celebrating the golden essence of poetry communities
as the days grow tougher, we realize how deep we have come into this long and winding path that is life. for some of us, we are at that point where the echoes of the past, the strangeness of the present, and the blurriness of the future has us stuck in a flustered state. for the budding Nigerian poet, a barrage of rejections is enough to trigger the feeling of not being good enough for his/her dream journal. yet, as we grow into the mystery of writing, there's the inevitable question of authenticity: are we truly the powerhouses of our language, or are we merely moons reflecting the light of our literary influences?
with all these internal conflicts, it's typical to presume that the poet's journey is a lonely and difficult one. however, the advent of poetry communities, like the Frontiers Collective, has proven to be one of the greatest gifts a poet could ever have. here, we unravel the cold complexities of our writing lives to one another, and offer the warmth of our support in return. we jointly celebrate our wins, and deliberate on fruitful ways to tighten the loose bolts of our works.
on the 1st of July, 2021, this collective was born out of a desire for communion. and we remain grateful for the materiality of that dream. Last year, we were privileged to have Romeo Oriogun, Itiola Jones, Adedayo Agarau, Pamilerin Jacob, and other wonderful poets who spiced up our first anniversary reading event with their words and shared experiences. this year, for our second anniversary, we're expanding the frontiers of the event to a roundtable discussion on some of the challenges we face as poets. joining the table will be Brunel Prize-winning Nigerian poet, Othuke Umukoro; Wale Ayinla, author of To Cast a Dream (Jai-Alai Books, 2021); and the immensely gifted Jakky Bankong-Obi. given their experience in the field, and the wealth of knowledge they've garnered over the years, they will be responding to some of the questions we might be nursing regarding our experiences as poets working in the Nigerian Literary Scene today. three poets each from the Next Generational Poets (NGP), The Poetic Collective (TPC), and the Frontiers Collective will be reading their poems in the course of the event. It promises to be awesome!
We invite you to come join us, on Saturday, July 8th, by 7pm UTC +1, as we celebrate the golden essence of our poetry communities!
with all these internal conflicts, it's typical to presume that the poet's journey is a lonely and difficult one. however, the advent of poetry communities, like the Frontiers Collective, has proven to be one of the greatest gifts a poet could ever have. here, we unravel the cold complexities of our writing lives to one another, and offer the warmth of our support in return. we jointly celebrate our wins, and deliberate on fruitful ways to tighten the loose bolts of our works.
on the 1st of July, 2021, this collective was born out of a desire for communion. and we remain grateful for the materiality of that dream. Last year, we were privileged to have Romeo Oriogun, Itiola Jones, Adedayo Agarau, Pamilerin Jacob, and other wonderful poets who spiced up our first anniversary reading event with their words and shared experiences. this year, for our second anniversary, we're expanding the frontiers of the event to a roundtable discussion on some of the challenges we face as poets. joining the table will be Brunel Prize-winning Nigerian poet, Othuke Umukoro; Wale Ayinla, author of To Cast a Dream (Jai-Alai Books, 2021); and the immensely gifted Jakky Bankong-Obi. given their experience in the field, and the wealth of knowledge they've garnered over the years, they will be responding to some of the questions we might be nursing regarding our experiences as poets working in the Nigerian Literary Scene today. three poets each from the Next Generational Poets (NGP), The Poetic Collective (TPC), and the Frontiers Collective will be reading their poems in the course of the event. It promises to be awesome!
We invite you to come join us, on Saturday, July 8th, by 7pm UTC +1, as we celebrate the golden essence of our poetry communities!
celebrating the genesis of great things
it's amazing how a crucial moment of discovery begins with a void, a necessary emptiness we must all stumble upon & confront like God, in the beginning, gathering the beauty of the world from nothing. Flourish Joshua saw the need for a close-knit poetry family where, albeit virtually, young poets may get the chance to review & comment on each other's work as well as share opportunities around poetry. looking back at what he's built, we can only ever appreciate his genius, warming ourselves in the light of a beautifully created world. months after this collective has witnessed so much beauty and light—from finding one another, to building a strong virtual poetry family with love at its epicenter—it is important that we return to the genesis of it all and remind ourselves, again, just how far we've come.
the world keeps moving on with the urgency of time, driving us forward through moments intense enough to make us easily forget the beginning of the road. fortunately, the celebration of anniversaries is the only valid way through which we can pin down time, in its never-ending haste, to focus on that memorial moment and, hopefully, make music out of it.
that being said, we're so excited to announce that on the 1st of July 2022, the Frontiers Collective will officially clock one year. in the spirit of celebration, we'd be hosting an anniversary virtual reading event on July 9, 2022; 4pm UTC +1. the event will be featuring American-Nigerian poet & author of Spells of My Name, I. S. Jones, as a guest to talk about the future of poetry (in Nigeria), and the factors affecting the existence & influence of quality lit mags in Nigeria. we are also honored to be hosting the author of the widely-acclaimed Sacrament of Bodies, Romeo Oriogun, who will be speaking on the importance of literary collectives as well as MFA programs. members of the Unserious Collective, the Deadliners, and the Frontiers Collective will read poems, and a micro chapbook from the Frontiers Collective will be released. this event will go live on google meet, and the link, shared soon.
we'd love for y'all to come celebrate with us as we mark one solid year of immense growth and blossoming friendship!
the world keeps moving on with the urgency of time, driving us forward through moments intense enough to make us easily forget the beginning of the road. fortunately, the celebration of anniversaries is the only valid way through which we can pin down time, in its never-ending haste, to focus on that memorial moment and, hopefully, make music out of it.
that being said, we're so excited to announce that on the 1st of July 2022, the Frontiers Collective will officially clock one year. in the spirit of celebration, we'd be hosting an anniversary virtual reading event on July 9, 2022; 4pm UTC +1. the event will be featuring American-Nigerian poet & author of Spells of My Name, I. S. Jones, as a guest to talk about the future of poetry (in Nigeria), and the factors affecting the existence & influence of quality lit mags in Nigeria. we are also honored to be hosting the author of the widely-acclaimed Sacrament of Bodies, Romeo Oriogun, who will be speaking on the importance of literary collectives as well as MFA programs. members of the Unserious Collective, the Deadliners, and the Frontiers Collective will read poems, and a micro chapbook from the Frontiers Collective will be released. this event will go live on google meet, and the link, shared soon.
we'd love for y'all to come celebrate with us as we mark one solid year of immense growth and blossoming friendship!
