Wole Soyinka & Other Poems

Wole Soyinka and Other Poems is Ilori's personal homage to his tutor and celebrated Nigerian poet, Wole Soyinka. Adopting intertextuality, paradox, collage and pastiche, Ilori's poetry confronts the postcolonial condition of Nigeria in tribute to the fearless activism of Soyinka and the remarkable eclecticism of his literature and theatre. Wole Soyinka and Other Poems sets a new frontier in African poetry in its methodology and critical parlance. Ilori's poetry combines the lyricism of oral performance with the elegance of postmodern diction. He focuses relentlessly on the postcolonial challenges facing Nigeria - the raw politics, the rough justice and the rueful military and civilian administrations. In-between the harsh imagery of corruption and injustice, Ilori finds quality space for hope and redemption, love and laughter, often in a tender self-critical manner. There are also poems about his adopted country, the United Kingdom. This collection shows Ilori as an adept craftsman whose words sculpt Nigeria's postcolonial humdrum blues into something both vivid and engrossing. Several of the poems are either tributes to Wole Soyinka for his fearless activism, or intuitive commentaries on Soyinka's themes.