With five collections of poetry to his credit, and still writing, Remi Raji is the most consistent of all the poets of his generation. Since 1997, when A Harvest of Laughters was published to national acclaim, he has continued to wax stronger in his impressive and commanding deployment of the word.

Remi Raji had his secondary school education in Holy Trinity Grammar School, Old Ife Road, Ibadan and at Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo. He obtained a doctorate degree from the University of Ibadan. After teaching at St. Andrew’s College of Education, Oyo, Ogun State University, Ago-Iwoye and at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Remi Raji returned to his alma mater where he has been teaching literature, literary theory and creative writing in the Department of English since 1995.

Of the poems in Gather my blood rivers of song, fellow-accomplished writer, Tade Ipadeola said: "here are polished poems, from a polished mind. Not the kind of poems that you find in front of mirrors, turning and turning to adjust this or that item of clothing. They are the kind of poems you find laid out in an expansive, exquisite showroom of ideas, confident of their place in the world and waiting only for worthy minds."

Raji has read his poems to audiences in Nigeria and in international circles in the United States, the UK, Austria, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Ethiopia, Mexico, Ghana and the Republic of South Africa among others. His poetry and essays have been translated into German, French, Catalan, Swedish, Ukrainian and Latvian. Croatian and Hungarian translations are under way.

Here are some of the important milestones in the development of the poet:

1984
He won first prize at the annual Christopher Okigbo Poetry competition, organized by the Poetry Club, University of Ibadan.

1997
Published A Harvest of Laughters (Kraftbooks, Ibadan) – winning multiple national and international recognition:
Joint-winner of the Association of Nigerian Authors/Cadbury Poetry Prize
Honorable mention in the All Africa Okigbo Poetry Prize
Winner of the Association of West African Young Writers’ VOCA Award for Best First Published Book of the Year.

1999
Gave his first official and international reading at an event organised by the American Studies Program of Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo (July).

2000
Served as the editor of ANA REVIEW, the official journal of the Association of Nigerian Authors.

2001
He featured at the Poetry Africa festival, in Durban, South Africa (May)
Co-edited the first major anthology of creative writing on the city of Ibadan - Ibadan Mesiogo - with Dapo Adelugba, Omowunmi Segun, and Bankole Olayebi.
Published Webs of Remembrance (Kraftbooks, Ibadan).
He was on a dual scholarship as Professor of Cultural and Social Diversity, at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and as Resident Poet at the Eugene Redmond Writers Club of East St. Louis, US. (August - December).
Returned as Visiting Poet to Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, US. (September).

2002
Awarded a traveling/reading grant by the National Council for Arts & Culture, South Africa.
Visiting Poet at the Writers Series, University of Nebraska at Kearney/Museum of Nebraska Art, Kearney, NB, USA; (September).

2003
He won a Poetry prize at a special reading session organized by the United Nation Economic Commission for Africa, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (June).
Published his third collection of poetry, Shuttlesongs America: A Poetic Guided Tour (Bookcraft, Ibadan).
Special reading at the International Center for Writing and Translation, University of California, Irvine, US, Coordinated by Ngugi wa Thiongo. (October 21).
Published A Melody of Stones - a collection of short stories and the poetry by other emerging and established Nigerian authors, co-edited with renowned poet-playwright, Femi Osofisan and Veronica Uzoigwe.

2004
He featured at the Barcelona Poetry Festival, Spain. (May)
Started a weekly poetry column, on the pages of The Sun newspapers (July 20).

2005
Published Lovesong for my wasteland (Bookcraft, Ibadan).
Honoured with the award of Guest Poet to the City of Stockholm, Sweden; (April - August).
Special reading tours of Zurich, Basel, Geneva and Lugano - Switzerland; Barcelona -Spain; and London - UK; (November).

2006
His fourth book of poetry, Lovesong for my wasteland (2005) was shorlisted for the first Wole Soyinka African Literature Prize.
Participated at the Poetry Days Festival in Riga and Ventspils, Latvia. (September 12-16).

2007
Participated at the Mahalta III International Poetry Festival, Lleida, Spain. (October 24-27).

2008
Acknowledged and listed as one of top 50 African writers in the special issue of African Writing online.

2009
Published Gather my blood rivers of song (Diktaris, Ibadan).
Featured at the Berlin International Poetry Festival organised by lyrikline.org (October 26-31).


2010
Reading session at the "Conventions & Conversions" Literature Conference, Humboldt University, Berlin (March 3).