By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

Wreaths for a Wayfarer – An Anthology of Poems in Honour of Pius Adesanmi (1972-2019); Edited by Nduka Otiono & Uchechukwu Umezurike; Daraja Press, Ottawa, Canada; 2020; 299pp

When news filtered out that Professor Pius Adesanmi was one of the 159 casualties of the Sunday, March 10, 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash near Addis Ababa International Airport, lamentations reigned from far and wide and near.

Prof Pius Adesanmi, fondly called Payo, was an in-your-face public intellectual, author, The Wayfarer and Other Poems; You are not a Country, Africa; and Naija No Dey Carry Last.

Wreaths for a Wayfarer – an Anthology of Poems in Honour of Pius Adesanmi (1972-2019) edited by Nduka Otiono and Uchechukwu Umezurike, also features selected poems from Pius Adesanmi’s only published collection of poetry, The Wayfarer and other Poems.

 In his Foreword to Wreaths for a Wayfarer, Odia Ofeimun, Poet and former President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), affably depicts Adesanmi as “my personal person”.

Nduka Otiono, in his “Introduction: Death and an African Digital Towncrier” counts on “the background of my quarter-of-a-century relationship with Adesanmi as a friend, co-traveller on many social and professional planes, as well as a colleague at Carleton’s Institute of African Studies (IAS).”

When the editors called for original poems for inclusion in Wreaths for a Wayfarer, they “received submissions from 257 writers from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, and South Africa” and other far-flung countries such as Canada, Italy, The Netherlands, Sri Lanka, India, United Kingdom and the United States of America. The editors had to eventually select 126 contributors out of the lot.

The master bard Niyi Osundare leads into the corpus with “Introit: Coffin in the Sky”. The eminent literary and film scholar Jane Bryce limns her poem “Backing His Daughter: For Pius, on Facebook”. Unoma Azuah wades in with “Avoiding Sunlight”. Kola Tubosun goes bi-lingual in Yoruba and English through his poem “Akasoleri (Mourners). The stylishly-shaped poem “How to Keep the Wake for a Shooting Star” comes from Chuma Nwokolo.  Kennedy Emetulu is full of lament over “A Pius Flight”.

The inspiring poets are legion: Biko Agozino, Amatoritsero Ede, Helon Habila, Echezonachukwu Nduka, Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo,  Jumoke Verissimo, Uche Nduka,  Afam Akeh, Iquo Diana Abasi, Funmi Aluko, Justus K.S. Makokha, Obemata, Abdulaziz, Emman Usman Shehu, Nnorom Azuonye, Olumide Olaniyan, Nduka Otiono, Efe Paul-Azino, Richard Inya, Tade Aina, Soji Cole, Anote Ajeluorou, Maria Ajima, Maryam Ali, James Tar Tsaaior, Okwudili Nebeolisa, Obiwu, S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema, Onuchi Mark Onoruoiza, Yejide Kilanko, James Yeku, Uchechukwu Umezurike, among others. Yes, I am involved! Six poems are taken from Pius Adesanmi’s collection The Wayfarer and Other Poems.

The editors of Wreaths for a Wayfarer, Otiono and Umezurike, have done a splendid duty to the world-class netizen, Professor Pius Adebola Adesanmi, who belongs to the class of people larger than life and death.

The Nigerian edition of the anthology has been published by Narrative Landscape Press, Lagos.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.