A Letter to Lynda, and Other Poems

Book excerpt: A Letter to Lynda and Other Poems, Funso Aiyejina's first book of poems, was first published in 1988, and won the Association of Nigerian Authors Prize in 1989. Highly personal and yet universal, it remains a crucial exploration of the historical and emotional relationship involving Africans on both sides of the Atlantic, and of the creative links between the African continent and the diaspora. The poetry retains an impact today at least as great as when it was first written. Funso Aiyejina, poet and short-story writer, was born in Ososo, Edo State, Nigeria, in 1949. He holds degrees from the University of Ife, Nigeria (BA), Acadia University, Nova Scotia, Canada (MA) and the University of the West Indies, Trinidad (Ph.D.). He taught at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and since 1990 has taught at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad. In 1995-6, he was Fulbright Lecturer in Creative Writing at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. As well as A Letter to Lynda he has published poems in various journals, including Opon Ifa, Okike, West Africa, Greenfield Review, and Trinidad and Tobago Review; his work has also been widely anthologized.