Happy National Poetry Month! Happy April Fools’ Day! Looking forward to celebrating the whole month through. And to start us off, a brand new episode!
The poems of D.M. Aderibigbe were new to me. I was fortunate to receive an email from a pr rep for Akashic books, the publisher of Aderibigbe’s new, National Poetry Series–winning collection, 82nd Division. I’m so pleased that his book came my way.
82nd Division is a book that looks at life in Nigeria, both now and in the past, its colonial past and post-colonial now, though, as we’ll hear from Aderibigbe, it is not a book about colonialism, but rather, it’s a book about life, and in this case, life in Nigeria, in which colonialism is a large part. The book is full of music and excellent poems in a variety of forms, which I love.
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D.M. Aderibigbe was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. Prior to 82nd Division, he published his first collection of poems, How the End First Showed, which won the Brittingham Prize in Poetry. He has received fellowships and scholarships from the Mississippi Arts Commission, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the James Merrill House, Provincetown’s Fine Arts Work Center, Art Omi/Ledig House, Ucross Foundation, Jentel Foundation, and Boston University. His poems have appeared in Tatu: New-Generation African Poets, The Atlantic, The Nation, Ploughshares, The Southern Review, and New England Review, among others. He teaches in the Written Arts Program as Senior Fellow in Ethics and Writing at Bard College.
Pick up a copy of 82nd Division here.
Read more about Aderibigbe and 82nd Division here.
Some notes:
We had a callback to my discussion with Patricia Smith on writing in the voice of another person; if you missed that show, it’s a good time to go back and listen.
Aderibigbe mentioned some Yoruba poets, including D. O. Fágúnwà’s Igbó Olódùmarè (translated by Wole Soyinka), and younger poets like Rasaq Malik.
It’s Eastertide—and my new book, Before the Roses Dishevel, is all about the Easter season, so why not pick up one of the last few (four left!) remaining copies?
The show has swag!! Check out the show store and pick up some stickers, hats, shirts, and even a beverage koozie!
Coming Up: It’s National Poetry Month! Lauren Camp, Dan Beachy-Quick, Anna Lena Phillips Bell, and David Baker. And we’re just going to keep that rolling into May with Erin O’…. and Catherine Pierce.
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About your host: Jason Gray is the author of the poetry books Radiation King (Idaho Prize for Poetry) and Photographing Eden (Hollis Summers Prize), and his poems and reviews have appeared in Poetry, Kenyon Review, Southern Review, American Poetry Review, and Image. His career in publishing has brought him to the university presses of Ohio State and Wisconsin, and Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, and he now works as a freelance writer and editor. Additionally, he teaches poetry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
A note on the podcast title. I am an unabashed fan of The Simpsons, and in Season 8, Episode 9 “El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer),” Marge attempts to stop Homer from going to the local chili cook-off, because, as she says, every time he does, he “get[s] drunk as a poet on payday.” And that has made me laugh for decades now.
I in no way endorse getting oneself overserved and behaving like a jackass, poetic or otherwise. And if you or anyone you know is struggling with alcohol, there are resources for you: Alcoholics Anonymous Al-Anon
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