Samo is a poet based in Nairobi Kenya. He frequents the Slam Africa competition held in Nairobi. He is publicly known as “rabid dog in a suit” because he is one who is not big on photos and bios.
Samo
Togara Muzanenhamo
Togara Muzanenhamo was born in Lusaka, Zambia, to Zimbabwean parents. He was brought up in Zimbabwe on his family’s farm. He went on to study Business Administration in France and The Netherlands. After his studies he returned to Zimbabwe and worked as a journalist, then moved to an organisation dedicated to developing African screenplays. Later Muzanenhamo went to England to pursue an MA in creative writing. He now divides his time between writing and farming.
Togara Muzanenhamo’s poems have appeared in magazines and anthologies in Europe, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Togara is a poet scarcely known in his home country, Zimbabwe. His first collection, Spirit Brides, was published by Carcanet Press in the UK in 2006, and his work has appeared amongst others in Carapace, PN Review, The Zimbabwean Review, Revue Noire, BBC Radio 3 and the BBC World Service.
His poetry is beautifully observed, his imagery finely perceptive, his language and its rhythms hauntingly simple as he pulls back the blinds from a world that is known but too often hidden from view. He does so with an empathy and gentleness that speaks of compassion and yet he cuts and shapes his poems with the precision of a surgeon. Various themes echo through his poetry: the magic and mystery of childhood; departure, loss and death; and love, understated, and in all its many and complex connectivities.
Timothy Wangusa
Timothy Wangusa (born 1942) is a Ugandan poet and novelist.
Wangusa is an ethnic Mumasaaba, born in Bugisu, in eastern Uganda. He studied English at Makerere University where he later served on faculty, and the University of Leeds (UK). He wrote his MA and PhD on British and African poetry, respectively.
Wangusa started working at Makerere University in 1969. He was appointed as Professor in 1981 (the first from his Bugisu. In his acceptance speech ‘A Wordless World’ he looked at how words were starting to lose meaning and there was a continuous shift from words and speech. Later Wangusa served as Head of Department of Literature and Dean of Faculty of Arts. He was also Minister of Education in the Ugandan Government (1985–86) and Member of Parliament (1989–96). Presently, he serves as Senior Presidential Advisor In Museveni’s government. Wangusa played a pivotal role in establishing the Department of Languages and Literature at Uganda Christian University, an Anglican University in Mukono.
His collection of poems Salutations: Poems 1965-1975 (1977), reissued with additional poems as A Pattern of Dust: Selected Poems 1965-1990 (1994), reflects his rural origins. The novel Upon This Mountain (1989) tells the story of Mwambu, who is determined to touch heaven, and describes his journey towards adulthood. The novel combines African folklore and proverbs with Christian symbolism. Its main theme is that of growing up in the Ugandan society and what challenges come with growing up in the traditional setting.
Wangusa was chairman of Uganda Writers Association and founder president of International PEN Uganda Centre.
Wordbenda
Brought up in the city of Nairobi in Kenya, David Chungi had a memorable and happy childhood. In January 2012 Wordbenda won the poetry competition Slam Africa. Later in the year he completed his studies at Penya Africa’s Sauti Academy artist development program, and ventured out into the Kenyan music industry. In 2013 Wordbenda performed in the U.S.A at various open mic gigs and churches. He has also been featured as a co-host and performing artiste on local Kenyan T.V.
Jamaican Patois, heavy imagery, metaphorical flow with deep story telling content performed with electrifying energy is a sign that Wordbenda is in the house.
Yrsa Daley-Ward
Yewande Omotoso
Yewande Omotoso was born in Barbados in 1980 and grew up in Nigeria with her Barbadian mother, Nigerian father and two older brothers. The family moved to South Africa in 1992.
Yewande trained as an architect at the University of Cape Town, to which she returned after working as an architect for several years, to complete a Masters degree in Creative Writing. The product of her degree is her debut novel Bomboy published in 2011 by Cape Town publisher Modjaji Books. Bomboy was shortlisted for the 2012 Sunday Times Literary Awards as well as the MNet Film Award, it won the South African Literary Award (SALA) for First Time Author Prize. Prior to Bomboy Yewande authored several stories, among them The Piano (2nd Place, People Opposing Women Abuse, 2005) and Maude Hastings (Honourable Mention, John La Rose Short Story Competition, 2007). In addition she has published Heroes with online crime fiction magazine Noir Nation and Two Old People in the anthology Speaking for the Generation: Contemporary Stories from Africa. Yewande’s poetry (Stranger and The Rain) has been published in the ‘Baobab Literary Journal’ 2009. The Rain was shortlisted for the Sol Plaatjie European Union Poetry Awards 2012.
Omotoso, for whom writing is a means to make sense of the world, is interested in the complexity of human experiences as well as the incongruities of life. Loneliness is a recurring theme. Omotoso views her writing as a tool for compassion and evoking self-examination. For her talent and the intent to tell stories, she credits her parents and a childhood steeped in reading and the sharing of ideas.
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