Yinka Olatunbosun
Lagos had a primary style of a debut literary assortment the penultimate weekend when attorney and poet Bayo Oyagbola introduced his first poetry assortment, The Sky’s Forgotten Prayer: Echoes of River, Drum and Heaven, at a studying held on the Metropolitan Membership, Lagos.
Printed by way of Bookcraft, the gathering brings in combination poems written over a number of years, exploring reminiscence, mortality, spirituality, Yoruba tradition and the iconic human seek for which means.
Oyagbola is a graduate of College Faculty London, the place he acquired LLB and LLM levels. He has greater than 40 years of criminal observe and is Managing Spouse at Oyagbola Chambers. His literary paintings attracts on Yoruba language, tales and oral traditions, along a broader passion in questions of human life, which means and tradition. He’s additionally occupied with mentoring, cultural development and selling peace during the arts.
On the release, Oyagbola mentioned the gathering throughout a fireplace chat, reflecting on his use of Yoruba and English, the connection between poetry, tune and dance, and the questions of life and uncertainty that run thru his paintings.
Talking about his dating with the Yoruba language, Oyagbola mentioned that studying to learn it handiest after leaving college deepened his appreciation of its richness and broadened his viewpoint. He additionally described poetry as a seamless seek for which means reasonably than a pursuit of definitive solutions.
“The essence of existence is to proceed to hunt, to seek for reality, no matter that can be. To seek for which means, I believe, is one of the vital essential.”
The dialog additionally touched on Guy’s Sorrow Is Guy, one of the most poems within the assortment, which displays on humanity’s capability to turn out to be its personal biggest risk. It returned in the end to the position of poetry in conserving reminiscence and tasty with questions that would possibly not have simple solutions.
Additionally talking on the release, attorney and poet Tade Ipadeola mirrored on his working out of Oyagbola as each attorney and poet, noting the unique viewpoint that comes from shifting between the 2 worlds. He additionally highlighted the gathering’s engagement with Yoruba and Nigerian cultural heritage and inspired attendees to learn the brand new paintings.
The release featured poetry readings by way of friends and family, who shared picks from the gathering as a part of the birthday celebration of Oyagbola’s paintings.
The night ended with Oyagbola studying “Why”, a poem coping with Cosmological Relativity, which he described as his favorite within the assortment. The poem considers questions of time, life, awareness, subject and the character of fact, reflecting the philosophical inquiry that runs thru The Sky’s Forgotten Prayer.
The Sky’s Forgotten Prayer: Echoes of River, Drum and Heaven is to be had in the community and on-line thru booksellers together with Rovingheights and Quintessence. The world over, it’s to be had on Amazon and Kobo, amongst others.