
Funmi Gaji
Funmi Gaji is a Nigerian poet, editor, and literary researcher. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of ArtisansQuill, a journal devoted to literary craftsmanship and contemplative writing. Her work sits at the intersection of memory, silence, faith, identity, and language.
She holds a PhD in Literature and is the author of The Script of Bruises. She is anthologized in Unbound: An Anthology of New Nigerian Poets Under 40. Funmi is also an editor at Cactus Communications and a literary consultant. She has worked as a sensitivity reader, ghostwritten memoirs, and mentored emerging writers.
She founded ArtisansQuill as a space for quiet but daring work that listens before it speaks, and sings long after the page is turned. Her curation is shaped by a love for language that carries heat, spirit, and surprise.
➡️ Read her reflections, curation notes, and original writings in the Founder’s Folio.
My Latest Posts
• • •
- Kòfó-Alfred Olaiya innocence a lake in her eyes; men drown. stars plucked from her skin dye the night, but she ate the ‘t,’ replaced the ‘y’ with ‘i’ till longings die nigh her tighs. yet, that’s not Kòfó. she melts every ice cream before they get to her, you couldn’t blame her– she’s a sunshine to a dark world. she ate the moon’s yolk & …
- Olobo (Lover)-Nimi Wariboko Image Credit: Filipe Almeida On April 19, 2025, a cousin in the United States asked me for the Kalabari word for romantic lover. She believed there was no equivalent in the language. Below are the words I shared with her. Olosikiya: A Kalabari word for darling, lover, or beloved. Literally, it means the person who does not reject love or romantic relationship. The …
• • •
