Conditions of Invisibility & Creation of the Self, after Gboyega Odubanjo
Gboyega: Locating selfhood, seen-ness, and invisibility in Adam. Decent.
* This course will take place on the video-conferencing platform ZOOM *
‘pretty darkly our shades still on because this the night beneath the night. / the life beneath the living… we so inherent in that is matter.’ – Gboyega Odubanjo
In this three-week salon course, Gboyega Odubanjo’s Adam (Faber, 2024) will be our key set text and, having read the collection beforehand, we’ll discuss of a number of poems in close detail over the sessions.
With a special focus on African history, folklore, literature, and art, we’ll also consider the conditions of invisibility so long ascribed to Black bodies in the Western literary tradition. From there, we will consider ourselves within the context of identity art and identity politics; how we might depict ourselves on the page and bring our most “invisible” (personally, socially, and historically hidden/unrecognised/ignored) features into the fore.
We’ll borrow from origin myths, news stories, our unique histories, cultures, languages, and talismans to create ourselves in our own likeness on the page. Expect to study a ground-breaking poetry collection in-depth, alongside lively weekly discussions, lots of writing, and a special final session, dedicated to reading the poems written during the course.
3 Weekly Zoom sessions on Tuesdays, 6.30–8.30pm (GMT), starts 11 Mar 2025. To apply for a concession rate, please send relevant documentation showing your eligibility for one of our concessions to [email protected]. Conditions of eligibility are detailed here. More information about how our Video Courses work can be found on the Video Courses page. If you have any questions or wish to be added to the waiting list of a sold-out course, please email [email protected].
Image credit: Adam Gboyega Odubanjo
About Rachel Long 
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Rachel Long founded and ran Octavia Poetry Collective for Women of Colour, which was housed at the Southbank Centre, in London, from 2015 to 2020. Her debut collection, My Darling from the Lions (Picador 2020 / Tin House 2021) was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, The Costa Book Award, The Rathbones Folio Prize, and The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. The US edition of My Darling from the Lions was named one of the 100 must-read books of 2021 by TIME. She has judged numerous literary prizes including The National Poetry Competition, The Dylan Thomas Prize, and the Poetry London Prize.
"The Poetry School's impact is wide ranging: the continued development of the student as writer; the continued honing of previous work, and the creation of new work. Gaining confidence and support to submit work for publishing and develop creative ideas generally."
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