Emmanuel Eruemulor Debuts Spoken Word Collection ‘Unwanted’

Nigerian poet and spoken-word artiste Emmanuel Eruemulor has unveiled his debut poetry collection, titled Unwanted. The publication presents an extended chronicle addressing the impulse to leave one’s homeland in pursuit of survival, framed through the perspective of an author confronting feelings of alienation and systemic estrangement.

The work stages the experience of exile as a multidimensional journey shaped by domestic, private, and cross-border struggles. Eruemulor examines these tensions through three structural dualities: national and personal dynamics, national and transnational realities, and the friction between personal identity and external environments.

Themes of Migration and Identity

These focal points correspond directly with the book’s three distinct sections, titled “Nigeria,” “Migrating,” and “The Clash of Cultures.” Through this progression, the author charts the transition from domestic dissatisfaction to the displacement that comes with moving across geographic and cultural frontiers.

In the opening entry, “Genesis, Interrupted,” Eruemulor employs the cadences and structure of the biblical Book of Genesis to interrogate the historical trajectory of Nigeria alongside his own domestic background. The poem merges reflections on the country’s oil resources and political leadership with the writer’s personal history as a pastor’s son connected to Zundert.

For the African spoken-word scene and broader creative sector, releases like Unwanted illustrate how performance poets are documenting the realities of departure, economic strain, and cultural adaptation. As mobility and the modern diaspora experience remain pressing issues across contemporary African verbal arts and music, such publications underscore the role of spoken-word artistes in articulating the social realities of their generation.

Source: Afrocritik