A Marketing Communications specialist, Obanya has worked and managed advertising strategy for several global brands in Africa. He is a novelist and a poet with published and unpublished works. His published works are, Him Bone Poetree and Sickles Raised from Dust.
He is in the process of publishing a new novel titled, Ijambody and a new book of poems titled, Ambient Noon and other poems.
He currently lives in Lagos, Nigeria or Accra, Ghana.
At age 7, her class teacher wrote on her mid-term report sheet, “Jumoke loves to write”. While that was just a teacher’s observation, it is one revelation that has remained true. Her love for words has never taken her far from it. She has worked as a printer’s clerk, assistant sub-editor, performance poet and journalist. Now working as a copywriter, she maintains a page in the Guardian Newspaper. Her poems and short stories have appeared in several magazines like Chimurenga, Bathtub Gin, Canopic Jar, Eclectica, Sentinel, African writing-online, Boyne Berries, Farafina, Kwani and several anthologies.
I am Memory is Jumoke’s first collection of poetry.
Julian Curry started writing poetry in 1999. Besides receiving the 2003 crown at the Nuyorican, he was also the 2003 Bowery Poetry Club Co-Grand Slam Champion. His poetry is a glimpse into the inner city, Wall Street, family, and a regular guy’s everyday life.
Originally from the Bahamas, Julian now calls Harlem his home. He has been featured in Forbes Magazine & on BET’s Lyric Cafe. He was also featured on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam.
Artist and Writer Jacqueline Kibacha, also known as the Pretty Poet, has a passion for words and a heart to raise the voice of the voiceless. As a creative strategist she uses her poetry to document and respond to the tensions that occur in the world around her and the human soul within.
Originating from Tanzania, living in the Middle East and currently settling in United Kingdom, Jacqueline Kibacha has gained an understanding of issues faced by her brothers and sisters across continents in the light of different cultures, faiths, relationships and politics. It’s hard to be exposed to so many places and not gain a love and appreciation of the colours, textures and rhythms and sounds from East to West. All of these are incorporated in her poetry and music.
Her pre-poetry performance background is in acting and singing. Being a soloist in various choirs, classical to gospel, and also the lead female vocalist of a reggae-funk band that was born in the North East of England. Her creative influences include artists such as Lauryn Hill and Nina Simone who match the weight and richness of their voice with lyrical content that is thought provoking and socially aware.
Kibacha has been a newspaper columnist but has also studied and enjoyed creative writing and is fascinated by the power of words. Through organising music events she has cultivated an eclectic taste in music, which fuelled experimentation that started with sounds and words. In her pieces she fuses the love for words with music, collaborating with DJs, musicians and producers to create poetry with a purpose beyond words on a page.
With a professional background in project planning and community development Jacqueline Kibacha works with like-minded organisations to set up projects that use creativity to address needs, gaps, issues and obstacles in the community.
Gus Ferguson has been writing poetry for the past 20 years and has acted as a publisher of mainly South African poets since 1979.
He has several collections published by a broad range of publishers – his latest collection Holding Pattern was published in 2009.
He is the recipient of a Molteno Silver medal and the English Academy Gold medal, both for services to poetry and as a poet.
Gail Dendy has published seven collections of poetry, her most recent being Closer Than That (Johannesburg: Dye Hard Press, 2011). Her first collection, published by Harold Pinter, was Assault and the Moth, Greville Press (UK) 1993. This was followed by People Crossing (Snailpress, 1995), Swimming in the Long Dark Sound (Stride, UK, 1998, Painting the Bamboo Tree (Arc, UK, 1999), The Poetry of Norman Corwin and Gail Dendy (Shirim, USA, 2002), and The Lady Missionary (Kwela/Snailpress, 2007). Her poetry regularly appears in journals and anthologies both in SA and overseas.
Throughout the 1980s and early ’90s Gail pioneered Contemporary Dance in South Africa and was nominated for the inaugural AA Vita Award for Best Performer. In her writing career, she was a Finalist in the South African Science Fiction Society’s Short Story competition, 1992; Finalist, Dalro Award 2007, Winner of the “Playwriting” category, SA PEN Millennium Competition, 2000; and Joint Winner of the cash prize for the Herman Charles Bosman Literary Award, 2008. She has also been long-listed for the Plough Prize (UK, 2008), shortlisted for the Thomas Pringle Award for Prose (Category: Short Story), 2010, and shortlisted for the EU/Sol Plaatje Poetry Prize in both 2011 and 2012.
The most recent anthologies to feature Gail Dendy’s work are: Anthony Astbury (ed) A Field of Large Desires (Manchester: Carcanet, 2010; Liesl Jobson (compiler) The Sol Plaatje/European Union Poetry Anthology 2011 (Cape Town: Jacana, 2011), and Patricia Schonstein Pinnock (ed) Africa, My Africa! (African Sun Press, 2013), and Harry Owen (ed) For Rhino in a Shrinking World: An International Anthology (East London, SA: The Poets Printery, 2013).
Over the years Gail has worked, inter alia, as a university lecturer, copywriter, and radio news writer. She is currently the Information Specialist for an international corporate-law firm.
Gail is passionate about environmental- and animal-rights issues. She lives in Johannesburg together with her husband, pets, a law library, and a collection of ballet, dance, classical, and Rock ‘n Roll CDs and DVDs.
G.O is a Cape Town based poet who has performed at places such as Touch of Madness, Tagore’s, and Zula Sound Bar. He has appeared on Bush Radio, UCT Radio and Vibe Radio. He has been published in IAM Magazine, Zazi Magazine and IMBO Online Magazine.
He coaches a poetry team called Word of Mouth that won an entry to compete in the Annual Brave New Voices Slam Poetry Competition in the United States.
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Known by her stage name Es Taa, Esther Karin Mngodo is a Tanzanian poet based in Dar Es Salaam. At the age of 10 she was encouraged by her mother to join the choir, which she did. As the youngest member at the time, Es Taa started off as a Saprano and later on as an Alto. She recently discovered her Tenor voice in a band that ahe has been part of since 2006. Not only is the 26 year old a poet and a musician, but a journalist, a storyteller, a playwright, a social worker, a song composer and a woman passionate about her faith in God.
In 2011 she co-wrote a Musical Move: The Time is Now that was staged at The National Museum Theatre in Dar Es Salaam. She recently performed her original poems at The Smart Partnership Dialogue Meeting held in Dar es Salaam that was attended by Commonwealth Heads of States and different dignitaries.
Using her own life experience, Es Taa’s passion is to unearth matters that people would rather not talk about openly, to bring healing through authentic lyrics that have been birthed through her own pain, mistakes and the quest of life’s purpose. She also seeks to use art as a tool of social change by addressing issues of human rights and social justice in a way that people can relate to.
Born and raised on the sub-urban streets of Lagos, Efe Paul Azino has evolved a poetry uniquely his own. His poems are welcomed in the realm of academia and acclaimed on the streets.
Widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s leading Spoken Word Poets, Efe Paul has been a headline performer in many of the nation’s premier performance poetry venues, including Anthill 2.0 and Taruwa. For over a decade, Efe has continued to deliver Spoken Word Poetry locally and internationally, gracing platforms at seminars, workshops, conferences, tertiary institutions, community development fora, as well as churches.
Reflecting the sufferings evident in numerous African societies and the hope that keeps them going, Efe Paul’s poems resonate with the high and the low, cutting across social and religious boundaries. His poems are centered on socio-economic and political themes and are enhanced by a strong voice, keeping his audiences entranced for the full length of his performances.
A one-time member of the Editorial Board of The Effective Manager Monthly, pioneer Editor of Mageuzi Magazine and Next Generation, a monthly Newspaper dedicated to raising youth awareness on socio-economic and political issues, Efe Paul is a vital contributor to national discourse and his essays are featured in national and international dailies and journals. A curious student of life, his readings and learning span various disciplines.
The voice of a generation, a seeker and speaker of truth, an entertaining poet and performer, Efe Paul leads a generation of poets in successfully lifting poetry off the printed page, out of the shadows of academia and making it accessible to the people.
Oluwadolapo meaning “The Lord has poured (things of) substance together” is an embodiment of her name. Her poetry speaks of her inner experiences, either thought out or lived through. She writes in the hope that her words connect with another’s inner self and begins a deep inner reflection that will cause lasting change from the individual to the entire world.
Dolapo’s spoken word delivery has been described as theatrical and deeply moving. Applying her background in music, dance and stage acting into her live performances, she does not resemble one who only began this genre of artistry in August, 2010.
Born to yoruba parents as Oluwadolapo Ebunoluwapo Ogunwale in the city of Lagos, she hopes to find listening ears and open hearts on the world stage.
MB Ch B(Natal)
Winner: Olive Schreiner Prize for prose (1994)
Winner: Nadine Gordimer Prize for a short story (1991).
Winner of the Fay Goldie Award (three times) and a prize from the Grahamstown Eisteddfod for prose writing.
Short stories and poems broadcast on SAFM and LotusFM, again in 2013, and published in literary journals in India, the UK, USA, Canada and Australia and translated into Tamil and Hindi.
Short stories published in over 12 literary anthologies including A century of South African short stories, the University of Cambridge’s New Writing from South Africa, Penguin’s contemporary short stories and Reader’s Digest’s Best South African short stories.
Prescribed author for KZN matrics in 2004/2005.
Monthly Columnist for the Sunday Times Extra till 2008.
Invited author at the university of Copenhagen (1999), university of Tuebingen (1999), Teacher’s college of Mauritius (2007), State university of Louisiana (2008), University of Zululand (2012)
Poems and prose published in 2011/2012 by Rhodes university, Wits university and the university of Oklahoma as well as in other literary anthologies.
Dami Ajayi was born in 1986 in Nigeria and has been penning down poems since he was 11. His debut collection of poems, Clinical Blues, which has notoriously remained in manuscript form, was shortlisted for the 2012 Melita Hume Prize. His poems have appeared in several reputable journals in Africa, Europe and America. Dami is also a medical doctor.
Diana Ferrus was born in Worcester in 1953 and completed her high school career in 1972. She completed a postgraduate degree in Women’s and Gender studies at the University of the Western Cape where she works as an administrator in the Dept of Industrial Psychology.
Diana is a writer, poet, performance poet and story-teller. Her work in both Afrikaans and English has been published in various collections and some serve as prescribed texts for high school learners. Her publishing house, Diana Ferrus Publishers has published various publications including her first Afrikaans collection of poetry, Ons Komvandaan. Diana co-edited and published a collection of stories about fathers and daughters, Slaan vir my ‘n masker, Vader in 2006. The mission of her publishing company is to publish writers from previously disadvantaged communities. Her company in association with the University of the Western Cape has published life stories of three former activists and unionists namely, Liz “Nana” Abrahams, Zollie Malindi and Archie Sibeko. These publications contain rich material about South Africa’s past and some are prescribed texts at the University of the Western Cape.
She is a founder member of the Afrikaanse Skrywersvereniging (ASV), Bush Poets (all women poets) and Women in Xchains (grassroots women writers).
Diana has attended numerous literary festivals locally and abroad. In 2006 she performed her poetry at the Klein Karoo Kunstefees with the Mamela band. They received a Kanna-award for the best contemporary music. At this very festival Diana received a Kanna-award for her contribution to Afrikaans.
However Diana Ferrus is internationally known and acclaimed for the poem that she wrote for the indigenous South African woman Sarah Bartmann who was taken away from her country under false pretences and paraded as a sexual freak in Europe.
Diana’s work has had and still has a bearing and influence on matters of race, gender, class and reconciliation. She is popular amongst South Africans of all race groups. She believes in her country’s future and works tirelessly for her people’s emancipation from racial, sexual and class exploitation as well as reconciliation.
Dejavu Tafari has been involved in the performing arts since her high school days. Having discovered her abilities as a writer at an early age, she has honed her skills in creative writing and used them as a means of social commentary, making a name for herself in the slam poetry scene as a writer and performer of note.
Having completed a Live Performance course at Cape Town’s A.M.A.C in 2004 and gone on to further her studies in Theatre Performance at UCT, her work fuses elements of physical theatre, contemporary live performance, music and story-telling to deliver impactful social commentary on issues such as spirituality, cultural heritage, child abuse, peer pressure, love and various other issues which affect the youth.
She currently co- owns NTUTOPIA PRODUCTIONS- a township-based production company and uses this platform to generate theatre and television productions which focus on telling stories that empower the black youth demographic by reinforcing positive values. She has gained popularity within the Slam Poetry scene as a result of her consistent performances at events such as UNCUT (Cape Tech); AFRO (UCT); Kopano (Langa); All N.YZ (Guguletu); GOEMARATTI (Cape Town) and various other youth- orientated initiatives around the Western Cape. She has recently collaborated with an acoustic ensemble called the Umthwakazi Band; adding indigenous Xhosa music to her witty lyrics to create a kaleidoscope of experimental word-sound-power that has been well received by her widening audience base.
Other performances include the Speak The Mind Poetry Extravaganza (Artscape Theatre Sept. 2009); Poetry on Long (New Space Theatre Jan. 2010); Verses (Feb. 2010); Badilisha Poetry’s 100 000 Poets for Change( 2011) and Woman To Woman( 2012). Dejavu is currently working on her debut album.
born in kingston jamaica, raised in whitfield town
birthed from the womb of dub
by anita (poets iin unity) stewart
who raised her child
at orality’s hub
storyteller d’bi.young takes performance live
is celebrated by the people on her way
including receiving two doras for blood.claat
first of the sankofa trio of plays
the second and third are benu and word! sound! powah!
onewomban biomyth monodramas
d’bi. is dubpoet, educator, soul-searching wombanist
also aspiring rawfoodist
played staceyann in da kink in my hair
founded anitafrika! dub theatre
recorded six dub disks
with two collections of poetry published
new album set to blossom late 2010
watching her two sons grow
while currently touring the world
Cynthia Marangwanda is a Zimbabwean spoken-word poet who identifies herself as a feminist and a creative activist. Her art is rooted in Harare’s vibrant urban culture scene and fueled by the protest sounds of hip-hop and reggae. Her poetry is mainly concerned with themes of identity, emancipation, the deconstruction of oppressive structures, socio-political commentary, individual power, as well as in transformation, all seen through the lens of a twenty-something African feminist.
Cynthia started performing spoken-word in 2008 at Sistaz Open Mic, a show held monthly at the Book Café. She has performed at many other events at the Book Café including the House of Hunger Poetry Slam, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and the Afro-Slam Poetry Express. Other places she has performed her poetry include the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), the International Images Film Festival (IIFF), International Women’s Day events as well as appearances in Namibia and Lesotho. Cynthia also co-founded Chimoto! – a platform for fellow emerging performance-artists and urban creative-outreach project in 2010 and she has also worked with Zimbabwe Poets for Human Rights.
Charlie Bobus takes performance poetry to a new level, he has been described as being “the hardest working Dub Poet” and sheds a positive light on the Roots Reggae music scene. Bringing a new genre of poetry called Motivational Dub Poetry to the world.
From Grantspen Kingston Jamaica, this poet, left 8 years of office experience behind and now plays the role of activist, producer, publisher, events coordinator, actor, workshop facilitator, and motivational speaker for over a decade and as been bringing a positive and welcome change to the dub poetry industry in Jamaica. Doing all the projects required to bring dub poetry to its rightful international status Charlie Bobus keeps events, publishes books, produces CDs and videos and runs workshops across Jamaica the Caribbean and Canada. Described as being a “cut between Motivational speaker and a Bob Marley” with “a unique style of his own”; “hailed as the leading Dub poet of this new generation”, Charlie Bobus‘s original Dub Poetry combines with any rhythm crossing genres to embrace Reggae, Hip Hop, R&B, African Roots, Rock and souls influences which enhance the motivational themes of his poetry.
With extensive experience on the stage show and live poetry gig circuit, and keeping some of the major poetry events that keep the poetry scene alive in Jamaica, Charlie Bobus in 2007 released his Creative Energy Collection – Book, single & Video, and recently launched his first Dub Poetry Album in 2011 at Lula Lounge in Toronto Canada which is a selection from his wide repertoire. Creative Energy solidified his presence and made an official Charlie Bobus imprint into the wider public arena and music industry. With its unique new Poetic style, Motivational dub poetry mixed with Roots Reggae and Culture, the Charlie Bobus sound is versatile, well crafted, positive, motivational, and healing!
Charlie Bobus has been featured on BET performing on Spring Break 2009, Opened for Roots Underground in the Jungle, opening for I Octane My life tour in Canada Shared Stage with yellow Man and appeared @ Sunset on the beach in Negril, Sting, Capleton’s St. Mary Mi Come From and a number of large scale reggae concerts. Featured on BETJ word sound Power performing and doing an interview and Creative Energy and was a featured track on a compilation CD Word Sound Power Volume 1 which contained audio from the BETJ series. The rhythm Creative Energy produced by Inspirator international was also used as a sound track for When Walls Talk a featured program with sizzla on BETJ. Bobus sees dub poetry as a way to empower minds and uplift youths and works for the betterment of mankind. In this way, he believes that Motivational Dub poetry can empower people’s mind and become a valuable medium for change.
In recent years Charlie Bobus has impacted on regional festivals (Graduating from the Internationally acclaimed Calabash Poetry Festival Workshop scholarship), performing island wide in high profile Corporate Arenas, clubs, Hotels, appearing in music videos recently featuring as lead actor in Mr. Vegas – I am Blessed and plays and conducting countless Social Campaigns in Jamaica and abroad including running workshops and representing Jamaica in Canada as an ambassador for Dub Poetry at the Fall 2007 International Dub Poetry Festival in Hamilton, Canada.
A qualified primary school teacher, Cosmas Mairosi was born in Mudzi and grew up in the rural area of Rusape in Manicaland province, Zimbabwe. He is a performance poet, writer, arts trainer in children’s performing arts, vice chairperson of Budding Writers Association of Zimbabwe (BWAZ)’s and a member of Global Arts Trust.
He has published poems and short stories in Writers Scroll, Teacher’s Voice and New Voices magazines and is featured in an international anthology CHE IN VERSE published by Aflame Books. A compilation that includes two Nobel Prize Laureates and Allen Ginsberg. Cosmas has also published in State of the Nation, Contemporary Zimbabwean Poetry, an anthology of Zimbabwean poets. He has been broadcast on ZBC radio, television and BBC radio and television and has performed at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair since 2003, HIFA-Spoken Word.
His international debut was at the ANTUSA Games (10-14 April 2008) in Francistown, Botswana, which was a festival of SADC Teachers Unions. Cosmas Mairosi won first prize in the House of Hunger Poetry Slam at the Book Café and has twice been an International Society of Poets finalist. He has taught performance poetry and facilitates performance poetry workshops. Cosmas performed at Speak the Mind 2010 at the Artscape in Cape Town South Africa.
Chief Moomen is currently a teaching assistant at the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Ghana where he studied Creative Writing in English and Play writing in Theatre Arts for his undergraduate degree.
His interest in poetry was ignited when he saw a performance of the American poet, Maya Angelou, in Ghana in the early nineties. Chief Moomen has been doing spoken word for the past five years. He has performed on various platforms including KSM’s Thank God It’s Friday and also makes regular appearances in the poetry section of Metro TV’s The Citizen Comedy Show. Chief Moomen’s poems are vivid with imagery and he transports his audience through a mosaic of experiences and leaves them excited, contemplative, refreshed or simply awed.
His collection of poems dubbed Village Fresh is a favourite amongst many as it takes them back to village life and its little pleasures. Chief Moomen intends to publish an anthology of his poems next year. He enjoys reading, listening to inspirational music and watching adventure and drama movies. He is very sociable and enjoys meeting new people. Chief Moomen intends to continue writing poetry for as long as the fountain of his creativity is nourished with the stream of inspiration.
Chantal-Fleur Sandjon is at the forefront of artists of colour in Germany that reclaim words, voices and the visibility of the subaltern. Based in Berlin and Johannesburg, she has been part of numerous art projects and publications in Germany and abroad. As a member of the collectives Blaque Reinnecarnation as well as The Critical Witness, Chantal-Fleur ignores the alleged boundaries between different media, art forms and the academics.
Helen Moffett is a freelance writer, editor, academic and poet, whose lectured as far afield as Trinidad and Alaska. Her academic writings include a great deal of gloomy but necessary work on sexual violence in the post-apartheid context. She writes about cricket because it reminds her why she likes men (and because she loves the game with a passion).
She has also published a university textbook on poetry, an anthology of South African landscape writing and several short stories. Poetry is her first and last love, she went from teaching it to students to eventually writing her own. Her debut collection of poems, Strange Fruit, was published by Modjaji Books in 2009.
Austin Bukenya is best-known as a pioneering scholar in the discipline of oral literature, to which he and his teacher, Pio Zirimu, gave the now popular label, orature.
Born in Masaka, Southern Uganda, in 1944, he went to high schools around Kampala and Entebbe and was a first-class graduate of the University of East Africa (Dar es Salaam) in 1968. He also studied at universities in Madagascar and England, and took his higher degrees at Makerere and Kenyatta Universities.
He has taught languages, literature and drama at Makerere University in Uganda and universities in the UK, Tanzania and Kenya since the late 1960s. He has also held residences at universities in Rwanda and Germany. Bukenya is also a literary critic, novelist, poet and dramatist. An accomplished stage and screen actor, he was for several years Director of the Creative and Performing Arts Centre at Kenyatta University, Nairobi.
Antjie Krog was born and grew up in the Free State. She became editor of the Afrikaans current-affairs magazine Die Suid-Afrikaan and later worked as a radio journalist covering the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, all the while writing extensively for newspapers and journals. She and her radio colleagues received the Pringle Award for excellence in journalism for their coverage of the Commission hearings, from which came the best known of her three non-fiction books, Country of My Skull.
She has won major awards in almost all the genres and media in which she has worked: poetry, non-fiction and translation. But, mainly, she has lived as a poet. Krog’s first volume of poetry was published when she was seventeen years old and she has since released thirteen volumes of poetry and received among others the Eugène Marais Prize, the Hertzog Prize, the FNB Prize, the Protea Prize, and, for non-fiction, the Alan Paton Prize and the Olive Schreiner Award. She has also been a recipient of the Stockholm Award from the Hiroshima Foundation for Peace and Culture and the Open Society Prize. She is married to architect John Samuel.
Anis Mojgani is a two time National Poetry Slam Champion and winner of the International World Cup Poetry Slam. A TEDx Speaker and former resident of the Oregon Literary Arts Writers-In-The-Schools program, Anis has performed at numerous universities, festivals, and venues around the globe and has performed for audiences as varied as the House of Blues and the United Nations. His work has appeared on HBO, NPR, and in the pages of such journals as Rattle, Forklift Ohio, Used Furniture Review, and Thrush.
A founding member of the touring Poetry Revival, Anis is also the author of three poetry collections, all published by Write Bloody Publishing: Songs From Under the River (2013), The Feather Room (2011), and Over the Anvil We Stretch (2008). A graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, he still tries to make tiny spaces for visual art, doing the covers for his own books, and occasionally providing work for others, be it illustrations, the random poster, or whatever else may spark up. Originally from New Orleans, Anis currently lives in Austin TX in a little house with his wife and their dog, Trudy.
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Anele is a 28 year old poet raised in East London, South Africa but now based in Cape Town. Dead Prez and Tupac Shakur have been his main inspiration throughout his career.
Anele is well known for his witty poetry recited in his mother tongue Xhosa. He has been performing with Lingua Franca since its first Naked Word Poetry Session. In 2013 he performed at the Zabalaza Mini festivals, and he was a headlining act with Lingua Franca during the Naked Slam Poetry 2013. Anele is also part of a Floetry project run by Nanziwe Mzuzu under Bozza.mobi. He won the Cape Town leg of DFL Lover + Another Poetry Challenge in 2013 and was placed fourth at the Nationals.
In 2012 he wrote and performed a poetry production called People from no People at the Black Box Theatre in Delft.
Amir Sulaiman is an accomplished poet, activist, recording artist and a 2 time HBO Def Poet. Host and performer for national Breed Love Odyssey Tour with Mos Def and Talib Kweli and special guest on KRS-ONES Hip Hop Lives Tour there is a steady but ever increasing buzz building around Amir quickly gaining the attention of everyone from Kanye West and Russell Simmons (who referred to Amir as “blessed”), to Dave Chapelle. In addition, organizations such as the ACLU, Amnesty International and Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition have used Amir’s poetry and voice to bring life to multiple campaigns dealing with social justice and art.
His growing popularity garnered him a record deal with UPRISING Records, the label that delivered the hugely successful multi-platinum band, Fall Out Boy. His national debut album, Like a Thief in the Night, has been released nation wide to critical acclaim. The album fuses disparate genres with impassioned narratives of tragedy, redemption, and revolution. Boasting guest appearances from Mos Def, Goapele, and The Last Poets, Like A Thief in The Night has created a soundscape that could easily serve as the score for a classic Martin Scorcese film. In a nutshell, this ground-breaking album signals a desired change bringing about a level of consciousness sorely needed in today’s music industry and society in general.
Amir has been performing at countless colleges, universities, high schools and community centers. As a member of Youth Speaks in the Bay Area California, Amir works regularly teaching kids by way of spoken word and focusing on the union of art and education.
Consistently working across the United States and Canada, Amir has shared the stage with artists such as Kanye West, Lauryn Hill, Common , Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharoah Monch, Floetry, Black Thought of The Roots, Goapele, Stevie Wonder, The Last Poets, Dead Prez, Ghostface of Wu-Tang Clan, MOP, and more.
Kalimbakatha Albert Chitsanzo is a Malawian poet who developed the interest of writing way back in primary school. Having his voice in print was his long-held desire. He has written numerous poems which have been published locally and internationally. On the international scene Snail’s Lament was published in The Penguin Book of Modern Poetry in 1998 edited by Gerald Moore and Ulli Beier. Africa Hunted was broadcast on South African Broadcasting Corporation in 2003.
In Malawi his poem Mangoes was published in 1993 in the standard 6 text book Primary School English Activities published by Malawi Institute of Education. Fiery Ball is anthologized in Unsung Song published in 2001 by Chancellor College Publications for O level students. Other poems have been broadcast in The Writers’ Corner Program on Malawian radio and Published in various Malawian newspapers. Albert is a founding member of Malawi Writers Union who uses his poetry to help develop a deep appreciation of literature in the minds of Malawian students.
Anelisa Mbotyana “Dizadala” considers herself as one who was called to reveal secrets. This 19 year old has lived in Port Elizabeth, South Africa her whole life. Her ancestors bestowed on her the gift to be a praise poet from the tender age of five.
Razaq Ivori is a prolific writer who began his career in writing as a ghost pen for the rich and famous. He wrote their auto biographies for a fee until his last book Elevating the Women for Mrs Titi Atiku. He moved on to the institute of journalism where he studied multimedia techniques and began working for an Abuja firm soon after his HND in journalism.
His literary works include blood and kin a Sci-Fi African drama piece and the adventures of illinick slyed a radio drama written for the BBC but was never submitted.
His current literary scheme is to bring back the art of the quintessential Town Crier poetic semantics: he dubs narrative news. A system where actual news content is infused in free flow prose rendition though in English but not without the characteristic melodic chant of the past.
For six months Ivori premiered this art at the Bogobiri lounge in ikoyi, where some say the uproar it generated prompted the proprietors to establish a full scale stage house next door for performance poetry.
Today the poet, writer, journalist has put all away to make his theatric experiment a reality. The full content like he humbly puts it will give birth to SAO [THE STANDERD AFRICAN OPERA].
Ife Piankhi is a versatile artist whose creativity knows no bounds. An accomplished poet, singer and dancer Ife has collaborated with artists such as Keko, Nneka, Mamoud Guinea, Geoff Wilkinson, Michael Franti, Jonzi D, Wynton Marsalis, Floetry to name but a few.
Ife has toured internationally for the past 22 years visiting Canada, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Zanzibar, Zambia, Romania, Italy, Holland, and USA.
Always an inspirational artist whilst living in London she was a regular on Colourful Radio founded by Henry Bonsu. She has been featured in the documentaries 500 years later by Owen Shahadah and Nubian Spirit by Louis Buckley which highlight her knowledge of Nile Valley Civilisations.
Her music and poetry is influenced by African Stories of migration, relocation and the search for identity.
A formidable educator and creative facilitator, Ife fuses her knowledge of Ancient Africa, esoteric teaching and environmentalism with her music/poetry which is a rich blend of jazz, reggae, and soul. Her stage persona is confident, humorous and participatory with the audience always learning something new. This ability to naturally interact with the audience saw her not only collaborate, but MC the concert of International Artist Nneka who made her first visit to Uganda in 2012.
Ife Piankhi is also a social entrepreneur. Seeing the need for different performance platforms for emerging Ugandan artists Ife created Ife’s Fusion Party (Tilapia, Bunga) and Triple C (Kawa Lounge, Nakumatt). She is also resident poet and MC for Poetry in Session the longest running poetry event in Kampala to date.
Finuala Dowling was born in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1962. Her first volume of poetry, I Flying, won the Ingrid Jonker Prize and her second collection, Doo-Wop Girls of the Universe, was joint winner of the SANLAM award. Her third volume of poetry, Notes from the dementia ward won the Olive Schreiner Prize. She has appeared as a guest poet at the Aldeburgh festival and at Snape Maltings in the UK, and at all of South Africa’s major literary festivals. In May-June of 2012 she appeared with other South African poets at the Biennale Internationale des Poètes en Val-de-Marne in Paris.
Finuala is the author of three novels, the most recent of which — Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart — won the 2012 MNet prize for fiction.
Finuala has a Masters and doctorate in English literature. She writes textbooks, runs poetry workshops and occasionally gives lectures.