Saturday Self-Scrutiny
People say I use a lot of biblical allegories. Isn’t it something we should expect from a girl who at childhood, ate from the pages of the good book and shared its juice with anyone who cared to have some? It is true that my…
Monday Motivation: Yes!
To kick start this week, I thought to share what I’d like to call a ‘kitchen inspiration’. It is basically, a gleam of light that shone on my mind while I was cooking. I think optimism is like a kitchen knife- today it is a…
Tuesday Thoughts: Success Stories
Before the first draft of every inspiring success story ever made it to ink, it was first written with sweat and tears. One of my favorite quotes as a teenager was, “Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” My days at the University of Ibadan…
THE BEST WRITING ADVICE I GAVE (I)
Sometime last year, one of my very good Facebook friends entrusted me with his manuscript. He said he wanted to enter it for a contest and would be glad if could do some editing. He ended by saying he would like me to make some…
Nearly Half a Decade With Poetry & Here is What’s Next!
People often ask when I tied the knot with poetry. In response, I would raise two or three fingers. But this year I am having to raise four fingers. And I can hardly believe I stayed with it so long. Many times in this year,…
My Favourite Pastime
A place, where I would eagerly volunteer is a rich library or book store, with lots of books on literature and just about any subject. There are two things about that place which I have grown to love. First, the silence. Second, books and the…
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A WRITER IN MY COUNTRY
I come from a country where a writer is a sorry blabber until s/he gains international recognition. Every budding writer is waiting for the dove from the west to descend at the baptism of a huge award and declare: “This is a writer in whom…
5 TED Talk Videos Every Writer Should Watch
I have been watching lots of TED Talk videos recently. Most times, after a speaker’s voice, drowns in a round of applause, my mind regurgitates the words and re-chews in rumination. As I often say, lessons are like kola-nuts, when we find people who do…
LETTERS TO MY SON I
Dear son, I have told you before that loving a woman is like roasting a yam tuber. You have to stay near, without minding the heat of the fireplace. You have the smoke which escorts the nearly unbearable heat to contend with. If you are…
WHY YOUR WRITER FRIEND IS WEIRD
Creatives are like walking (living) petrol tankers. The difference is that no one writes on our foreheads, “Highly inflammable. Highly explosive. No smoking”. When a creative person passes by fire (tough times) and there are visible sparks, everyone thinks “isn’t he such a wonderful firework?”…
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