I got published for the first time in the Youth Pen Magazine. Truly, I was overwhelmed and super glad when the Editor - Mr Yusuf Ayodele of MSSN UNILAG commended my poems and listed "MIRROR" as one of the write-ups for publication. Although, I didn’t really like it that such ancient poem of mine was chosen but the truth is, if I don't say, no one would ever discover that it was written during my secondary school days.

Read:

Mirror

My right was your left
My curiosity gave you a serious face
In a will to know each other better
But we had a common boundary
Then I knew you were not a stranger

I saw the innocence in your eyes
The guilt behind your blinks
Your thoughts had me surrounded
You were a fellow in disguise
Had to look deep in your heart
Found love at the deepest part
That which mattered as hatred
I knew your wants through your stare
Life cruelty was what you feared

As tear balls of wishes ran down her jaw
I traveled into your dream
In there was hope
Providing a reason for you to live
I smiled and you smiled
Then I knew you were me...

The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award is now
accepting entries from publishers, agents and authors.
The Award recognises the finest writers, with previous winners including Yiyun Li, Adam
Johnson, Junot Diaz, Kevin Barry, Anthony Doerr
and C K Stead. Worth £30,000 to the winner
and £1,000 to each of the five runners-up, prizes
will be announced on 22 April 2016.

Organizers :Book Trust £30000 and £10000 for each of the five runner-ups

Topic : A short story on any topic

Prizes: £30000 and £10000 for each of the five runner-ups

Deadline : 6pm of Thursday, 24th of September, 2015

Guidelines :

Entry is open to authors from anywhere in the
world, as long as they have a previous record of
publication in creative writing in the UK and
Ireland. Stories must be previously unpublished,
or first published after 1 January 2015. All entries
must be 6,000 words or under and entirely
original. The deadline for ALL submissions is
6pm on Thursday 24 September 2015 .
Both email and postal entries are accepted.

For full details of eligibility, and how to enter, please click

At His Broken Finger

Whilst other kids smiled at their breakfasts

Olalere cried at his broken finger .

"Tell me your problem" said his curious teacher

But the boy cried even more over an empty paper

"My hand hurts... Yet i am a writer.

And Olalere was pitied by the caring mister.

..but he still cried at his broken finger

Whilst other kids smiled at their breakfasts

Featured imaged : pixabay.com 

ITS COLD OUTSIDE.

I am safe in this blanket 

Its warmth carves through my armpits

while I stretch for another gulp of a hot calming tea

winters are so cold,

but am safe today... 

I am safe from its chilling whispers,

Its wettish pour that reign with no restraint.

no sneezy cold or milky nose runs

I have a home that guards my tender skin

from days it is cold outside

I am safe,safe, completely safe 

But my brother is shivering, drenched and homeless

so is my comfort...

Featured images: https://pixabay.com/en/rain-floor-water-wet-drops-122691/

.Entries are invited for the 2015 Charles Causley
International Poetry Competition . The closing date
is 3rd November 2015.
– The Charles Causley Poetry Prize is open to

anyone, including non-UK applicants, aged 18
and over.
– First prize is £2000.
– Runners up awards: 2nd: £250 3rd: £100
– There will also be 5 Highly Commended
Awards of £30 each.
– There is no limit on the number of entries a
single entrant can make, but
additional entries
incur further entry fees.
“The poet works continuously at the conveyor-
belt of his imagination. As soon as he gets peace
of mind at having completed one set of verses,
fresh shapes are apt to rise in his head once
more. And if he is true to his art, he picks up his
pen and goes on struggling to make something
fresh in words of what he sees.”
Charles Causley 1962
Entry rules and regulations: http://www.commonwealthwriters.org/charles-causley-poetry-competition-2015/
Poetry Competition 2015 rules of entry
Entry Form: Follow 

As a mother who cares about her son’s future I thought it was right to ban Ola from watching that nonsense cartoon. Well, I knew very well that he might hate me for it but what happened today didn’t give me options to choose from… My Ola was getting addicted to Tom and Jerry!!!

A poem  dedicated to my siblings ; Brother Yusuf, Aisha, Abdulazeez and Halima Olalere  

I WILL HOLD MY PEN TO BED

' I will hold my pen to bed
When the day comes with no words for poetry
I will dream of our infant voices
as mother warns us to quit the dashes
Yet we will run into to the kitchen
Hiding and seeking
Happy and smiling
That I may wake and forget
the nice warm memories of once upon a time
When we played childishly
'cause we were truly children
I shall dream of them
Even if they are now dusty voices
A paper on my chest,
And a pen on my right
While I layed in bed
I had penned a poem before that goes thus ;
       "I dreamt of our infant voices
         As mother warned us to quit the dashes
        Yet,we ran into the kitchen
         Hiding and seeking,
         Happy and smiling"

Ibrahim Olalere

 

________________________________________________________
Something tells me not to stop until Olalere becomes a word in the dictionary...🙈..
Seriously, Einstein did it😼
Now read best poems from around the world
wildsoundfestivalreview.com
Mine included! 😊

Organizers: Salvage Vanguard Theatre

 ABOUT THE ODD BIRD ESSAY CONTEST :

Our next Made in the SVT show, Naked as a Gay
Bird , deals with being a survivor. We want to
hear your stories of survival too. Speak out and
submit to our Odd Bird Essay Contest .
The Prompt: Write about a time that you felt
bullied or alienated – a time you felt vulnerable,
harassed, pushed to the margins, or
excluded. How did you feel? How did you react?
How did you move past it? What do you still carry
with you?
THE RESULTS :
SVT will select three essays – a first
place and two runners up – to be featured in
the Naked as a Gaybird program materials. The
two runners up will receive a ticket for the Naked
as a Gaybird VIP night performance and after
party on November 20th. The writer of the first-
place essay will receive two tickets to the VIP
performance and a $50 cash prize.
THE RULES :
Own your story. Write honestly. Keep
your piece to 500 words or less. Email your
submission as a .doc or PDF
to essay essay@salvagevanguard.orgby Monday,
August 24 at 5:00pm CT. In the email, include
your name and age. You must be 17 – 24 years
of age to participate.

Are you a   talented essay writer? Then take
advantage of this unique chance to get rewarded
for your work by the best essay writing service !
NinjaEssays is all about supporting writers and
helping them to get the motivation they need. The
purpose of this essay writing contest is to inspire
writers from all around the world to showcase
their creative and critical thinking skills.
By entering our annual writing contest, your work
will be published on the NinjaEssays blog and
shared on our social media profiles. Wait, there is
more:
You’ll get a prize! If you rank first, second or third
in the final results, you will receive a cash prize.
You will get recognition from exceptional
academic writers.
You can freely express your opinions and get fair
treatment by the judges. No candidate will be
discriminated on the basis of national origin, race,
color, disability, gender, sexual orientation,
religion, or marital status.
You will help thousands of students to realize
how a great essay should look like. Your entry
will serve as an inspiration for them to start
creating their own work.
Pay close attention to the
following INSTRUCTIONS and
start working on your entry today!

Deadline
Submissions are accepted from July 1 through
December 10, 2015.
The finalists will receive a notification via e-mail
by December 15, 2015.
You have more than enough time to get inspired
and write an essay on the topic you are most
inspired for! Only one entry per candidate is
allowed
There is NO ENTRY FEE!

Judging
The submitted essays will be evaluated by the
top writers from NinjaEssays.com . The personal
information of the entrants will not be disclosed
to the judges.

Guidelines
Your entry should be 800-1000 words long!
Your contact information should be provided on a
separate page.
Please submit the essay in one of the following
file types: Word (.doc, .rtf, .odt, and .docx). You
can feel free to use images if you hold the rights
for their distribution.
All entries must be free of plagiarism! You are not
allowed to submit content that has been
published before. The content will be checked
with an advanced plagiarism checker and the
candidates who don’t submit 100% unique work
will be disqualified.
The essays must be written in English.
By submitting an entry to this essay contest, you
agree to the terms and conditions and accept the
decision of the judges as final.
Topics
Please provide an entry on one of the following
topics:
. Nationalism in Contemporary American Literature
. Is Homeschooling Inferior or Superior to
Traditional Learning?
. Digital Language: The Effects of the Internet on
Modern Literature
. College Dorms: An Inspiration or an Obstacle for
Students' Progress?
. Are Parents Supposed to Provide Financial
Support to College Students?
. Is 'Street Wisdom' Necessary for Professional
Success?
. African Writers: Diamonds of Contemporary
Literature
. The Effects of Television Violence on Young
Students
. Higher Education: a Privilege or a Right?
Prizes
Winner - $500
2nd place - $300
3rd place - $150

How to submit Click here

I 

Beneatthe the shadow of my windowpane and the
comfort of my lonely time, i stumbled into this
remembrance:
A little Chibok maiden stargered into a northern
market. Her chins were brutally marked in shape
of a tigress claws. Not her chin alone but through her foremost head down to the pouch of her headcover. Her hijab flowed through her knee and her
chest was full; like something was hidden beneath
her dress. It happened. The hijab at least gave her repulsive appearance an iota of beauty. She was
filty, damaged and needed help...
And she wailed for help at the shore of the busy market. Men,women,maidens and children; non was absent at the horror scene. ...Bring Back Our Girls!- one was here ,yet no one moved a limb
towards the 'filthy' victim.
The fearful ones fled leaving behind their sales while grasping a chance of retaining their
lives.Whilst the most courageous of them just stood aback to watched her fall into more stains
and muds. She continued. She fought for her stance and
stretched her hands forth for help...
Once she stood still,perhaps to let her blood drip freely down her mouth,through her sleeves into
the dust. Hence, it was time!!
If no one would come close-"please run... Call my
mother..she would die care for me! !" But she had let her voice out to save the watching strangers."Run!!!"
Yet, her childish eyes craved a final glance at her
mother. Her heart cracked as she watched it mothers shoulder their tiny children to safety... "If
only more mine was there at chibok,perhaps, this
day won't be"- again, a childish thought. she
waited in grieve for her faraway mother.
In her last few seconds of grievance, na farko(the
maiden) had her eyes closed and her fists thitened. This time she screamed till her heart could hardly breathe; as hot tears of wishes ran down her pitied jaw...
Uwar!!!ka yar da aka dawo!!!-
Meaning; Mother!! Your daughter was back!!!...
Her voice echoed through the empty market before the '0' was counted- the bomb detonated.
And the people witnessed one of their own shattered like a broken doll...
I blame Bokoharam for this paining imagination.
olalere Ibrahim

Read more on https://www.facebook.com/poesypoems

Cultural Weekly’s Jack Grapes Poetry Prize
Poetry Contest has begun!!!
Organizers : Jack Grapes
Rules :
1.You may submit up to 3 previously
unpublished poems. What do we mean by
unpublished? If it has appeared in any book,
magazine or edited website, then it is published.
Sole exception: if you have posted it only on
your own blog or social media, and you take it
down and leave it down, we will consider it
unpublished.
2. NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS. We
promise to make a quick decision.
3. You may submit only once during this period.
Choose your best work! There is a submission
fee of $4 for up to 3 poems.
4. You must follow the formatting rules.
Submissions that do not follow these rules may
not be considered.
5. Submissions must be in .doc or .docx format.
(No “pages” “txt” “pdf” or other formats.)
6. Your submissions must all be in a single
document. In other words, if you submit 3 poems, they should all be in 1 document, not in 3
separate documents.
7. Make the name of the file the title of your first
poem.
8. Pages must be numbered.
9. No unusual spacing or fonts. 12 point, Times New Roman preferred.
10. We read all submissions blind. List the titles
of your poems on the cover page. Remember:
your name, address, phone number and email
address must appear on the cover page only! All
other pages of your submission must contain NO
identifying information.
11. No poems will be accepted after August 31st,
2015, midnight Pacific Time. No entries will be
considered after that date.
12. By entering this contest you guarantee that the work you are submitting is your own original
poetry, that it has never been published
electronically or in print, and that it has not been
submitted nor accepted for publication
elsewhere.
13. Our poetry editor will contact all those who
submitted with the results soon after the contest
ends. Your patience is appreciated. The decision
of the judges is final.
Prizes : Cash prizes of $250 for first place, $150 for
second place, and $100 for third place, including
publication in Cultural Weekly. In addition, three
finalists will be chosen and awarded $50 each,
including publication in Cultural Weekly.
For details about submission, Click

I understand a couple of you must have  been awaiting  the launching  the Etisalat prize for flash and that is why I contacted the organizers of the contest... Here is an exact copy of their reply to my inquiry ; on the 24th day of the July, 2015

 "Dear Ibrahim,

Thank you for your e-mail and interest in the Etisalat prize for Literature.

Our Flash Fiction category will be launched with full details and criteria for entry later this year.

 All information on the Flash Fiction Prize will be made availableprize.etisalat.com.non our website.

Please do let us know if you require any additional information.

Kind Regards,
Etisalat Prize for Literature "

Now, I hope you can calm down and start preparing a very nice story for submission. As I heard no Nigerian have won this thing! All eyes are on Nigeria for this one. So, please make us proud.

Follow this link for more information :
 prize.etisalat.com.ng

Try to learn SOMETHING about everything and EVERYTHING about something

Thomas Huxley

Truly, I cannot remember where exactly I got the quote but I can remember the line vividly since it successfully conquered a huge number of bytes in my brain.

Another thing I can remember is that the above quote is super rampant in University of Lagos as it passes through the ears of virtually all frosh students in the institution.

That’s it!

  Now I remember where it came from; I caught that phrase from UNILAG orientation week… Well, let’s forget where I got it from and concentrate squarely on the mission of this post…

It targets two main groups of people:

1.   The folks with just one goal:  This is where I remind myself of those friends of mine who still languish in the thoughts that one stone cannot kill two birds… Although, it seems really unrealistic to disprove their little dogma, but remember, IT IS A MERE IDIOM. 

On a more serious note I want you to look at it from my bearing;

You have just one life; yet, you eat, sleep, play and even study…  See how much you can multitask. Well the claim here is not that man is an infatigable creature but it is pertinent to understand that it doesn’t hurt a dime to ONE MORE to what you are doing. You may have hindering reasons like:

No time: Are you really sure there is no time. Have you tried decreasing your play time plus the times you just sit and do nothing?  Have you minimized the time you spend on eating sleeping and chatting? Oh yeah! What of the times you spend on social media... Huh?

Note: if you have checked for all these loopholes in your time management system and you still find none wasting, then this article is not for you…

But, if you actually did, then I advice sit back, relax and read on.

I don’t know what to do with my time: Although this is a personal problem that can be solved by YOU alone, I’ll still try and see if I can help.  Have you ever tried writing before?  After a self research , I have come to an inference that Writing is the one thing that  can fit into even your leisure times and could earn you even more that your main commitments.  So don’t just sit and play temple run! Try writing today…

2.   To armchair writers: The second group of people who should drink from the wisdom of the idiom is the gang those writers who have fashioned just one niche for their knowledge-    i.e.( Armchair writers).

Let it be clear that the job called writing require you to comb the bushes and climb the mountains of our planet or even travel into space for the sake of knowledge… Okay, okay that is too much of exaggeration.  But on a more realistic ground you CANNOT become a successful writer if you don’t take enough time to read into the world and jot down the things you don’t know…. If not all but at least try to know SOMETHING ABOUT EVERY THING by;

·         Read almost everything that comes your way: don’t just read law books because you want to be a lawyer. Also try those of science or Arts… Just keep reading even when you become a Guru

·         Value all species of knowledge:  No knowledge is a waste… If you nonchalantly loose it today, you might starve for it tomorrow

·         Engage in intellectual discussions : Be smart and resign from being involved in foul talks and employ the habit of discussing on brain fertilizing issues

·         Be an expert in one field: Never lose track of your main field it is what defines your bearing( more like you compass)

·         Always make research: Google and Wiki are always there for you. Don’t hesitate to ask questions…. YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW.