Nigerians, Koreans celebrate world poetry day

The special event featured poetry from both Korea and Nigeria and had several big masquerades in the literary terrain in attendance. Dr. Jerry Agada, President of the Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA) kicked off the feast after his opening address. He read a moving poem “Evening” by renowned South Korean bard, Ko Un, who is […]

The special event featured poetry from both Korea and Nigeria and had several big masquerades in the literary terrain in attendance.

Dr. Jerry Agada, President of the Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA) kicked off the feast after his opening address. He read a moving poem “Evening” by renowned South Korean bard, Ko Un, who is widely tipped to win the Nobel Prize for Literature someday.

With the flood gates opened, the featured poet, Prof. Remi Raji of the University of Ibadan mounted the dais and handed out a good measure of his refined poetry. He read from his collection, Love songs for My Wasteland. His delivery was profound and his lines were exquisite.

It could have ended with him, and the audience would have left quite sated, but the organisers were determined to have the audience OD on poetry, much to the onlookers’ delight.

Artistes from Arojah Royal Theatre interspersed the readings with “poetry in motion”, delivering evocative poetry to the accompaniment of coordinated vocalisation. Most of the poems they rendered were by Korean poets.

One after the other, the featured poets took turns at the microphone. But Odoh Diego Okenyendo took the performance to a new level. He read several poems from his LNG shortlisted collection, From a Poem to its Creator. It was a masterful performance that received a rousing applause from the audience.

The evening displayed a rich array of imageries and cultures from both countries, particularly the poems entered for the Culture of Friendship Anthology, a collection of poems, to be published at a later date, featuring poetry from both countries.

Ten of the poems submitted for this anthology were specially selected for appreciation by the organisers and the ten poets went away with branded souvenirs and some token cash, much to their surprise, as Denja Abdullahi, one of the appreciated poets, said on behalf of the others.

The poetry overdose was certainly infectious such that the Korean ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Park Young-Kuk concluded his speech with a short poem he had written on the evening.

The ambassador expressed delight over the success of the poetry feast and noted with appreciation the role poetry is playing in bringing together the two countries and their different peoples.

“We have taken the concept of friendship and bilateral relationship to a new level. Korea and Nigeria are two countries with a rich oral tradition as has been displayed here today. I am sure that this is one experience that is capable of improving ties between our two nations. We have, through the fundamentality of literature, promoted our various cultures and offered further understanding of one another,” he said.

He was then applauded for his short poem which touched on friendship and cultural exchange. Talk about poetic diplomacy!

Speaking earlier, the director of the Korean Cultural Centre, Mr Suh Jeong Sun said the programme was designed to share the cultures of the two countries and pledged to continue to strive in bringing the two countries closer using cultural fora.