This collection of poems explores the voices of Almajiri, the street beggar-poet, among the Hausa/Fulani and the Yoruba in Nigeria. It addresses contemporary local and global issues and expresses the challenges within Nigeria’s socio-economic world, its resources, and culture. Urgent economic and development issues other Africans in the Diaspora face are also explored. As a book of performance poetry, Almajiri includes many refrains in Hausa and Yoruba languages. It emphasizes the simplicity of language in creativity and takes strength from the Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba oral traditions. By engaging African readers, listeners, and watchers who are familiar with images, proverbs, and metaphors from common cultures, Almajiri hopes to teach Hausa and Yoruba in songs and in performance to young and adult Africans in the Diaspora.

ABOUT THE POET

ABDUL-RASHEED NA’ALLAH is a poet and scholar. He is a member of several writers and scholars organizations in Nigeria, Canada and the United States, among which are the Ilorin Writers Unlimited, the African Literature Association, and the Writers Guild of Alberta. He was a founder and first Coordinator of the Africa Society (AFSO) at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada and recently founded the Creative Writers Society (CWS) at the Western Illinois University, Macomb, USA. A University of Alberta 1998 Golden Key Society award recipient, he has been a full-time university teacher of literature and language for over ten years.

CATEGORY

Poetry/AFRICA