By James Eze
The sleepy university town of Nsukka stirred awake yesterday when “Back 2 the Roots” kicked off to a dazzling start at the historic Jive Entertainment Center (formerly known as the Zik Cinema.) An evening of poetry and songs, the event was staged to mark my poetic homecoming to the soil that bears my umbilical cord. It was also my first book tour since “dispossessed” was published two and a half years ago.
And so, what began as a delicate evening soon flared into a memorable night of riveting performances. Between snatches of exquisite poetry, Masthamind; a young brilliant mathematician, multi-instrumentalist, composer and singer held the audience in thrall with a sublime interpretation of some poems from “dispossessed” in songs that are sure to bounce. His grip on the audience was unbelievable. In no time at all, he had everybody singing along with him.
I read mostly poems from the first movement in dispossessed entitled “innocence.” Since it was a return to my roots, I felt that poems that established my identity and celebrated my heritage were most appropriate for rendering. I gave a full account of that.
But, “Back 2 the Roots” was not just about me. In fact, having spent the better part of the past fifteen years curating and hosting creative workshops and poetry festivals and offering platforms for people with a gift of the imagination to touch the skies, it would have been strange if “Back 2 the Roots” did not offer a stage for other acts to flourish. And so, the spoken word poet, Siza and the singer Lorenzo had the audience in their palms.
In truth, only a video can capture the splendor and majesty of “Back 2 the Roots.”
• Eze is an award winning poet and author of ‘Dispossessed’, a collection of poems.