Manorism

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The biggest clue here is the title. We know that colonisation is fundamentally an extractive project; whatever other justifications we might wish to dress that truth in – legal systems! railways! trade! – does not change that. But by using the word refractive, Alexander reframes history, reclaims stories – makes us look slant at what has been, and what could be. It is Ṣode’s success that Manorism makes these comparisons not fanciful but justified. This is a work of formal experimentation, where lyric essays nestle against play-let structures, in service of a Claudia Rankine-esque determination to bear witness and find frameworks with which we can look at the world properly, fully. Junior initially flits from one impressionistic scene to another, Ṣode’s script not immediately explaining itself, before it lands as a play about death, mourning and young masculinity shaped by matriarchal influence. This is not a criticism but it seems to me that Sode's poetry works more effectively as oral, performance verse rather than textual, written-down verse - its complexity and power is in the emotion and ideas that are articulated with force and a directness that is about a strong voice and a pointed passion. It doesn't require the extended textual attention that the poetry of, say, Derek Walcott requires with its complex multilayered allusions and intertexts, metaphors and puns and wordplay with switching modes of prosody.

I went in expecting to feel inspired ..I didn't expect to also feel challenged, validated, riled up, soothed, seen and understood to the level that I was. This collection is deeply insightful while still demonstrating the skill to read like a one on one conversation with Yomi himself.These experiences and perceptions are portrayed through a wide range of linguistic devices – poems, vignettes, prose, idiomatic use of English (e.g., often dropping the th from the so the definite article is reduced to e). There are phrases and sentences which are presented in a language of Nigeria. Because of the ambition and originality of this collection, I would suggest readers read it at least three or four times so as to tune into this remarkable portrayal. This first collection is impressive while being direct and speaking to a strongly lived experience. Manorism is a wonder of a collection. Yomi writes into the space where silence has been enforced, with language so dexterous it sings, with an honesty that is as sure as it is vulnerable. Throughout the collection, he gives language to grief, acute and enormous. He speaks not only to the moments we might falter in the face of our mourning but also to how we might rebuild, how we might not only survive those who pass, but thrive. What a joy it is to hold these words -- Caleb Azumah Nelson, author of OPEN WATER said: “I’m very excited to bring Manorism into the world. It has lived with me, travelled with me, reflected with me and joined me at points of happiness and mourning. It is an honour to know my work will be joining the likes of Terrance Hayes, Caleb Femi and Claudia Rankine. I treasure this collection very much, and I can’t wait for folks to read it.”

Yomi is not ramping. This is a rich, nuanced, emotional collection. I read about myself and my people, felt an affinity in the expression of experiences we share and felt feelings only we feel. Thank you for this, Yomi Jade LB, author of KEISHA THE SKET The word ‘Manorism’ itself is another of these frameworks: a code for living by, one where the role of pride and respect – how it is earned, what happens when it is not present – is inescapable. Ṣode’s definition, in ‘On Fatherhood: Proximity to Death’, is subtly revealing in what it says about relative power between young men: ‘whether one yields to the other and keeps walking, / or whether we both head-nod to mark a familiarity as skin folk.’ Ṣode’s eye for respect and its absence is acute. In ‘A Sestina, for the Curious Oyinbo’, he details what happens when a woman at a writing retreat asks the tutor ‘ Do you want to be white?’: Jonsson has a sure, controlled presence and animates not just his inner voice but those of the aunties around him, even Ade’s quiet voice and Big Mummy’s bigger one. Despite the subject matter, the play comes with playful moments cocooned in poetic language; Junior’s pleasure in overeating contains mischief; the rush hour is a fast-flowing crowd in which he plays Tetris. When I speak of justice and anger written with luminous genius, I will forever be speaking of Yomi Sode's Manorism, a glorious, furious collection that tells a thousand stories in stunningly crafted verse. A triumph that everyone should read Nikita Gill, author of GREAT GODDESSES and WILD EMBERS

but i found this book genuinely amazing. undoubtedly i’ll be reading more by yọ̀mí ṣódé in the future, his work is absolutely incredible, i could not look away, i read this in pretty much one go. some parts i’ve already reread. Often the collection focuses on specific people in the family. There is a love letter to his son, the sad end of Big Mummy and the rituals for the embalming of Okonkwo. This book is rooted in the time of its writing. We come across celebrities both popular (Stormzy, Tinie Tempah), the redeemed (Ant McPartlin) and the unpopular (David Starkey, Laurence Fox). There are politicians, Diane Abbott and Dominic Raab (who, he?). Yomi is a Nigerian British spoken word artist and playwright. His writing explores immigration, identity and displacement, particularly through the lens of examining intergenerational relationships. He seeks to use his first-hand experience as a long-time social worker to explore and expose the complexities, injustices, and gaps within the social care system. His writing is lyrical and incisively probing, and has warmth, humanity and truthfulness at its heart.

Expertly directed by Miranda Cromwell, it never once feels lethargic, though it has pools of stillness weighted with heavy emotion. Jonsson does not rush through these, nor indulge in them, but times them to a perfect pitch so that his story is about the bewilderment of grief but also the depth of love between these two men, and delivered without sentimentality.

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Part-confession, part-conjuring and wholly unique, Yomi Sode's debut collection is unflinching. As he writes, "Our stories are open wounds." ?ode takes us on a visceral journey, spilling secrets nakedly, not allowing us to look away from the hard truth. And we're better for it Peter Kahn, author of LITTLE KINGS Ariaratnam added: “ Manorism speaks to a lived experience that for too long has been unheard. In this collection, Yomi Ṣode enables us to listen and in doing so extends our vision of the poetic terra cognita.”