Encyclopedia of Dolour

Abduljalal takes us, with this poetry collection, on a journey through the landscape of grief in its undiluted form. He paints vivid images with his words that depict the displacement of lives and properties, losses, and trauma that victims have gone through almost with precision. He uses the sensual, in some places the erotic, to show us how banditry and terrorism ravage the lives of Nigerians and how they deal with the realities of their lives and the various escape routes they take to avoid confronting these unfortunate realities. He also leaves trails of divine seeking and search for salvation through the course of the collection. Abduljalal thoroughly explores the theme of insecurity not just from the state's perspective but from a deeply personal viewpoint. This is an encyclopedia of loss, of grief, of the art of loving a country that is hell-bent on not loving you back. This collection shows us the beauty of suffering in words that are capable of hunting us. This collection turns our heads and shoves the reality we try to escape down our throats.