A Vistor Who Belongs Here

By Luwa Adebanjo

Praise for A Visitor Who Belongs Here:

"A heartfelt poetry anthology that takes the bad things in life and embraces them for the better... Adebanjo's poems are some of the best I have ever read. I urge you to read this anthology. The gripping themes and caress of words will leave you speechless."- Rachel M. Patterson

"A delight to read...Luwa encourages the reader to connect with her experiences in overcoming the challenges in her life and her triumph in coming to terms with who she is."- Faye Armstrong

"Adebanjo's writing is raw and real and honest...
Somehow she has managed to compile a collection of tough truths and experiences that somehow leaves the reader feeling strangely uplifted and hopeful at the end of it, and that is a true gift."- Emily Rainsford

"I cannot explain just how much this poetry anthology makes me feel... It both destroys me and heals me, makes me laugh and makes me cry, soothes me and unnerves me. It's honest, raw, and is the closest I've ever felt to being in another person's body." Emily Elizebeth Ash

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'There are many ways to tell a story. This is mine.'

A Visitor Who Belongs Here is Luwa Adebanjo’s debut poetry anthology all about home, belonging and the joy of surviving despite all hardships. The anthology follows Luwa’s journey after arriving in the UK from Nigeria. As a child, she struggled to fit into her new environment while remaining the perfect daughter she felt her family needed. Every place felt unfamiliar, and she began to feel like a visitor no matter where she went. At home, the pressure of looking after her brothers and hiding her struggle with her sexuality in an abusive household meant she never felt safe. At school, she felt alone and out of place, unable to fit into British culture. She was too weird, too loud, too fat, too crazy, too gay, too black- and yet somehow not enough of anything to belong. At 19, after battling with anxiety and depression all her life, Luwa was diagnosed with OCD. This diagnosis pushed her to change her life and begin a journey of healing, striving to turn her suffering into joy.

'There are many ways to tell a story. This is mine, and it is a celebration.'

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luwa Adebanjo
• Release date: Feb 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005464318

Luwa Adebanjo

Luwa Adebanjo is an award-winning poet, writer, actress and theatre-maker from Nottingham. She began reading at a young age and began writing her own novels and poems at the age of 11, since then it has been her dream to be an acclaimed author. After battling with anxiety and depression for most of her life, Luwa was diagnosed with OCD and 19, and began writing about her journey of healing. It’s all been uphill from there (unless you ask her therapist).Luwa loves art, writing, binge-watching Netflix and board games in equal amounts. She hates celery, having to write her own bio in 3rd person and deadlines in increasing amounts respectively.When she isn’t writing, according to her friends, Luwa can be found:- Taking a really long nap. Like, so long that you may as well stay asleep for the night.- Talking about ‘some social justice stuff’.- Writing more sapphic poetry.- Coming up with a really good idea for a play and giving up on it in 12 hours.- Walking over to someone’s house to have a conversation that could have been a text.You can read more of Luwa’s work on her Medium page, where she writes about social issues, news, life and else whatever is on her mind.Praise for A Visitor Who Belongs Here:"One of the beauties of this type of writing to me is that it teases out all the places where we intersect, the human places that sit deeper than our specifics. I saw myself, or younger versions of myself, in [Adebanjo's] search for identity, her religious doubts, her struggles with an eating disorder, her thoughts on forgiveness, her desperate grasping at that small thread of hope that won't quite leave."- Emily Rainsford

Book preview

Luwa Adebanjo

A Visitor Who Belongs Here

First published by Luwa Adebanjo 2021

Copyright © 2021 by Luwa Adebanjo

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Luwa Adebanjo asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

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First edition

Cover art by Bolusefe Akande

This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

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This is for every survivor who is struggling to keep going.

Don’t get stuck on this chapter, there are better pages ahead.

Your celebration is coming.

come celebrate

with me that everyday

something has tried to kill me

and has failed.

‘won’t you celebrate with me’ by LUCILLE CLIFTON

Contents

Foreword

I. IN THE BEGINNING: A TIME FOR MANY WORDS

1. Grief

I wish to mourn that girl,

2. Go back home

The other day,

3. Exodus 20 King James Version (KJV)

them: I am the Lord

4. She Likes Boys

She does, she really does. She’s always liked them.

5. Petition A for the will to live

Please tell me that one day I love me.

6. Our love is Pink

Bright pink, bubbly, flirty and sweet,

7. Visitations, Vacations