from Letters, Observations, & Reviews
"A father! A husband! A changed man, deeper, more connected, ever more mysterious and gifted."
— Kim Stafford
"[Animashaun's] poems offer wisdom and beauty...and story and rhythm and, perhaps most importantly,
a human compassion and a human faith that suggests hope in the daily ways we live."
— Todd Davis
"I'm admiring the poems in The Giving of Pears. I had close friends who lived for four years in Lagos, and
I find Animashaun evokes a palpable presence of the place and his homeland..."
— Nan Watkins
"I am currently immersed in The Giving of Pears -- how wonderful these poems are!...I lived in Nigeria as
a child (Gongola State, and later, Plateau State), speaking more Hausa than English until I went to school.
The syncopated rhythms, imagery, subject matter and language of [Animashaun's] poems (even those
that speak of difficult matters) are warm and delightful for me."
— Laura M. Kaminsky
"These delicate and often fanciful pieces are populated by a mélange of ghosts, unborn children, snippets
of village life and culture (the author is a Nigerian émigré), and magical tunings. Some of them resemble
mystical puzzle boxes, crosses between koans and philosophical conundrums, hearkening back to author
Abayomi Animashaun’s study of mathematics. They are clever, sad, amusing and straightforward, without
succumbing to pretentiousness. They contain a haunted music and a vigorous imagination…"
— On The Giving of Pears, Annie Seikonia, The Cafe Review
"A unique and interesting poet in the landscape of American poetry."
— Nick Demske
"What I love most about [Abayo's] poetry style is how it seamlessly manages to multipurpose words, objects,
and personalities and, on top of that, command them...to convey multiple levels of meaning before assuming
their final forms in deceptively simple yet elegant and lyrical poems."
— Victoria Smith
"I was absolutely struck by [Abayo's] poems - read them from cover to cover - which I only do when I am
fascinated...And then I re-read them with the same curiosity and delight. I was struck by so many poems
in [his] collection. 'Honesty is the Best Policy' just knocked me out."
— Ewa Chruciel
"I appreciate [Abayo's] poetry very much and I'm deeply inspired by it."
— Angela McCabe
— Kim Stafford
"[Animashaun's] poems offer wisdom and beauty...and story and rhythm and, perhaps most importantly,
a human compassion and a human faith that suggests hope in the daily ways we live."
— Todd Davis
"I'm admiring the poems in The Giving of Pears. I had close friends who lived for four years in Lagos, and
I find Animashaun evokes a palpable presence of the place and his homeland..."
— Nan Watkins
"I am currently immersed in The Giving of Pears -- how wonderful these poems are!...I lived in Nigeria as
a child (Gongola State, and later, Plateau State), speaking more Hausa than English until I went to school.
The syncopated rhythms, imagery, subject matter and language of [Animashaun's] poems (even those
that speak of difficult matters) are warm and delightful for me."
— Laura M. Kaminsky
"These delicate and often fanciful pieces are populated by a mélange of ghosts, unborn children, snippets
of village life and culture (the author is a Nigerian émigré), and magical tunings. Some of them resemble
mystical puzzle boxes, crosses between koans and philosophical conundrums, hearkening back to author
Abayomi Animashaun’s study of mathematics. They are clever, sad, amusing and straightforward, without
succumbing to pretentiousness. They contain a haunted music and a vigorous imagination…"
— On The Giving of Pears, Annie Seikonia, The Cafe Review
"A unique and interesting poet in the landscape of American poetry."
— Nick Demske
"What I love most about [Abayo's] poetry style is how it seamlessly manages to multipurpose words, objects,
and personalities and, on top of that, command them...to convey multiple levels of meaning before assuming
their final forms in deceptively simple yet elegant and lyrical poems."
— Victoria Smith
"I was absolutely struck by [Abayo's] poems - read them from cover to cover - which I only do when I am
fascinated...And then I re-read them with the same curiosity and delight. I was struck by so many poems
in [his] collection. 'Honesty is the Best Policy' just knocked me out."
— Ewa Chruciel
"I appreciate [Abayo's] poetry very much and I'm deeply inspired by it."
— Angela McCabe
