A Field of Echoes

To any critic trying to divide Nigerian poetry into generations, Amu Nnadi is likely to constitute a challenge. The reason is that his poetry harbours the best of every generation. So, beyond the flat criterion of age, how do you handle his peculiar situation? In terms of content and form, he bears the attributes of some of the finest poets that have come from this landscape. Yet, it can be difficult to compare him with any other writer because of a strange relationship he seems to have with words. From one poem to the other, one collection to the other, he spins magical twists in the way he handles verses – or, perhaps, the way verses handle him.