Autobiomythography of - by Ayokunle Falomo (Paperback)

About the Book

"Autobiomythography of sifts through Nigerian stories and mythologies, both inherited and invented, to explore the self, family, and nations. Poem after poem, the speaker tries to define and find what the self is, and, in a tangential way, it is also about a son's relationship with his father alongside his country of birth, Nigeria. It is an exploration of what it means to be a subject-a person, yes, but also a literary subject-in the wake and afterlife of colonization, in an attempt at decolonization. There is a speaker in search of his self/ voice and in the process, tries on multiple voices and personas-some which are closer to what he is, whatever that is, and others diametrically opposite. As the title suggests, the book spans and swirls together autobiography, myth, mythology, biography, history (shared and personal), and geography. The poems interrogate the perceptions of identity, reality, and ownership, and they erode the boundaries between fact and fiction to show us the fragility of the lines we draw in service to these abstractions, of the beliefs we hold about them, of the acts we perform in service to them"--

Book Synopsis

Autobiomythography of sifts through Nigerian stories and mythologies, both inherited and invented, to explore the self, family, and nationhood.

In an attempt at decolonization, it is an exploration of what it means to be a subject--a person, yes, but also a literary subject--in the wake and afterlife of colonization. Intimate and personal, it is interested in figuring out how to wrest subjectivity--one's notion of self--from this failed project of modernity.

As the title suggests, the book spans and swirls together autobiography, mythology, biography, history (shared and personal), and geography. Amidst myriad speakers in the collection, there is a prominent speaker who, in search of his self/voice, tries on multiple voices--including Frederick Lugard's--and other personas: some closer to who/what he is, whatever that is, and others diametrically opposite.

Tangentially, this is a book about a son's relationship with his father. Poem after poem, the speakers interrogate the perceptions of identity, reality, and ownership, and in the pursuit of Truth they erode the boundaries between fact and fiction to show us the fragility of the lines we draw in service to these abstractions, of the beliefs we hold about them, of the acts we perform in service to them.

Review Quotes

"Ayokunle Falomo's resplendent, needle-sharp Autobiomythography of deftly ambles the vibing wire that stretches between disparate cultures that are, in so many disparate ways, as wary and nescient of each other as human strangers. This triumph of intimate reportage, history's sting and crisp lyric edges toward a poetry we have not seen: "O let me/sing a song that's yet unsung./I--the son of a gong, son of a pitch/too holy for the devil's mouth."; In these pages, the unsung finds voice."
--Patricia Smith, author of Blood Dazzler and The Intentions of Thunder

"Imbued with imaginative tact, Falomo's is to each of us an essential reading. ... As the coined term Autobiomythography implies, both in its lexical substance and conceptual form, this book is a profound exploration of the Nigerian experience--at home and abroad. It is also a collection of stories from Nigeria's past and present, interweaving these temporal residues into an enlightening and deeply reflective documentary."
--Ancci, The Republic

"This poetry collection is as ambitious as it is rewarding for the reader. Ayokunle Falomo weaves a narrative tapestry of mythos and remembrance, interiority and external reflection, self and other, colonial and native, in a dialectical fabric of poetic inquiry with a compelling reach for clarity."
--Chris Manno, Lone Star Literary

"Ayokunle Falomo weaves autobiography, mythology, and history in this poetic exploration of identity and subjectivity in language that blur fact and fiction to reveal the fragility of truth."
--Brittle Paper

"Amidst [Autobiomythography of's] many reckonings are also poems full of hope, poems which reclaim the softness of childhood, grappling it from the jaws of a long history of toxic masculinity and violence....With brilliant lyricism and unflinching honesty, Falomo captures the complexities of identity, belonging, and the search for home in a foreign land."
--Timi Sanni, The Rumpus

"...Falomo, a native Nigerian who resides in Houston, Texas, pulls apart the fabric of what it means to be both Nigerian and American, father and son, real and myth. ... Autobiomythography of is a proverbial multiversity of meeting, challenging and reconciling with one's self. Ayokunle Falomo uses brave and inventive form, coupled with fables and mythology, to chart a journey of finding love and joy for oneself. Ending with its own ode to joy, the book makes space to celebrate the failures, the hopes, the dreams, and the decisions that keep us up at night. It builds a bridge between culture, religion, and identity, proving 'memory is the greatest myth.'"
--Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, Muzzle Magazine

"The narrator casually, and impressively, navigates Nigerian history, biblical allusion, mythology, and personal experience sometimes all in one poem. It is a testament to the mosaic of selfhood. It is absolutely divine."
--Matthew Buxton, Literati Bookstore

"At the core of Ayokunle Falomo's Autobiomythography of is a restless poet contending with myth as both vehicle for possibility and rigid construct of belief. Such a tension makes a means by which Falomo examines freedom and its foreclosure, the transformations they work on the self, love, Africa, flesh, ancestry, and artmaking. Omnivorously imaginative, slyly comedic, and disarmingly elegiac, Autobiomythography of is a bold and lively run at "something much more mutable..., something that can't be penned or pinned down."
--Douglas Kearney, author of Sho

"Drawing on the Bible and mythology, [Falomo] spins meditations on genealogy and describes himself as if from the outside, via others' perceptions ("If Found,") and erasure of official forms. "To You in Your Dark Lake Moving Darkly Now" is addressed to his child in utero, and a major theme is figuring out how to be a father differently from one's own father ... I was impressed."
--Rebecca Foster, Bookish Beck

"Mythmaking serves to create a bridge between what the human mind can understand and what we yet have language for. Yet here in this visually lush and lyrically dexterous collection of poems, Falomo offers his readers work that bends and reimagines the limits of language, blends the Divine with the digital present, contemporary music with the voices of the past while the speaker traverses the friction between their American & Nigerian heritage."
--I.S. Jones, author of Spells of My Name

About the Author

AYOKUNLE FALOMO is Nigerian, American, and the author of Autobiomythography of (Alice James Books, 2024), AFRICANAMERICAN'T (FlowerSong Press, 2022), two self-published collections and African, American (New Delta Review, 2019; selected by Selah Saterstrom as the winner of New Delta Review's 8th annual chapbook contest). A recipient of fellowships from Vermont Studio Center, MacDowell, and the University of Michigan's Helen Zell Writers' Program, where he obtained his MFA in Creative Writing--Poetry, his work has been anthologized and widely published.