Poet Jumoke Verissimo to release debut novel

A poet, Jumoke Verissimo, is set to release her debut novel, ‘A Small Silence’ on July 2. The story is centred around Prof, who lives a reclusive life after being released from prison. Verissimo who revealed what led to the birth of her novel on her Facebook page, said the idea came to her in her […]

A poet, Jumoke Verissimo, is set to release her debut novel, ‘A Small Silence’ on July 2. The story is centred around Prof, who lives a reclusive life after being released from prison.

Verissimo who revealed what led to the birth of her novel on her Facebook page, said the idea came to her in her former classmates sitting room one evening.

She wrote: “I wondered what it would mean to live the rest of one’s life in the dark. I returned to my house that day and drafted the first chapter, what would later be published as the short story, ‘Lightless Room’ in “Daughters of Eve and Other New Short Stories from Nigeria” (2010). “One of the reviews described the short story, “Lightless Room” as “a stellar, and I dare say refreshing example, of how the writer can play the role of architect and engineer, but above all, an eye, ear, and voice to the unseen, unheard and unspoken.”

Verissimo has published two collections of poetry. ‘I Am Memory’ won the Carlos Idzia Ahmad Prize’s First Prize for a first book of Poetry, and the Second Prize for the Anthony Agbo Prize first book of Poetry, and ‘The Birth of Illusion’ was shortlisted for the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Poetry Prize and longlisted for the Nigerian Prize for Literature. She has also published a chapbook with Saraba Magazine, titled ‘Epiphanies’. Her poetry has been translated into French, Chinese, Japanese, Macedonian, and Norwegian. She is currently enrolled in a Ph.D. programme in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta, Canada.