Caravaggio and code-switching: the thrillingly original poetry debut exploring Nigerian-British diaspora experience
In poems exploring family, survival, generational trauma and the complexities of belonging, Manorism is an examination of the lives of Black British men and boys. At the heart of the book is the ongoing pressure of code-switching - changing one's behaviour and language to suit radically different cultural contexts and environments. The violence of artists such as Caravaggio in 17th-century Rome, and modern-day commentary by the likes of David Starkey and Piers Morgan, provide a lens for considering differences of impunity afforded to white and Black people. Snippets of Yoruba interweave with English, and a moving final sequence - adapted for the Almeida stage in June 2021 to glowing reviews from the Guardian, Time Out and others - charts the dramatic reconciliations surrounding a death in the family. The result is a thrillingly original book that charts the vulnerabilities and rich nuances of Black masculinity in Britain.
Yomi Sode is a Nigerian-British poet, playwright, facilitator and recipient of the 2019 Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship. His acclaimed one-man show COAT toured nationally to sold-out audiences, including at the Brighton Festival, Roundhouse's Last Word Festival and the Battersea Arts Centre. In 2019 his essay 'The F Word' was featured in Safe: 20 Ways To Be A Black Man In Britain, and in 2020 his libretto Remnants,written in collaboration with award-winning composer James B. Wilson and Chineke! Orchestra was lauded by BBC Radio 3 and the Guardian. He is a Complete Works alumnus, a member of Malika's Poetry Kitchen, and founder and co-host of BoxedIn, The Daddy Diaries and First Five via Instagram Live.
