Bimpé Fageyinbo is a Nigerian artist whose work as a poet, filmmaker, and photographer is establishing her as one of the most captivating storytellers of this generation. Her work transcends genres, combining poetry, film, prose, and documentary photography to confront humanity's most profound questions. Known for her poetic, experimental, and conceptual approach, Fageyinbo seamlessly intertwines the human experience with social anthropology, exploring issues related to race, culture, faith, introspection, and identity. Fageyinbo is the author of two books of poetry, so maybe that’s the bee’s weakness (2010) and what was me (2017), the first two books in a continuing memoir series. Her collaborative work includes the A Womb of Violet Volume Anthologies, archived in collections such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and Library of Congress.
Fageyinbo’s narrative-short film, boju weyín (2022), adapts her 2010 book, so maybe that’s the bee’s weakness, into a poignant cinematic experience. Through experimental storytelling, the film delves into love, heartbreak, and grief, offering viewers a deeply reflective journey toward healing. boju weyín has received multiple film festival Official Selections and was awarded Honorable Mention for Best Narrative Film at the Los Angeles Film Awards (March 2022). In 2023, Fageyinbo was commissioned to read her poem “freedom for freedom” at the historic Harriet Tubman Monument Unveiling ceremony hosted by Audible and the City of Newark, NJ. Adapted into a poetry film, “freedom for freedom,” was awarded the 2024 Jury’s Stellar Award at the 43rd Annual Thomas Edison Film Festival, has been featured on PBS Specials: Black Moses Rising + Liberation, and screened at the National Gallery of Art.
Fageyinbo is currently working on her third poetry book, a photo documentary on mobility in Nigeria, and a film project set for release in 2025. She also continues to teach university-level courses in Journalism and Media, Creative Writing, African Diasporic Literature, and Film.
New Jersey State Council on the Arts Film Fellow
freedom for freedom
Written and originally performed by Bimpé Fageyinbo for the Harriet Tubman Monument Unveiling Ceremony hosted by Audible and the City of Newark in 2023, and Winner of the Jury Stellar Award at the Thomas Edison Film Festival 2024, freedom for freedom has been featured on PBS and screened at the National Gallery of Art.
boju weyín, a film by bimpe fageyinbo
Fageyinbo explores love, heartbreak, and grief in this visual poetic memoir featuring selected poems from her 2010 book, so maybe that's the bee's weakness. As she carries on everyday, mundane yet intimate tasks, viewers are invited to share in these moments of reflection and her path towards healing. The film has received an Honorable Mention for Best Narrative Film at the Los Angeles Film Awards (March 2022).
Symphony of Survival
Photography and essay by Bimpé Fageyinbo, published in the Symphony of Survival Archive, (2020).
A Womb of Violet: An Anthology
Produced in conjunction with the 2019 Project for Empty Space Feminist Incubator Program. Archived in collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Library of Congress.
what was me
A sequel to so maybe that’s the bee’s weakness, what was me is an intimate reckoning with the self in the wake of survival. With unflinching honesty, Bimpé Fageyinbo crafts a poetic landscape where the first glimpses of healing emerge—present, raw, and necessary. Through verse that lingers between pain and renewal, this collection captures the quiet, often uncertain journey of reclaiming wholeness.
so maybe that's the bee's weakness
The first book of Fageyinbo's poetic memoir series, so maybe that's the bee's weakness, invites readers into the beginning of a story we will not witness the end of. Rather than a collection of casual poems, the poetic memoir invites readers to join Fageyinbo on a raw and affecting journey through love, heartbreak, and grief.