The Junta of Happenstance

The Junta of Happenstance is a book written by Nigerian-Canadian poet and physician Tolu Olonuntoba from British Columbia, Canada.

Since he completed about twenty to twenty-five poems over a three-year period, he realized that it would be less of a daunting task if he concentrated his efforts on each of the three sections individually, instead of trying to write an entire book all at once.

With awareness and insight, Olonuntoba is able to make sense of a current situation by finding beauty in turmoil, and strength in pain.

Barb Carey, special correspondent to the Toronto Star notices “A sense of disquiet, conveyed in images that are expressive and at times surreal, haunts much of Tolu Oloruntoba's debut collection..."[4] At the Miramichi Reader, Dominique Béchard writes, "The Junta of Happenstance is an impressive debut", and adds, "It has many qualities I find admirable in a first collection: passion, a large number of poems, and a certain playfulness (of music and tone) that relays poetic confidence.

"[5] David Ly, who interviewed Oloruntoba for the magazine Prism International, calls the book at Goodreads, "An excellent debut, and finalist for the Governor General Literary Awards!