Nigeria, April 26 -- Syl Cheney Coker takes a veteran's look at "Woman of a Woman", a book of poems by Funke Awodiya.

Once in a while, a new voice emerges in poetry. Its subject is not new - Humankind, the environment, love and hate, death and rebirth: all of which have been sung or written about since Humanity learnt to walk and talk. When this new voice comes to us, we must sit down, read and re-think our perspectives on or about her subject.

In Woman of a Woman, Funke Awodiya's subject is WOMAN, in all her manifested forms and aspects. There is no expressive form of this subject that does not resonate with her! She is mother earth (think of Lucy, the Tanzanian from whom all humanity is believed to have derived; her back straightening...