The Junta of Happenstance

Book by Tolu Oloruntoba

The Junta of Happenstance

Author| Tolu Oloruntoba
Cover artist| Kate Hargreaves
Language| English
Genre| Poetry
Publisher| Palimpsest Press

Publication date

| May 1, 2021
Publication place| Canada
Media type| Print (paperback)
Pages| 80
Award| Governor General's Literary Award
ISBN| 978-1989287729

The Junta of Happenstance is a book written by Nigerian-Canadian poet and physician Tolu Olonuntoba from British Columbia, Canada. It is a debut collection of poetry published in May 2021 by Palimpsest Press of Windsor, Ontario. The book is the winner of the 2021 Governor General's Literary Award for English-language poetry.

## Backstory

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Olonuntoba originally wrote The Junta of Happenstance as a trilogy of thematically linked chapbooks. Since he completed about twenty to twenty-five poems over a three-year period, he realized that it would be less of a daunting task if he concentrated his efforts on each of the three sections individually, instead of trying to write an entire book all at once.[1]

## Synopsis

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The Junta of Happenstance is Olonuntoba's poetic debut and is a compendium of dis-ease. It encompasses disease in the traditional sense, as informed by his experiences as a physician, as well as dis-ease, used as a primer for familial dysfunction, (im)migrant experience, and urban / corporate unease. With awareness and insight, Olonuntoba is able to make sense of a current situation by finding beauty in turmoil, and strength in pain.

## Awards

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The Junta of Happenstance won the Governor General's Literary Award for English-language poetry[2] at the 2021 Governor General's Awards.[3]

## Reception

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The book was generally well received. Barb Carey, special correspondent to the Toronto Star notices “A sense of disquiet, conveyed in images that are expressive and at times surreal, haunts much of Tolu Oloruntoba's debut collection..."[4] At the Miramichi Reader, Dominique Béchard writes, "The Junta of Happenstance is an impressive debut", and adds, "It has many qualities I find admirable in a first collection: passion, a large number of poems, and a certain playfulness (of music and tone) that relays poetic confidence."[5] David Ly, who interviewed Oloruntoba for the magazine Prism International, calls the book at Goodreads, "An excellent debut, and finalist for the Governor General Literary Awards!"[6]

## References

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1. ^ Ly, David (July 29, 2021). ""A poem is never done": An Interview with Tolu Oloruntoba". Prism International. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
2. ^ Gee, Dana (November 18, 2021). "B.C. lands two 2021 Governor General Literary Awards". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
3. ^ van Koeverden, Jane (November 17, 2021). "Inuk author Norma Dunning wins $25K Governor General's fiction prize". CTV News. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
4. ^ Carey, Barb (July 1, 2021). "Frail bodies, the effects of colonialism, clashes of belief systems are all examined in these 4 new Canadian". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
5. ^ Béchard, Dominique (October 15, 2021). "The Junta of Happenstance by Tolu Oloruntoba". The Miramichi Reader. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
6. ^ Ly, David (April 15, 2021). "The Junta of Happenstance". Goodreads. Retrieved December 2, 2021.

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Winners of the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry

1980s|

* F. R. Scott, The Collected Poems of F. R. Scott (1981)
* Phyllis Webb, The Vision Tree: Selected Poems (1982)
* David Donnell, Settlements (1983)
* Paulette Jiles, Celestial Navigation (1984)
* Fred Wah, Waiting for Saskatchewan (1985)
* Al Purdy, The Collected Poems of Al Purdy (1986)
* Gwendolyn MacEwen, Afterworlds (1987)
* Erín Moure, Furious (1988)
* Heather Spears, The Word for Sand (1989)

1990s|

* Margaret Avison, No Time (1990)
* Don McKay, Night Field (1991)
* Lorna Crozier, Inventing the Hawk (1992)
* Don Coles, Forests of the Medieval World (1993)
* Robert Hilles, Cantos from a Small Room (1994)
* Anne Szumigalski, Voice (1995)
* E. D. Blodgett, Apostrophes: Woman at a Piano (1996)
* Dionne Brand, Land to Light On (1997)
* Stephanie Bolster, White Stone: The Alice Poems (1998)
* Jan Zwicky, Songs for Relinquishing the Earth (1999)

2000s|

* Don McKay, Another Gravity (2000)
* George Elliott Clarke, Execution Poems (2001)
* Roy Miki, Surrender (2002)
* Tim Lilburn, Kill-site (2003)
* Roo Borson, Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida (2004)
* Anne Compton, processional (2005)
* John Pass, Stumbling in the Bloom (2006)
* Don Domanski, All Our Wonder Unavenged (2007)
* Jacob Scheier, More to Keep Us Warm (2008)
* David Zieroth, The Fly in Autumn (2009)

2010s|

* Richard Greene, Boxing the Compass (2010)
* Phil Hall, Killdeer (2011)
* Julie Bruck, Monkey Ranch (2012)
* Katherena Vermette, North End Love Songs (2013)
* Arleen Paré, Lake of Two Mountains (2014)
* Robyn Sarah, My Shoes Are Killing Me (2015)
* Steven Heighton, The Waking Comes Late (2016)
* Richard Harrison, On Not Losing My Father's Ashes in the Flood (2017)
* Cecily Nicholson, Wayside Sang (2018)
* Gwen Benaway, Holy Wild (2019)

2020s|

* Anne Carson, Norma Jeane Baker of Troy (2020)
* Tolu Oloruntoba, The Junta of Happenstance (2021)
* Annick MacAskill, Shadow Blight (2022)
* Hannah Green, Xanax Cowboy (2023)

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