No Culture is Older than Being Human | Dike Chukwumerije | TEDxMaitama

Dike Chukwumerije is a writer, author, and Performance Poet. He won the African Poet (Nigeria) National Poetry Slam in 2012. His novel ‘The African American’ was long listed for the Wole Soyinka Prize for Fiction in 2012, while another novel of his, ‘Urichindere’, won the 2013 Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Prize for Prose Fiction. Dike continues to provoke thought through his words. In this talk he explores themes such as African history, racism, tribalism and inequality in an attempt to challenge us to rethink about the hundreds of ways in which we are alike. Dike won the Abuja Literary Society (ALS) Poetry Slam in 2011 and the African Poet (Nigeria) National Poetry Slam in 2012. His novel ‘The African American’ was long listed for the Wole Soyinka Prize for Fiction in 2012, while another novel of his, ‘Urichindere’, won the 2013 Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Prize for Prose Fiction. In the same year, he released ’Nna Nayi, Is It True?’ a ground-breaking performance poetry video in honor of the late Chinua Achebe. Dike is also the Founder of Simply Poetry Ltd, a Performance Poetry Theatre Company that specializes in translating Poetry and Performance Poetry into mult-media and theatre formats. Simply Poetry Ltd debuted their first integrated Poetry-for-Stage Production, titled MADE IN NIGERIA. Chukwumerije has also featured on platforms such as, TedxAsoRock, TedxEuston (Salon), Lagos International Poetry Festival, and Ake Book and Arts Festival. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx