For Nduka Otiono, associate professor of African Studies and English at Carleton University, and Peter Midgley, an independent scholar and editor, their friendship was inevitable. Meeting at the University of Alberta, they crossed paths within a community of writers and quickly bonded over a shared interest in oral and African literature. Over the years, Peter unofficially lent his red pen to Nduka’s work before, finally, Wilfrid Laurier University Press asked Peter to edit Nduka’s recent book of poetry, DisPlace: The Poetry of Nduka Otiono.

In this four-part series, Nduka and Peter discuss the making of DisPlace, a text that explores the confines of diaspora, language, and politics. They reflect on imperfect terms like “world literature” and “global south” and wrestle with language’s inherent ties to identity. As Peter notes, “our literature’s not divorced from the societies we live in.”

In this first episode, Nduka and Peter offer background on their research interests and how they came together to collaborate on DisPlace. They also flesh out the writing and editing process of the collection, and dig into the complications of applying a western lens to non-western poetry.

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