Rasaq Malik Gbolahan: Anhinga Prize Winner & Nigerian Poetry

Rasaq Malik Gbolahan joins Timothy Green on The Rattlecast for a conversation about his poetry and writing life. A Nigerian poet, performer, translator, and editor, Rasaq is the winner of the 2024 Anhinga Prize for Poetry for his first full-length collection The Origin of Wounds. He is the founding editor-in-chief of Agbowó and co-founder of Àtẹ́lẹwọ́, a digital journal dedicated to Yorùbá-language literature. In this episode, we discuss his work, the craft of poetry, and African literary spaces. We’ll also open the lines for this week’s prompt-based reading.

This Week’s Prompt: Think of the moment in your life that you most wish you had a photo of but don’t. Make it come to life in a sensory-rich poem.

Next Week’s Prompt: Write a poem that quotes a line from a Rattle Poetry Prize finalist from the year you found out about Rattle.

Submit your poem through Submittable by midnight Sunday for a chance to be invited on the show: https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/269309/rattlecast-prompt-poems-online

Find more about Rasaq Malik Gbolahan here: https://rasaqmalikgbolahan.com/

The Rattlecast livestreams every Monday on YouTube, Facebook, and X, then becomes available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen.