Wale Ayinla,Mosobalaje M. Abimbola & Ayoola Goodness Set To Publish House of Lunatics II, Unveiling Cover Art

After the release of the first edition, the trio are set to release a sequel tagged House of Lunatics II.

Ayoola, Ayinla and Abimbola are fully aware of the seriousness of creating poetic satires. The call to address sensitive issues that affect their immediate society is beyond running a laundry list of the bad, ugly, and insane. Anybody can post on social media about political corruption and religious shamefulness. As a matter of fact, in recent times, social media have been the battle ground for many to express their views, even when done blindly, on such issues. Any poet worth some salt would have derided the social challenges being faced. I recall that some poets even claimed that the singular purpose of the poet is to write about social issues affecting the populace. Such a position is not wrong. However, to rise above the banter of sociopolitical brouhaha, it is important that the poet understands the sacredness of his art. It is with this understanding, of the hallowed mandate of poetic satirization, that the poets have invested their art, insights, and commitment to sensate and sensitize their society in this project.

House of Lunatics is a conscious effort to satirize burning social, religious, political and moral issues. The poets are strategic, and direct their poetics toward serious issues. The reader is offered a rare vista into the political ruling class and its sickliness. Divisive issues like sexuality and gender are not left out. The religious sects with their hypocrisy and the intelligentsia that often appear to be above the mundane receive a healthy dose of satirical therapy. Of significant note is mention of three poems that serve as a conversation among the poets, and between them and the society: Ayoola’s “for the world gone nude”, Ayinla’s “physician, heal thyself”, and Abimbola’s “for the world come nude.” These poems mirror the vision of the poets in leading their society from darkness to light.

Wale Ayinla is a Nigerian writer and poet who writes from the
ancient city of Abeokuta. His works appear and are forthcoming on
Takahe, Vagabond City, Expound, The Rising phoenix and others. He is a
coauthor of the House of Lunatics I.

Goodness Olanrewaju Ayoola is a poet and teacher of English . His
poetry has appeared in poetry journals and anthologies. He was one of
the judges for the 2016 Green Authors Prize (GAP) sponsored by Words
Rhymes and Rhythms. He is the author of ‘Meditations’, a collection of
poems.

Abimbola Mosobalaje is a poet, writer and content developer. He
has his works featured in anthologies and literary journals, online and
in print. He is the author of “Ripples from the King’s Court”, a
collection of poems.

Publication Date: 25th October, 2018

Publisher: ACEworld Publishers