African poetry collective, Konya Shamsrumi (KSR), has announced S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema as its new Managing Editor, taking over from Sai Sabouke. Su’eddie is a multiple award-winning, multi-genre, writer whose third public domain poetry collection, Memory and the Call of Waters, is presently on the shortlist for the $100,000 NLNG-sponsored Nigeria Prize for Literature. He is a Chevening Alum, David C. Pollock scholar, and Convener of the Benue Book and Arts Festival. He also won the 2014 Association of Nigerian Authors Poetry Prize.
According to a statement, Carl Terver, a noted style critic who writes essays, poetry, and fiction, will work with Su’eddie in the role of Digital Editions Editor. His work has been published in Praxis, The Republic, and Millenial Poets. He is the founding editor at Afapinen and author of the chapbook, For Girl at Rubicon. Mohammed Dikko, who has worked in a similar role at Engaging Borders, will serve as Media Manager.
KSR also announced a change in its web address, moving from a .com.ng domain to http://shamsrumi.org alongside a new logo. The logo, designed by Charles Efiong, comprises a “whirling dervish”, paying homage to the Persian mystic and poet, Rumi, and his mentor, Shams e-Tabriz.
Speaking about his vision for the role, Su’eddie said: “I will be working with the Collective to migrate Konya Shamsrumi from the present centralised structure to a platform and network for Africa-centric poetry and poets. The ‘projects’ feature on the website is at the centre of this, opening up for curators of multi-week poetry projects to run on the platform–Tigrinya poems, Yoruba performances, contemporary spoken word from Zim, among others. The masthead will be expanded to make it even more Africa-inclusive, in line with our vision. The funding streams for the Collective, and the website, will also be expanded with sustainability in mind. Here is a toast to putting pride in poetry again.”
Konya Shamsrumi is a poetry collective founded in 2019 by Richard Ali, Umar Abubakar Sidi, Funmi Gaji, and Rasaq Malik Gbolahan. It runs the poetry website www.shamsrumi.org and is one of the few poetry-only publishers on the continent. Seed funding for the collective was provided by Umar Abubakar Sidi and Richard Ali.