The Junta of Happenstance
AuthorTolu Oloruntoba
Cover artistKate Hargreaves
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
GenrePoetry
PublisherPalimpsest Press
Publication date
May 1, 2021
Media typePrint (paperback)
Pages80
AwardGovernor General's Literary Award
ISBN978-1989287729

The Junta of Happenstance is a book written by Nigerian-Canadian poet and physician Tolu Olonuntoba from British Columbia, Canada. It is a debut collection of poetry published in May 2021 by Palimpsest Press of Windsor, Ontario. The book is the winner of the 2021 Governor General's Literary Award for English-language poetry.

Backstory

Olonuntoba originally wrote The Junta of Happenstance as a trilogy of thematically linked chapbooks. Since he completed about twenty to twenty-five poems over a three-year period, he realized that it would be less of a daunting task if he concentrated his efforts on each of the three sections individually, instead of trying to write an entire book all at once.[1]

Synopsis

The Junta of Happenstance is Olonuntoba's poetic debut and is a compendium of dis-ease. It encompasses disease in the traditional sense, as informed by his experiences as a physician, as well as dis-ease, used as a primer for familial dysfunction, (im)migrant experience, and urban / corporate unease. With awareness and insight, Olonuntoba is able to make sense of a current situation by finding beauty in turmoil, and strength in pain.

Awards

The Junta of Happenstance won the Governor General's Literary Award for English-language poetry[2] at the 2021 Governor General's Awards.[3]

Reception

The book was generally well received. Barb Carey, special correspondent to the Toronto Star notices “A sense of disquiet, conveyed in images that are expressive and at times surreal, haunts much of Tolu Oloruntoba's debut collection..."[4] At the Miramichi Reader, Dominique Béchard writes, "The Junta of Happenstance is an impressive debut", and adds, "It has many qualities I find admirable in a first collection: passion, a large number of poems, and a certain playfulness (of music and tone) that relays poetic confidence."[5] David Ly, who interviewed Oloruntoba for the magazine Prism International, calls the book at Goodreads, "An excellent debut, and finalist for the Governor General Literary Awards!"[6]

References

  1. ↑ Ly, David (July 29, 2021). ""A poem is never done": An Interview with Tolu Oloruntoba". Prism International. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  2. ↑ Gee, Dana (November 18, 2021). "B.C. lands two 2021 Governor General Literary Awards". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  3. ↑ van Koeverden, Jane (November 17, 2021). "Inuk author Norma Dunning wins $25K Governor General's fiction prize". CTV News. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  4. ↑ Carey, Barb (July 1, 2021). "Frail bodies, the effects of colonialism, clashes of belief systems are all examined in these 4 new Canadian". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  5. ↑ Béchard, Dominique (October 15, 2021). "The Junta of Happenstance by Tolu Oloruntoba". The Miramichi Reader. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  6. ↑ Ly, David (April 15, 2021). "The Junta of Happenstance". Goodreads. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
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