# African Sufi Poetry with Oludamini Ogunnaike

Join us for a poetry reading and conversation with Oludamini Ogunnaike, a Nigerian-American poet and academic. Ogunnaike’s work, especially his essay and podcast series “The Logic of the Birds” and his poetry collection, The Book of Clouds reflects on spiritual, philosophical, and social themes, drawing on a long tradition of thinking and speaking lyrically through West African Islamic poetic forms, especially the Sufi Qasida and Ghazal, to sing what cannot be said, but must be expressed.

A special curated display of related materials from the African and Middle Eastern Division collections will be on view preceding the talk.

This program is made possible through the generous support of the Lilly Endowment, Inc and part of the Library’s long-standing series Conversations with African Poets and Writers, which explores African continental and diasporic literature.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2026
- Runtime: 1 h 5 min
- By: Ogunnaike, Oludamini
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/video-11467/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/video-11467?play=1)