfirst into the Meddle (2005). I say “mostly” because a few of the poems in this current collection, in a different form or another, have been featured/workshopped on my social media pages at some point in the past. In any case, ignoring occasional outing of one or two other poems in LitMags across the world, this is my first major literary debut in ten years.

Kola Tubosun joins “WE THE HUMANITIES” Platform as Curator

PRESS RELEASE

25/02/2015, Lagos, Nigeria—Kola Tubosun: linguist, teacher and writer at Whitesands School, Lagos, Nigeria, will be joining the international humanities Twitter account, We the Humanities, as next week’s guest curator.

@wethehumanities is a rotation-curation account which offers a central platform for discussion and news of the humanities in all its forms. It is open to anyone working in or with the humanities in any form, and hopes to follow the success achieved by the science platform, @realscientists.

Kola is a linguist and aspiring lexicographer with years of work in language teaching and language documentation under his belt. He will be tweeting about mother tongue use, language endangerment, and particularly a subject that is dear to him: Yoruba language use in Nigeria. He is currently building a multimedia dictionary of Yoruba names at www.yorubaname.com . Kola can be found on twitter at @baroka, and on his blog at KTravula.com

Co-founder Jessica Sage (@academicjess) comments: “The We the Humanities project engages with people from around the world, exposing them to humanities research, experience and ideas they perhaps didn’t know existed. Each week a new academic or practitioner takes over the account, tweeting about their work and provoking conversations about the diversity and importance of the humanities. We really look forward to Kola Tubosun running the account this coming week, and in particular his take on linguistics, second language use, and Yoruba language.”

We the Humanities, which is now in its second year, has attracted tweeters from across six continents, ranging from professors to Masters students and from museum curators to musicians. The discussions engage with more than 2400 followers from across the world, including everyone from lifetime specialists to the mildly curious. The account has developed to include a blog and events listings, housed at http://www.wethehumanities.org.

Kristina West (@krisreadsbooks), co-founder of WtH, adds: “We encourage anyone working within the humanities who might be interested in curating the account to get in touch through the website. We aim to create a vibrant, international community to raise awareness of the diversity, relevance and challenges that encompass what is called the humanities.”

~ends~

Contact details:

Jessica Sage, We the Humanities: tel: +44 (0)7731840380, e-mail: j.sage@reading.ac.uk

Kristina West, We the Humanities: tel: +44 (0) 7525 009744, email: k.j.west@pgr.reading.ac.uk

About We The Humanities:

A rotation-curation Twitter account showcasing the creativity and diversity of the humanities and reiterating the fact that the humanities are more widely important than current public funding suggests.

Like most things on Twitter, it began with a seemingly innocuous tweet. On 5th January 2014 @academicjess asked a few people “Does anyone know of a humanities equivalent to @realscientists & if not would you be interested?” and it snowballed from there.

It is currently just being administrated by Jessica, Kristina and Emma Butcher (@EmmaButcher_).

Disclaimer: The views expressed at the @wethehumanities Twitter account are those of the weekly guest editor and not those of the administrator or previous/subsequent curators. The views expressed on the blog are the views of named posters and not those of the administrators.

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