“In this dynamic debut collection, Nigerian American poet Osinaike unpacks ideas of masculinity with playful musicality . . . Acutely attuned to poetic lineage, Osinaike cites established poets Yona Harvey, Ladan Osman, and Morgan Parker, setting a context for his own new and versatile voice.”
—Booklist

“In Tender Headed, Olatunde Osinaike asks the question, what makes a man, and what makes a man like me? As he interrogates the inner and outer workings of masculinity in all its sharp and tender parts, and the way a Black man meets the world, his poems strut and duck and weave across their pages. These poems unpack the ingredients of being and make a meal of language. They relish every word, every sound, every syllable. Their music is the sugar that makes us take our medicine, but their beauty refuses to be disguise. They disturb the peace while asking, ‘whose peace?’ The poems are playful, not playing. They pulse and spin and push us forward, never carry us away. Even as we dance along, we never close our eyes. This work is nimble. A two-step on a tightwire. Tender Headed grooves and shines, holds us wide awake and mesmerized.”
—Camille Rankine, author of Incorrect Merciful Impulses

“What sets Tender Headed apart from most of what passes for socially engaged ‘poetry’ nowadays is that Osinaike is not relying on The Project to do the heavy lifting. Rather, he is writing actual poems. Inventive, musical, and surprising poems.”
—John Murillo, author of Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry