Njeri Wangare is a multi talented Kenyan poet and performer, IT specialist and arts blogger whose collection of poetry was recently published under the title Mines & Mind Fields; My Spoken Words. The 114 paged book contains over 40 poems that explore themes on Urban Blues, Love, Identity, Traditions, Cultural changes, Exploitation and Politics among others. Though most of the poems are in English, there are a few in Kiswahili, and Sheng
“She is one of the most respected female poets in Nairobi today”, The Sunday Nation writer Joseph Ngunjiri says of Njeri, “Njeri Wangari has a powerful voice, and she knows how to put it to good use. Whenever she takes to the podium to recite a poem, she has her enthusiastic audience applauding all the way.”
Njeri’s love for the arts began at an early age through her appreciation of African culture. This, she found to be well expressed in many of the books that she started reading while still young and they have shaped the person she has now become.
The year 2004 is when she penned down her first poem and 3 years later she made her first attempt in front of an audience to start performing her poems. She has now among some of the most talented Kenyan poets.
She has been running her blog, www.kenyanpoet.com since 2005,a project that she initially started in order to publishing her poetry online. It has since grown to incorporate other forms of art as well as host other poets. She has contributed immensely to the promotion of Kenyan Poetry not only on stage but also through the internet through her reviews on art performances and by encouraging up and coming poets to start blogs and eventually share their work through performance. She is currently part of the Global Voices Online-An online portal for citizen journalists, as a writer on African Arts.
Njeri has come to be known as the voice of reason and change in the Kenyan poetry circles due to the content and theme of her poems which range from culture, religion, human rights, technology and everyday challenges in the Kenyan society.
She performs regularly at various poetry spots in Kenya’s capital city Nairobi as well as in institutions and companies where she is invited from time to time.
Njeri is currently working on her 2nd poetry collection.