This is the first zine published by the PTC. Printed to mark the culmination of our second UNDERTOW multilingual poet development scheme, Silence is the bone of your awakening contains poems by each of the seven participating poets as well as the group's collaborative poem 'Our country is a metaphor' which they performed at Lagos International Poetry Festival in October 2023. The poets included are Isaiah Adepoju, Rahma O Jimoh, Arimoku Obaigbena, Pẹ̀lúmi Obasaju, Muiz Ọpẹ́yẹmí Àjàyí, Sodïq Oyèkànmí and Iheoma Uzomba.

UNDERTOW is the Poetry Translation Centre’s artists’ development programme for young poets that focuses on working with people from mixed heritage and diaspora backgrounds to unlock the creative potential of polylingualism. In our second year, UNDERTOW focused on Nigerian and Nigerian diaspora poets. In 2022 we held the Lagos / London poetry competition in partnership with the British Council Nigeria to help us find talented young poets with Nigerian heritage both in the UK and Nigeria, who reflected the rich linguistic diversity of their culture.

The programme was led by Tolu Agbelusi, a Nigerian-British, poet, playwright, performer, educator and lawyer who provided workshops, one-to-one sessions with the poets, and helped them devise their collaborative poem.