Vivid Verses A new avenue for Poetic Expression- by Emebiriodo Ugochukwu.

 It's no news if you're a fan of poetry and spoken word in Nigeria. That there are few radio programs for the promotion of the art, even outlets for Poets to express themselves in the media but well there's good news, Komson Studios has bridged that gap.
Poets and poetry in the past few years have been on a rise. A rise that has led to the creation of various platforms, competition even journals to help promote the art form. Poets and spoken word artists before now have been reduced to event hunting, platform and open mic seeking intellectual MC's while their counter parts in other genres and even contemporary music enjoy maximum exposure in the media.

On the 1st of November 2014, a new platform was introduced. A platform created by Komson Studios, named Vivid Verses, a platform managed by Poet and Media Merchant Ayokunle Komolafe. The platform was and still is, aimed at promoting poets and poetry, taking poetry back to its rightful place in the society and also giving a voice to both the known and the unknown in the Nigerian poetry scene. In the words of Ayokunle Komolafe "Vivid Verses was born out of my love for poetry and believing that poetry should be given its rightful place in the society". The program since its inception over a year ago, has hosted the biggest and brightest of poets from across the country; slam champions, upcoming and established poets, local and international poets. The program is currently on two Lagos based radio stations, Metro 97.7 fm, on Saturdays at 11:15am - 11:30 and on Rhythm 93.7fm on Sundays at 7:30pm - 7:45pm and can also be streamed online on the websites of the stations.

Recently Komson Studios organized a spoken word competition which was won by Promise Osigwe, a final year student of Federal University of Technology, Owerri. He clinched the first prize of audio and video recordings of his winning poem entitled "Three Bullets". The company has also made efforts to assist poets in developing their concepts into video and assisting them to promote it on television. These efforts would go a long way in repositioning the art and placing it on a pedestal where every other art form would strive to catch up.

In coming years Vivid Verses plans to organize events that would bring old and new poets together on one platform, hold workshops, organize competitions at the secondary school level to encourage budding writers and of course help in the growth of the art form.

In the words of Matthew Arnold "poetry is simply the most beautiful, impressive and widely effective mode of saying things and hence it is important". Vivid Verses is helping to promote poets and poetry, two vital tools in societal development also seeking to change the world one poem and poet at a time