JJ Bola

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
  • Category:Feminist terminology

References
  1. Onwuemezi, Natasha (21 November 2016). "'Very special' tale of belonging and identity to OWN IT!". www.thebookseller.com. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  2. Barekat, Houman (12 September 2019). "Mask Off by JJ Bola review – masculinity redefined". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  3. 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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