THE UYO POETRY COMMUNITY.
Welcome to The Poetic Nest Steemit Blog, for all first-time visits; and for those who frequently visit, welcome back.
This post will give a glimpse to the ever-growing poetic community in Uyo, Nigeria.
And the Lord added to their number daily...
The art of poetry and spoken word is becoming more and more appreciated in the City of Uyo. This is partly owing to the role social media has to play in linking enthusiasts to poetic content on the internet. The artistic words of the likes of Suli Breaks, Ezekiel Anzonwu, Jackie Hill Perry, Preston Perry, Chris Webb, Janettikz,
David Bowden, Jon Jorgerson,
Joseph Solomon, Propaganda, Canden Webb,Sarah Kay, Prince EA, Phil Kay,
Bassey Ikpi, Sairathepoet and many many others have inspired the writing zeal hidden in many of their fans (and there are a lot of them here in Uyo, Nigeria).
But this is only half of the whole vibe. The other half is from poetry-based shows.
Poets and Poetry enthusiasts have created multiple platforms where poetry, in all it's glory, is brought to stage, not to be recited but performed.
The major ones of 2017 (in no particular order) are...
Ibom Poetry Day.
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The Ibom Poetry Day (IPD) was an event concieved by a final year student of the Department of English, University of Uyo, Uyo.
Esther Umoh had always had this zeal of showcasing -not just poetry- but art as a whole to an audience that'll appreciate its creative nature. And that's what she did with The Ibom Poetry Day.
IPD was a spoken word poetry/music/drama/dance event. It was indeed one of a kind.
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Quote Me 5.
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Quote Me was a revolution that begun with DaChief Umoh and Pastor Murphy. They saw the need to connect poets all over the City of Uyo via an annual event where they're set to tour the major cities of Akwa Ibom (starting from Uyo) and giving these poets a stage to grace, wow and even flabbergast their audience. Late last year, they hosted Quote Me 5 (The Hangout), the fifth show in the series...and it was epic. Of a truth, the poetry family in Uyo is increasing on a daily.
Words Are Spirits.
Augustine Ikeh Vanike (@vanikethepoet) was the brains behind this event.
Words Are Spirits was born out of this need to make folks more self-aware of the life-altering consequences of the words spoken. Poetic Nest (@poeticnest) partnered with him because we saw yet another platform to promote the poetic community.
This event set the stage for most first-time performers too and was one of a kind. It promises to be an annual event and should he one to be anticipated for...
Poetry and Jazz.
This mid-year event centered on ‘Fragmentation: Pieces of the Human Emotion’. It was one event that gathered art from all over the country and two of Poetic Nest's poets presented there (Light Mark and Miracle Kalu) and it was beautiful. More info here
Spoken Word contests such as The One Mic Project, Naija Mic Icon were created to push youngsters to come out of hiding and speak to the public.
The Uyo Poetry Community is still growing with more and more folks adding their penned scribblings to mental libraries.
If you're in Uyo and you want to meet up, feel super free to say Hi!😁
If you're outside Uyo but still want to connect, we'll gladly be your host. Please be our guest. ☺
To know more about us, do read our introductory post here
We'll really look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks for reading.
It's my wish that poets will rule art in the city of Uyo. Nice post.