Dzifa Afi Benson
@DzifaBenson
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Poet | Dramatist | Editor | Curator | Critic: @Telegraph @FinancialTimes | Debut poetry collection ‘Monster’ published by @BloodaxeBooks October 2024
London
Joined July 2010
Today is publication day!!! I took Monste on my late afternoon, golden hour walk. It’s finally sinking in that the book is an actual physical and beautiful object. Thank you @bloodaxebooks who type set it so beautifully, and artist Leila Fanner for the cover art.
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I'm launching a new magazine! pros: very small (pocket-sized), very cheap, good shade of yellow cons: it is (alas) all about poetry https://t.co/rUv3lKYsEP
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So many incredible events this weekend in Birmingham and online at @verve.poetry.festival including an event on poetry pamphlets tonight at 7pm, a headline event at 8.30pm with @dzifabenson @anthony.joseph_poet @rrmscott and then Saturday lunchtime @magma__poetry matters…
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Join us tomorrow at 7pm GMT on our YouTube channel for live readings and discussion from our three February authors and their translators: https://t.co/NXozEn5fUz Available to watch live or later via this link.
Our next online event will be our February launch reading with Ana Blandiana, Krisztina Tóth, Charlotte Van den Broeck and their translators Paul Scott Derrick, Viorica Patea, George Szirtes & David Colmer. Wed 12 Feb, 7pm GMT Sign up for reminder emails: https://t.co/KGagsscdW7
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The Free Verse Prize, judged by Ali Lewis in support of Free Verse: The Poetry Book & Magazine Fair, is taking submissions until midnight on 7 March! Don't miss out on this exciting opportunity to showcase your work! Visit our website for more details.
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Thank you @consortiumbooks! Amazing to see how far Monster is travelling. All the way the way from London to Seattle! I love Seattle and can't wait to go back. I saw my first and only baseball game there. Hoping to come back soon for a closer view of the mountains.
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Thank @writingafrica_ for writing about Monster.
Book Digest: Dzifa Benson, Nathaniel Bivan, Yael Valencia Aldana #BookDigest #Poetry #Fiction @DzifaBenson @nathanielbivan @KentuckyPress
https://t.co/kWO2vtvf06
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Great to catch up tonight with my lovely friend and 🇬🇧 🇬🇭 poetess extraordinaire @DzifaBenson.
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“My I was him.” From ‘Miss Sarah Baartman Recalls Her Lover, a Drummer from Batavia’ by Dzifa Benson, in Monster (@BloodaxeBooks)
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Thanks for sharing this poem from @DzifaBenson's debut collection #Monster.
“My I was him.” From ‘Miss Sarah Baartman Recalls Her Lover, a Drummer from Batavia’ by Dzifa Benson, in Monster (@BloodaxeBooks)
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This will indeed make a fantastic Christmas present for the writer in your life!
I make a fabulous Christmas present. 😊 Your writer friends get the ‘trifecta’: author, educator and editor for an hour. Email for info and vouchers: leoneross@mac.com
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‘I am profoundly grateful to those who believed in and supported my work throughout this time…it's still not quite sunk in.’ We were delighted to award Roseanne Watt @shaetlan_rose as the Scotland winner for the Jerwood Poetry Award earlier this month.
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We're delighted to announce that George Szirtes has been named as the winner of The King's Gold Medal for Poetry for 2024 on the basis of his 'deeply personal pieces of work, informed by his dual perspective, looking both east and west.' https://t.co/DwLm7Z9LuA
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I’ve written a little piece about my writing process, love of sequences and messy (non) endings. And about how writing ‘Lapwing’ @PavilionPoetry @LivUniPress felt a bit like holding a lit sparkler 🧨
"I believe that something being ready, and something being finished are two very different things" - @HCopley @tseliotprize Writers' Notes. Read here: https://t.co/x3EyPHuR6v
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@DzifaBenson It's a beautiful work of art. Thank you for writing it ❤️
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I’m so excited about doing this workshop at #VERVE2025 which will be here in no time so…get yer skates on!
More detail on four of our workshops for #VERVE2025 in this week's newsletter which you can read here: https://t.co/4iVIoWiKob Feat @DzifaBenson @ruthpadel #AnthonyVahniCapildeo & @ellora_sutton Spaces going fast so jump on it! 😍
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Thank you @HarareReview for reading Monster and making it one of your top 5 African Books of 2024! Mind blown!
Also, top 5 African Books of 2024! - @DzifaBenson/@BloodaxeBooks - @UtushimiTwandi /U. Pitt. Press - @TheZeinabBadawi/@EburyPublishing - Sela Adjei, Yann LeGall/@PlutoPress - Abdelazziz Baraka Sakin, @mayadamayadamay, Adil Babikir/@FoundryEditions
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It’s been a bumper year for my amazing publisher @BloodaxeBooks!
December news & events: https://t.co/gGcukwRUrI
@Decolonialheart, @NadineElEnany & @roshnigallagher win #JamesBerryPoetryPrize; #BooksOfTheYear include @DzifaBenson, @marjorielotfi & @HoweMariehowe; Bloodaxe poets at @VervePoetryFest; plus reviews, radio features & much more!
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Delighted to see @DzifaBenson's debut poetry collection #Monster included in @brittlepaper's feature on 100 Notable African Books of 2024.
Our 100 Notable African Books of 2024 is here! 🥳 A selection of standout fiction, poetry, and nonfiction published this year. 25 countries represented 30% debut authors Diverse genres: speculative fiction, thrillers, memoirs & more. Full list here: https://t.co/FN88aDfSST
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Thank you for having me! It was so lovely to partake in such a warmly welcoming event and I love that there’s a place for poetry right in the centre of London!
Massively well-deserved shoutout to @DzifaBenson in Guardian this wkd. Brilliant at Soho Poly alongside equally amazing @arshi_mona + Jason Phoenix Nash @littlebettybbp. Thanks @HCopley for curating a stunning night! @peter_bonfield @wminhumanities
https://t.co/jukvY5U4St
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