In Gorgeous Display (Fordham University Press, Sept 2023). Click here to buy.
“Okpara unearths the way fissures shape and break us, move us and guide us, and ultimately push us towards a kind of healing that may not yet be named. This is a wise and graceful book that sits at the intersections of inter-generational time and space and serves as a suture of past and present.” – Matthew Shenoda, author of The Way of the Earth.
“Okpara honors the memories of those who have not survived. This heartbreaking collection is full of the complex and contradictory realities of queer life.” – Book Riot
“This haunting collection charts a lyrical path toward queer selfhood.” – Publishers Weekly
“A poignant exploration of queer identity, exile, and resilience and a tribute to victims of anti-queer violence, this collection unveils pain, hope, and the quest for self-reclamation amidst displacement. It is a journey through soulful poetic brilliance.” – Academy of American Poets
“A quieter but equally fierce rebellion takes shape in Okpara’s deeply affecting debut. In Lagos bars, in childhood rooms, between cars, and in lovers’ arms, the queer men in these poems find themselves and one another. ” – The Boston Globe
UGOCHUKWU DAMIAN OKPARA 