My journey: Teenage author, Garko, speaks as he unveils ‘When day breaks’

At e e n a g e author from Gombe State, Adamu Usman Garko, said he writes to heal a wound in him while x-raying societal values.

The author told Daily Trust that he has made plans to launch his book, ‘When Day Breaks’ tomorrow. It is a collection of poetry, divided into four sections, he noted.

The launch which will hold at the Gombe State National Library is expected to have high ranking public officials in attendance, he noted.

Garko, who is a senior secondary school student explained the contents of the book. “The first section is about the threshold of learning, the next delves into absences, and the frequent loss of a lover, the third is a flashback of how I felt before meeting Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka.

“The book deals with the situation of our country, presents dreams for a better country and hope for a better leadership,” he said.

Garko said he hopes that the official launching of the book will give it a place in the Nigerian literary space as it contains poems that he wrote while at Wole Soyinka’s house.

“Some of the poems in the book were written inside the house of Nigeria’s only Nobel Laurette, and whenever I flip through them I get that tinge of affection to them, of yearning and reminisce, and of the time and efforts I put in them. I hope to get the book, to get it celebrated to the extreme.”

Garko emphasized that writing is therapeutic for him. “I write to heal a wound in me, but also sometimes to heal the wounds of another. I hope that my book will shine a light somewhere in the dark for others, or perhaps shine a light over existing light,” he said.