When emotions soared at February’s ALS ‘Open Mic’

It’s a gathering of creatives, but poets took the spotlight this time around at Abuja Literary Society’s weekly event, and this made all the difference.   On the first Friday of every month, Abuja Literary Society (ALS) holds an Open Mic session, and that of February 8 2020 was no different. But again, it was […]

It’s a gathering of creatives, but poets took the spotlight this time around at Abuja Literary Society’s weekly event, and this made all the difference.

 

On the first Friday of every month, Abuja Literary Society (ALS) holds an Open Mic session, and that of February 8 2020 was no different. But again, it was totally different when Imossan Micheal Isangedighi, a graduate of Linguistic and Nigerian Languages, took the stage.

Isangedighi who tries to advocate for women in his poetry, didn’t just render a touching poem with a gender inequality theme, he moved the audience. Later, he revealed that his mother’s experience inspired the piece. “I am from a single parent home where my mother raised me. Though she did not suffer the physical abuse in my poem, she suffered emotional abuse and ended up single. She had to raise me without a man.

“The piece can be looked at from a feminist approach. The problem begins from a mindset. Women should own themselves and unlearn certain things that don’t apply to the modern society.”

Urie Winston’s presentation equally thrilled the audience. A member of the audience, Sharon, commented that humour is rare in poetry and Winston’s seriousness while presenting a hilarious piece made it even funnier.

Winston said he has been performing since 2012, and started writing jokes in 2011. “It’s a skill that requires paying attention to words. When I hear a word, it sounds like two things; I can say a word to mean one thing and use the art of misdirection to insinuate another thing, thus creating comedy,” he said, and gave a few examples.

“The word metaphor can also mean, “met her for.” Also, “a vegetarian approached me and said I looked familiar, which was odd because I’ve never met ‘herbivore’. So, that’s “herbivore” and “her before,” he said.

Winston gets ideas for jokes by listening to what people say and paying attention to everything around him. According to him, he looks up to British comedians like Lee Mark and Team Vine, adding that it was because of them he started to focus on word play.

Isangedighi and Winston’s presentation, among several others, won them a huge applause and a standing ovation during the event.

ALS brings together writers, aspiring writers, book-lovers, intellectuals, and generally people interested in the arts. The event, which took place at Transcorp Hilton, gave participants the platform for self-expression,

ALS was founded by Victor Anoliefo, Ike Anya, Ferdinand Agu and Ken Ike Okere in 1998. The initiative was birthed to generate and sustain a literary culture, as well as create an alternative literary-based entertainment in Nigeria’s Federal Capital City, Abuja.