Our Reporter, Abuja
Kelsay Books has announced the release of A Kiss That Never Was: Poems of Heartbreak & Almost Love, the latest work by Nigerian-American writer and poet Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo. The collection, which became available worldwide on December 5, 2025, traces the emotional cartography of unfulfilled affection, diasporic longing, and the strange afterlives of relationships that never truly began.
In the new volume, Okonkwo revisits a decades-long emotional dialogue with “Zp,” a woman whose absence, he suggests, became a force shaping both his art and his worldview. The poems weave together personal history, mythic allusion, and reflections on the evolution of love—from handwritten letters to the digital uncertainties of the Internet age.
Rooted in Igbo culture and the author’s experiences between Nigeria and the United States, the collection invites readers into what Okonkwo describes as “the fragile country of the ‘almost’”—a landscape where heartbreak is less a conclusion than a creative ignition. The poems interrogate the ache of promises unkept, the persistence of memory, and the quiet rebellions that accompany emotional survival.
“A Kiss That Never Was is for anyone who felt deeply for someone whom life refused to deliver,” Okonkwo said. “If you have ever truly lived, you will find yourself on its pages—sometimes laughing out loud, sometimes gripping the edges.”
Beyond love and longing, the book also reflects on abandoned dreams and unrealized ideals, stretching from personal experience to political meditation. It explores stillborn ambitions, nations that never crystallized, and possibilities lost at the threshold.
Early reactions within poetry circles highlight the book’s emotional weight, lyrical restraint, and narrative intimacy, praising its ability to render heartbreak both universal and unsettlingly precise.
Okonkwo is also the author of Children of a Retired God, This American Life Sef, and Chimamanda: The Adventures of Little Mermaid’s African Cousin. Under the name Rudolf t.g. Hess, he penned The Secret Letters of President Donald J. Trump series, and as Rudolf de Passé, he has released several e-books, including Please Forgive Me: A Letter From Prison.
A Kiss That Never Was is available through Amazon, Kelsay Books, Ingram, and independent bookstores.
