Dead Again, Yet More Alive – James Onyebuchi Nnaji’s Debut Poetry Collection ‘When I Am Dead Again’ Arrives Bookstores and Online”
The Nigerian literary space will soon witness a new release of a powerful debut collection of poetry from Noirledge Publishing by the award-winning poet,James Onyebuchi Nnaji,former editor of The Muse of the University of Nigeria at Nsukka.
According to an editorial review from the publisher,”When I am Dead Again” is a remarkable and courageous body of work, and a powerful collection of poems. The thematic ambition, emotional depth, and imaginative range signal a poet deeply committed to using language as witness, memory, and a call to action”.
“When I am Dead Again” stands as a lyrical chronicle of collective trauma—national, historical, cultural, and personal. It engages boldly with the Nigerian, and specifically Igbo, experience, weaving together the legacy of civil war, political violence, spiritual loss, and cultural erosion. The title itself “When I am Dead Again” captures one of the central motifs of the work: the cyclical nature of historical and metaphysical death, and the enduring search for renewal.
The poetic voice, steady and assured throughout, sits in conversation with a lineage of celebrated African poets—echoing at moments the mythic grandeur of Wole Soyinka and the lyrical lament of Christopher Okigbo—yet it remains distinct and contemporary. In poems such as “Bringer of Light,” private grief is elevated into cosmic tragedy:
This fusion of stark reality, ancestral memory, and mythic imagination gives the collection much of its power.
The imagery across the collection is bold, visceral, and arresting. In “Sambisa Ghosts,” for instance, the metaphors carry both immediacy and historical weight—
“Sambisa eats ghosts like acid on rough paper.”
Similarly, “Black crude poured again” confronts environmental and political devastation with clarity and emotional resonance. These elements create a sustained intensity that challenges the reader while rewarding attentive engagement.
Structurally, the length and number of the poems work well for the scale of the themes explored. Some poems stretch over several pages, allowing ideas and images to breathe and evolve. The collection is rich in local colour, cultural memory, and everyday experience, lending authenticity and rootedness to the work.
It’s a poetic resurrection and a sweeping meditation on Memory, Resilience, and the Eternal Return”