On November 28, 2024, Nigerian poet and writer Salmah Salam Oiza launched her debut poetry pamphlet Foreign in a Long-Familiar Leap Year at Birmingham’s Old Print Works, a historic industrial building in Balsall Heath that has become one of the city’s most cherished creative hubs since its transformation in 2009.
The evening brought together Birmingham’s literary and Nigerian diaspora communities for what became a deeply resonant conversation about migration, identity, and belonging. The Old Print Works—a space known for fostering collaboration and creative community—provided the perfect backdrop for an event that was less a traditional book launch and more a gathering of kindred spirits navigating shared experiences of displacement and homemaking.
Hosted by writer and cultural commentator Yomi Olusunle, the evening featured a poetry performance by Scottish poet Muminah, whose work complemented the themes of Oiza’s collection. The 13-poem pamphlet chronicles the author’s 2024 leap year, exploring what it means to feel perpetually foreign in spaces that should feel familiar, and how one builds belonging across borders and generations.
Attendees—many wearing touches of burgundy in a gesture of community solidarity—filled the venue’s intimate space, creating a warm, engaged atmosphere that transforms a book launch into a collective experience. The discussion moved fluidly between the personal and the political, touching on questions of cultural negotiation, the Nigerian diaspora experience, and the particular challenges and joys of maintaining identity while building lives elsewhere.
Following the conversation, Oiza signed copies of the pamphlet, marking not just the launch of a debut collection but the emergence of a distinctive voice in contemporary African poetry—one that refuses to choose between her Nigerian heritage and her UK home, instead insisting on the complexity and richness of holding both.
Foreign in a Long-Familiar Leap Year is independently published and is available in the UK and Nigeria as well as internationally via Amazon.
