New Book Alert: “For Girl at Rubicon” by Carl Terver

For Girl at Rubicon is a poetry chapbook by Nigerian writer and poet, Carl Terver. Published on Tuesday, the 8th of September, 2020 by Praxis Magazine, it comprises 24 poems.

These 24 poems are divided into two parts: Ver môm and Ver u sha uhar, and revolve around various themes including love, betrayal, anguish over the deaths in Nigeria’s northeast, bewailing of decay and homage to memory.

“why do you make me boy in the playground

waiting for girl on the swing

to come down?”

A verse in the title poem, For Girl at Rubicon reads. The poet confesses in the preface that he chose it as the title poem against two others, because it is, “how I learnt to deal with rejection from failed romance without the feeling of
bitterness, and because it marked a major shift in my writing of poetry, which I’ve

maintained hitherto…”

Terver writes in a section of the book’s preface, “The artist is arrested by the consciousness of his nation, whether he chooses to agree or not,” He credits this consciousness as being the inspiration behind the political poems in the collection.

Carl Terver is a Nigerian writer and a poet. His critical writings and essays have been published majorly in The Republic, The Question Marker, The Lagos Review, and Praxis magazine, where he is the Assistant Digital Editor. In 2019, he led a reviews team at Praxis that reviewed the 2019 Writivism Prize shortlisted works, and as well initiated a curation of Nigerian Essays of the Year. His poetry has appeared in Millennial Poets, damiajayi.com, and River City Journal. He is known for his essays on popular culture, poetry reviews, and his Hitomaro-style short poems. See here.

For Girl at Rubicon is Carl Terver’s debut. He is currently working on the print version. Download the chapbook for free here.

Read his other poems published online:
all the birds that gathered round the solar system of your eyes
Remembering You

Congrats Carl Terver!