The Poetry Club Holds an Open Mic Evening

 The Poetry Club Holds an Open Mic Evening


Esther Ogunleye 

The Poetry Club of the Department of English, University of Ibadan on Thursday, 25th of September, 2025, hosted its first maiden open mic evening themed "The Making of a Poet" held at Room 71, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan. 

The interactive session brought together poets and aspiring poets from across different departments of the university, who eagerly drew from the wisdom of the chief host as well as distinguished personalities in attendance. Notable among them were the Head of the Department of English, Prof. M.T. Lamidi, Prof. Mark Ighile who acted as the anchor, alongside other respected lecturers such as Prof. Nelson Fashina, Prof. Remi Raji, Dr. (Mrs.) Aiyetoro, Dr. Rita Okonoboh, and several others.

Commencing promptly at 5:00 p.m., the program stretched late into the evening, offering participants a rich blend of thought-provoking discussions, poetry renditions, critical reviews, and interactive activities that made the event both engaging and memorable.

In his welcome address, Prof. Lamidi urged participants to remain committed to poetry, encouraging them to write, celebrate, and revive the fading culture of poetry festivals and sessions. He emphasized, “Never get discouraged. Keep writing, and keep going. At the end of every session we’re going to have the Okigbo Poetry Night to celebrate poets. Most importantly, there will be the Osundare Award for Poet of the Year, and you could be the winner.”

The workshop also showcased inspiring insights from Prof. Raji who added that “Poets are not born, they are made from one percent inspiration and nighty-nine percent perspiration”. Also, commenting on the theme, Prof. Fashina expressed that the making of a poet is federated with the poet’s psychological consciousness, linguistic consciousness and cultural consciousness.

There were also poetry renditions by student poets such as Eniola Olagunju, Tega, and Aremu Oluwapelumi, among others. During the poetry criticism session, Dr. (Mrs.) Aiyetoro reminded the poets that the purpose was not to “criticize destructively, but to bring out the best.”

The evening closed on a cheerful note as one of the participants shared her excitement. She remarked, “A big thank you to The Poetry Club for putting this together.”



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