‘…this poet, for now, seeks solace purely in poetic, re-invented eulogies of Africa’s past with its many glorious and inglorious aspects, from which nothing much seems to have been learned, and which is sadly slipping away through the conspiratorial agencies of modernity, alien civilization, globalisation, and her snobbish sons and daughters, who have turned their backs on their own father.’
AT 4 pm, today at the ongoing LagosFringe 2022 festival, at Freedom Park, Lagos, journalist, writer, and culture producer, Anote Ajeluorou, will be on the hot literary seat reading from his exciting Afro-centric first-published poetry collection, Libations of Africa, at the ongoing Lagos Fringe Festival 2022 at the Freedom Park, Lagos.
Slated for Kongi’s Harvest Art Gallery, the reading will be followed by a conversation on the content of the collection as well as his writing career to be moderated by his comrade in literature and the arts, Samuel Osaze, author of The Strange Moon of Yenagoa.
Ajeluorou, ex-Punch feature writer, and former Literary and Culture Editor at The Guardian, is the publisher/editor in chief of the foremost culture journal, www.anotearthub.com, a contributing partner to the Naija Times.
On the content and context of the book, the following extract from its introduction suffices:
Poetic thrust of Anote Ajeluorou’s first poetry collection, Libations for Africa
“WHAT we know of old Africa is fast passing away. This passing also signals the passing away of some its old, long-cherished values and ways of life that had long nurtured the souls of our people. How can these be reclaimed in the face of the unrelenting globalisation onslaught threatening indigenous cultures for Africa’s harmonising ways to continue to enrich its people and educate its young people particularly?
“Old Africa, it seems, needs re-invention and re-documentation of its past by an invocation of its sacred sign-posts if only for purposes of historical, religious, and anthropological flashback. By using some of the words, objects, and totems peculiar to worship and ways of life in Africa’s settings, lifestyles, and religious rites and rituals (or at least the Isoko people’s variant of these), it is hoped that this poetic excursion will help recapture a passing spiritual phase of a people, who once had a proud tradition now battered beyond recognition.
“By so doing also, coming generations, who seem more and more alienated from their roots, will see their own past in which their ancestors lived in a more vigorous light and see possible identification and recognition of its spiritual signposts. Whether this re-invented past can be embraced again as a guide to a bright future away from a bleak, forlorn, uncertain present is something that will provoke debates across the continent and beyond, as Africa’s children are widely dispersed. However, this poet, for now, seeks solace purely in poetic, re-invented eulogies of Africa’s past with its many glorious and inglorious aspects, from which nothing much seems to have been learned, and which is sadly slipping away through the conspiratorial agencies of modernity, alien civilization, globalisation, and her snobbish sons and daughters, who have turned their backs on their own father.”
AJELUOROU’s first shot as a published author was with his children’s book, Igho goes to Farm, which was widely critically acclaimed and was on the longlist of the $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature 2021; and was endorsed for the Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka’s 85th birthday celebration by the Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange, WSICE. It has also been endorsed for secondary schools by The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC).
Ajeluorou, a seasoned arts and culture reporter and literary editor, has worked with such major media brands as The Punch and The Nation. His last post in the formal newsroom was at The Guardian, where he was literary editor for many years. He was later strangely redeployed to head the politics unit, from which, he, of course, resigned to launch a private practice.
He is currently the publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the popular online literary medium, anotearthub.com, which has as its mission: To expose uniquely Nigerian art & culture & tourism to the global audience through showcasing them with good reportage in an interactive manner on a global platform, and goals: To expose Nigerian thriving art, culture & tourism & enable talented practitioners to harness their huge potential.
Ajeluorou, who has other literary works awaiting publication that include novels, poetry, folklore narratives, short stories, drama pieces, etc, recently started a Nigerian-themed t-shirt line called ‘Anote Alliance.’
