FreeVerse (by Salamander Ink Mag)

WELCOME! to the final episode of Season 1 of the POETRY READING SERIES. In this final episode, we will be closing with a bang!- today, we feature three super talented writers, poets and literary icons: -First, Ladan Osman gives an ethereal rendition of two poems: “After the Photograph” and “think of me as your mother” Ladan Osman was born in Somalia. She earned a BA at Otterbein College and an MFA at the University of Texas at Austin’s Michener Center for Writers. Her chapbook, Ordinary Heaven, appears in Seven New Generation African Poets (Slapering Hol Press, 2014). Her full-length collection The Kitchen-Dweller’s Testimony (University of Nebraska Press, 2015) won the Sillerman First Book Prize. Her work has appeared in Apogee, The Normal School, Prairie Schooner, Transition Magazine, and Waxwing. 
 -Second, Saddiq Dzukogi reads his poem “Summer in the prairie” Saddiq Dzukogi was born in Minna, Nigeria and is the author of Your Crib, My Qibla (University of Nebraska Press, 2021). His poems have been featured in Poetry, Kenyon Review, Cincinnati Review, Gulf Coast and Ploughshares among others. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he serves as an assistant  poetry editor of Prairie Schooner.  The poem was published in New York Quarterly. -Lastly, the pianist-poet Echezonachukwu Nduka reads “Jazz Abibiman”, a poem of his first published in Isele magazine (The Reborn Issue). Echezonachukwu Nduka, poet & classical pianist, is the author of Chrysanthemums for Wide-eyed Ghosts (Griots Lounge: 2018) & Waterman (Griots Lounge: 2020). His work has appeared in Saraba Magazine, Jalada Africa, Bakwa Magazine, Transition, Sentinel Literary Quarterly, The Indianapolis Review, Bombay Review, Maple Tree Literary Supplement, 20.35 Africa: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry Vol. II, and elsewhere. His debut poetry collection, Chrysanthemums for Wide-eyed Ghosts, was shortlisted for the Pan-African Writers Association (PAWA) Poetry Prize. Official Website: www.artnduka.com

In this episode of our ‘Poetry Reading series’, we feature two exciting poets: -Jakky Bankong-Obi reads her poem “Peeled back” published in Patchwork Lit & -Busayo Akinmoju reads her poem “Lizards” Jakky Bankong-Obi writes from Abuja, Nigeria. Jakky is co-editor at Ice Floe Press, and her work is forthcoming or published in London Grip, The Kalahari Review, patchwork lit mag, Gutter Magazine, Hobart Pulp, Pidgeonholes, Memento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poetry, and elsewhere. Jakky enjoys long walks and yoga and dabbles in nature photography. Busayo Akinmoju is a writer and a student. Her work has been published in the Kalahari review, Popula, the Republic among others.  She likes to read, and to relax on long walks.

In this episode of our ‘Poetry Reading series’, we feature two amazing young African poets: -Henneh Kyereh Kwaku, reading his poem “Someday I'll love Kwaku Kyereh” first published by Olongo Africa & -Pamilerin Jacob, reading his poem “LACY”, published in his MicroChap Cordial With Disillusionment (Ghost  City  Press,  2021). Pamilerin Jacob is a Nigerian poet & editor whose poems have appeared in Barren Magazine, Agbowó, Poetry Potion, Ghost City Press, Feed Lit Mag, Neologism, IceFloe Press & elsewhere. He was the second runner-up for Sevhage Poetry Prize 2019, co-winner PIN Food Poetry Contest 2018. A Best of the Net nominee, his poems also appear in Memento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poets, 2020. He was a mentor in the SprinNG Fellowship 2018, 2019, & 2020. Author of the chapbook, Gospels of Depression, & Curator of PoetryColumn-NND, a poetry column in Nigerian NewsDirect, a national newspaper; reach him on Twitter @pamilerinjacob. Henneh Kyereh Kwaku is a poet from Gonasua in the Bono Region of Ghana. He’s the author of Revolution of the Scavengers, selected by Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani for the APBF New Generation African Poets Chapbook Series. He studied Public Health at the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ghana. His poems/essays/hybrids have appeared in Agbowó, Tupelo Quarterly, Tampered Press, Poetry Society of America, Praxis Magazine, IceFloe Press, Random Photo Journal, Lunaris Review, CGWS, New South Journal & elsewhere. Find him on Twitter/IG: @kwaku_kyereh.

In this episode of our ‘Poetry Reading series’: -Day Sibley reads her poem “Puzzels of the heart “ & -Listen to Mohammed U. Yusuf’s rendition of his poem “Over the edge” published in the 7th Issue of dyst Literary Journal, in 2021. Day Sibley is a writer and photographer born and raised in southern nevada Mohammed U. Yusuf, a young African poet, lives and writes from somewhere in North Central, Nigeria. His works have recently appeared—or are forthcoming—in Olongo Africa Journal, Writers Space Africa, Lunaris Review, ARTmosterrific, Frontier Poetry, RoseyRavelston Books, among others.

In this episode of our ‘Poetry Reading series’, we have two wonderful poets taking the craft to even greater heights: -Adedayo Agarau reads his poem “Brown” in this episode of the Reading series. & -Arao Ameny, reading her poem “Home is a woman”, published in The Southern Review, Spring 2020 issue. The poem is about the importance of foremothers, lineage, home, and women's land rights.  Adedayo Agarau is an MFA candidate at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His manuscript, The Morning the Birds Died, was a finalist for the 2021 Sillerman Prize. His chapbook, Origin of Names, was selected for New-Generation African Poets 2020 (African Poetry Book Fund). His poems have appeared in Frontier, Lolwe, Perhappenned, Boulevard, and elsewhere. He is the current Editor-in-chief of Agbowó and was recently shortlisted for the Brunel African Poetry Prize. Arao Ameny is a Ugandan-born, Maryland-based poet and writer from Lira, Lango, Northern Uganda. She is a Biography Writer and Editor at Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry Magazine. She earned her MFA in Fiction from University of Baltimore in 2019, MA in Journalism from Indiana University, and BA in Political Science from University of Indianapolis. Her first published poem “Home is a Woman” appeared in The Southern Review and won the 2020 James Olney Award. In 2021, she was shortlisted for the UK-based Brunel International African Poetry Prize, nominated for Best New Poets (USA), and won a Brooklyn Poets Fellowship (New York City, USA).