Half and Half of a Dream

Half and Half of a Dream explores our fascination and fear of dreams, examines the ressentiment that frames political dreaming, and raises questions about the validity of diasporic dreams of identity, time, and place using poignant metaphor and imagery. This poetry collection, in its Walcottian approach, captures the desire to return home and the realities of living in the diaspora, even while criticizing the socio-political factors that force individuals from their homes and create hardship for those who remain. This is a work of technical control, sustained by a vision of human flourishing, outcome of fundamental concerns with simultaneous continuity and discontinuity, rapture and rupture, hope and hopelessness, or unity and division. Half and Half of a Dream is a magnificent exploration of the validity of individual dreams. The collection explores the intricate relationship between individual dreams and the enduring pull of a diasporic past. Rooted in the poet's longing for their homeland, it transcends nostalgia, examining the dreams of the past, present, and future through affecting imagery and introspective questioning. As readers navigate the landscapes of memory and aspiration alongside the poet, they are compelled to confront their own dreams and the intricate roots from which they spring.

-Jumoke Comfort Verissimo, award-winning poet and novelist. Author, i am memory.

The strength of his poetry is obvious. The use of imagery, both sensory and figurative, coheres with the nuances of the social contexts that foreground the poems. Whether in dreamscapes or physical milieux, there is a density of reality as each persona speaks truth to time and forges art that will perdure via cadences that embody the life we live. It is humanity that manifests itself; it is our angst and anger; it is our pain and sorrow; it is our defiance and resilience; it is our victory that presents this poet's métier over and over.-Obari Gomba, three-time winner of the Association of Nigerian Authors Prize, winner Nigeria Prize for Literature, and winner PAWA Prize for African Poetry.

A masterpiece collection.... Half and Half of a Dream is a poetic representation of the Nigerian society, garnished with cascading metaphors and movingly evocative imageries. Wariboko, through vivid language, rich imageries, personifications, and extended metaphors, captures the depths of sociopolitical realities of the nation in this collection, examining the fragile balance between dreams and disillusionment, and the perilous influence of religion on the African continent.

-Professor Toyin Falola, renowned historian.