THE LAST GOOD BOOK I READ… Umar Abubakar Sidi

Umar Abubakar Sidi (Poet)
A Stranger’s Pose
by Emmanuel Iduma

Poet Umar Abubakar Sidi’s last good read is Emmanuel Iduma’s ‘A Stranger’s Pose’. “The book is a gemstone, it is sodalite, it is lapis lazuli,” he said. “With this book, Emmanuel has founded a new genre. Reading as stated by Borges is a sophisticated endeavor. It is more civil than writing. We read because we are hooked. After reading, we become withdrawn and emaciated. We stagger and fall. To survive, we demand another fix in the guise of a good book. We are all junkies. Literature is a drug, albeit a healthy one. A good book is oasis to thirsty camels traversing through the air mountains of Agadez. A good book is a smile, a blossoming petal, a silver coin in the bowl of a mendicant. ‘A Stranger’s Pose’ is a good book.”

Sidi is author of ‘The Poet of Dust’, a poetry collection. He is a helicopter pilot with the Nigerian Navy.