‘KUDOIKU Anthology’, a maiden Nigerian poetry anthology has called for poem submissions.
Named after poet and university don, Professor Kudo Eresia-Eke, the anthology aims to collate 100 poems, each made up of twenty-five words.

The concept ‘KUDOIKU’ borrows from Eresia-Eke’s 2022 publication ‘Twenty-Five Words of Gold’, which is anchored around the belief that being knowledgeable about something makes it easier to be expressed in simpler terms. The collection compiled 100 poems of no more than 25 words each. Divided into five parts, they speak about wisdom, reason, love and life, family, friend, gratitude and power.

“If you ever grew up in the village, the songs that were sung and the folklore that were relayed, everything was done in such a simple manner that even a child could understand, and they were usually brief not too lengthy so it is that tradition of African folklore and poetry that informs me. I was trained to believe that if you ever knew anything well, you should have the ability to say it simply and briefly. Those constrains gave birth to what I hope will be a continuous train of ’25 words in gold as poems’.”

Applicants for the anthology can submit no more than three poems (of 25 words each) that centers around the themes of love, life, peace, gratitude and wisdom.