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Ceremony for the Nameless
Exploring naming and its power, the remarkable second collection from the award-winning poet and former Young People’s Laureate for London
In Yoruba culture, newborn babies are welcomed into the world, and ushered into the social fabric, through naming ceremonies filled with songs of praise. The names bestowed are communicative both of where the baby has come from – the circumstances of its birth, the atmosphere in the home – and of where its future will take it. Both are forms of destiny.
Far-reaching and musical, Theresa Lola’s second collection explores the act of naming and its role in shaping our identities, our aspirations, what we carry and how we belong. Lola conjures and questions the realities of her dual Nigerian-British identity; traces the lineages of names; asks why some deserve to be named while others are treated as though invisible; and explores the ways our journey through life might require us to cast off old expectations – both others’ and our own – just as at other times it can bring us back, strangely and unexpectedly, to where we first began.
In lyrical, joyful and moving poems, Lola breaks down the complexities of the diasporic experience and the way it is woven through family life, history and memory. Ceremony for the Nameless is an exquisite collection from a thrilling contemporary voice, described as among “the ranks of an exciting new wave of young female bards who are widening the appeal of poetry for a new generation” (Sunday Times Style Magazine).
In Yoruba culture, newborn babies are welcomed into the world, and ushered into the social fabric, through naming ceremonies filled with songs of praise. The names bestowed are communicative both of where the baby has come from – the circumstances of its birth, the atmosphere in the home – and of where its future will take it. Both are forms of destiny.
Far-reaching and musical, Theresa Lola’s second collection explores the act of naming and its role in shaping our identities, our aspirations, what we carry and how we belong. Lola conjures and questions the realities of her dual Nigerian-British identity; traces the lineages of names; asks why some deserve to be named while others are treated as though invisible; and explores the ways our journey through life might require us to cast off old expectations – both others’ and our own – just as at other times it can bring us back, strangely and unexpectedly, to where we first began.
In lyrical, joyful and moving poems, Lola breaks down the complexities of the diasporic experience and the way it is woven through family life, history and memory. Ceremony for the Nameless is an exquisite collection from a thrilling contemporary voice, described as among “the ranks of an exciting new wave of young female bards who are widening the appeal of poetry for a new generation” (Sunday Times Style Magazine).
- GenresPoetry
83 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 7, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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December 31, 2024“Then I realised/ this is what descendants pray for./ I am painting my father's father's house/ with my own fragrance”
“This is why when you hear the roving song of the/ ocean you think nothing of it./ Until water barges into your lungs”
“The crack in the wall has stretched itself into a window./ This home delights in being possessed by the poems we chant in it.”
“The name-droppers were dropping dead & the party went on./ Waiters served elderflower in used glasses, old lipstick prints still visible on the rims./ They had no time to wash trivial things like cutlery.”
“This is why when you hear the roving song of the/ ocean you think nothing of it./ Until water barges into your lungs”
“The crack in the wall has stretched itself into a window./ This home delights in being possessed by the poems we chant in it.”
“The name-droppers were dropping dead & the party went on./ Waiters served elderflower in used glasses, old lipstick prints still visible on the rims./ They had no time to wash trivial things like cutlery.”
March 30, 2025
This second collection by Theresa Lola centers around themes of belonging, heritage and the fluidity of identities in diasporic cultures. Though many of the poems follow traditional structures, the use of lyrical language was really striking and allowed for a multilayered discussion of the speaker's experiences between Nigeria and Britain. As such, I really enjoyed this volume because of its formal and socio-political quality.
August 14, 2025
”i called my grandfather’s name, but i woke up.
my conscious body was greedy to reunite,
but my subconscious thought i was calling myself.
at first, i was indignant. i couldn’t reach him.
then i realised
this is what descendants pray for.
i am painting my mother’s father’s house
with my own fragrance.”
my conscious body was greedy to reunite,
but my subconscious thought i was calling myself.
at first, i was indignant. i couldn’t reach him.
then i realised
this is what descendants pray for.
i am painting my mother’s father’s house
with my own fragrance.”
December 3, 2024
A searing collection.
January 29, 2025
beautiful collection of poems
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews