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JJ Bola

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JJ Bola is a Kinshasa-born, British writer and poet,[1] based in London. He has written three collections of poetry as well as a novel, No Place to Call Home, and a non-fiction book about masculinity and patriarchy for young people, Mask Off: Masculinity Redefined.[2]

Life and work

Bola was born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.[1] He migrated to London with his parents at the age of six.[3] He was a basketball player as a teenager, competing in national-level tournaments.[2][3]

Bola spent many years as a youth worker, working with young people with behavioural and mental health problems.[2] He currently works for several projects to raise awareness about the human rights situation in Democratic Republic of the Congo.[3]

Publications

Publications by Bola

  • No Place to Call Home: Love, Loss, Belonging!. Own It!, 2017. ISBN 978-0995458925.
  • Mask Off: Masculinity Redefined. Outspoken. Pluto, 2019. ISBN 978-0745338743.[4]

Poetry books by Bola

  • Elevate (2012)
  • Daughter of the Sun (2014)
  • Word (2015)
  • Refuge (2018) – a collection, comprising Word, Daughter of the Sun and Elevate

Publications with contributions by Bola

  • Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space. London: Trapeze, 2019. Edited by Derek Owusu. ISBN 978-1409182634. Bola contributes a chapter, "Rapper, Actor, Athlete – Other".[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Onwuemezi, Natasha (21 November 2016). "'Very special' tale of belonging and identity to OWN IT!". www.thebookseller.com. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Barekat, Houman (12 September 2019). "Mask Off by JJ Bola review – masculinity redefined". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Bausells, Marta; Shearlaw, Maeve (16 September 2015). "Poets speak out for refugees: 'No one leaves home, unless home is the mouth of a shark'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  4. ^ Bola, J. J. (20 September 2019). "this book confronts the harmful myth of modern masculinity". i-D. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Free Thinking - The changing image of masculinity - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.


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