I read about myself and my people, felt an affinity in the expression of experiences we share and felt feelings only we feel. He was shortlisted for the Brunel International African Poetry Prize 2021 and received the Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship in 2019. Yomi, tells a story of the imminent death of his aunty “Big Mummy”; the secrets held within the black community when death by illness takes centre stage; his neglect of his cousin; of an ego bruised by the reality of said neglect; a story of being "there", but not present; a story of the grief of a Black “masculine” male; a story of coming undone in the eye of death. But rather than railing angrily, Yomi asserts himself and his kinship to have the right to speak and live according to their cultures and traditions.

this is beautifully written but I couldn’t give it five stars because to me this needs to be spoken to you rather than just read by yourself.Sone honed his skills through open mic performances and you can hear their echoes through reading his lines, but they would deliver more of a blow if they were spoken. It is also an exploration of the differences of impunity afforded to white and Black people, and to white and Black artists. Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. Yomi Sode interrogates this sociocultural phenomenon, looking at masculinity, intergenerational violence and historical legacy . We're lucky to live in such a time of emerging/newly emerged poets, and Yomi Sode is up there with the best of them.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Like Surge or Poor (or what little I read of Citizen), this is a collection driven by outrage and longing for justice for Black people.

asks what it means to find oneself between worlds- who is, and who isn’t, allowed ti be more than their origins? Yomi Sode is a talent and an absolute wave in this century’s poets, you have to give this collection a read for yourself! Yomi Sode's poems examine the various lenses observing the black body in Britain, the implications of its passage between class, cultural and racial spaces. Yomi Sode sets out to educate those like myself who never knew about this injustice and make the reader ask questions that many of society's members may be too uncomfortable to ask.