The current Abuja literary society poetry slam champion, Hafsat Abdullahi revealed that it took over six months for her to write and master the winning poems she recited at the Abuja Literary Festival organised by the Abuja Literary Society (ALS).
She mentioned that; “It took over a million scrutiny and rehearsals, I watched and re-watched countless presentations performed by past champions of slams either locally and internationally and with the residuals of my brain collections, I put the pieces together.”
The poetry slam champion also recalled having to be in denial and shock after being announced the champion of the slam. She disclosed that; “It took me almost 48 hours to bring myself out from the denial and to convince myself that I won because I deserved it and not because some dumb luck threw the prize my way. And it took me almost about the same time to cry that traditional victory cry most winners do when they are announced.
“Maybe because I have lost at so many trials that I have gotten so used to the feeling of watching someone else take the prize and then afterwards, I mentally pat my psyche on the back and reassure myself that we will try another time,” she added.
Ms Abdullahi stated that she remained grateful to organisers of ALIFEST for creating a platform to expose and explore her talent. She also advised upcoming champs in the competition once they win, they should try to live up to the standard of their award.
