Shortlisted poet James Eze says his collection, “Unbind Me Now,” uses outrage to confront Nigeria’s insecurity, ethnic divisions and growing disappointments.
Eze said this in an interview in Lagos on Wednesday.
“Unbind Me Now” is one of three books shortlisted for the 2026 Nigeria Prize for Literature, which carries a $100,000 prize.
Eze said the collection was driven by his disillusionment with Nigeria’s failure to fulfil the promises of independence.
“Unbind Me Now is a collection of poems that uses outrage to communicate intense disappointment, disillusionment and disenchantment with what Nigeria has become in our time,” he said.
He said insecurity, displacement and the departure of young Nigerians in search of better lives had shaped his view of the country.
According to him, the collection also responds to deepening ethnic divisions and violence affecting communities across the country.
“I chose to write a poetry of outrage to capture the present-day Nigeria and the dilemma of being a Nigerian at this moment,” he said.
Eze uses fire as a recurring motif in the collection, drawing on its associations with burning, purification, cleansing and destruction.
He said the imagery reflects the violence and suffering experienced by Nigerians and serves as part of his literary technique to communicate his message.
Eze said the poems were also an attempt to document the realities of his generation before memories of the period fade.
“I consider myself as someone, an artist, who is trying to document his time for posterity,” he said.
He expressed hope that the collection would encourage Nigerians across ethnic and political divides to recognise their shared vulnerability and seek common ground.
Eze said the book was written between 2020 and 2025, with some of the poems emerging from the isolation and uncertainty of the COVID-19 period.
The Nigeria Prize for Literature began in 2004 and covers prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature.
The 2026 competition focuses on poetry, with Eze, Tares Oburumu and Ogaga Ifowodo competing for the $100,000 prize.
