"“Pelumi, via his ingenious contortion of language, takes us on a
journey between the complexities of selfhood, faith and longing,
before landing us at a confluence as he carefully [but with
intentionality] steers through the tide of lyrics and metaphors.
Ethos is an unputdownable gem — a speculation with mythology
and religion and clarity from an inexplicably genius teenage
poet!”
— Muhammed Sanni Olowonjoyin, Winner of the Dawn
Poetry Prize (2023)
“We hate poetry that has a palpable design on us”. This is a line
from one of John Keat’s most famous letters. What Adesiyan’s
poetry does, however, is the reverse— it works its way through
us, neatly, in a tone that is both relatable and daring. ETHOS is
a reflection of resistance and yet, of yielding, to everything that
one’s self has become or is becoming. What Adesiyan has done
is to ask those questions we are most scared of asking. This is a
chapbook I will come back to, again and again.
—Chiwenite Onyekwelu, Author of EXILED"