Three members of Malika’s kitchen Chicago are invited to London.
Peter Kahn is a former social worker and high school English teacher who is currently the Spoken Word Poetry and Black Literature Educator, and Project Coordinator in a Chicago area district where he works with students ages 10 through 18. He is the founder of one of the largest Spoken Word Clubs in the country and co-founder of the Inner-London Teen Poetry Slam. He was an active member of Malika’s Kitchen Poetry Collective (London) and the founder of a branch in Chicago. His poems have been published in The Moonwort Review, X Magazine and Crest, and will soon be published in Make, The Fourth River, Pearl, and Loraine and James. He was recently named a finalist in the Fugue Poetry Contest. Peter has performed in various venues in London, Leeds, and Chicago, and was a featured speaker at the 2005 National Council of Teachers of English annual convention
Christina Santana is a 19 year old Spoken Word poet and educator from Oak Park, Illinois. She was a finalist in the 2004 Chicago Teen Poetry Slam (Louder Than a Bomb) where she performed in front of over 800 people at the Chicago Historical Society. She has shared the stage with Chicago greats, Mark Smith (the founder of the SLAM movement), Avery R. Young, Kevin Coval, Krista Franklin and Ugochi, along with Londoners, Jacob Sam-La Rose and Charlie Dark. She is an active member in Malika’s Kitchen-Chicago, has been published in Handmade Fire, Volumes 1 and 2, and will be published in Make Magazine. Christina is known for her insights to urban life, the references to her Puerto Rican roots, and her charismatic stage presence. Three poets from Malika’s Kitchen Chicago come to London.
Ugochi Nwaogwugwu is internationally known for her original style of song and word poetics, her refined storytelling and songwriting ability. Spoken word artist and singer/song-writer, Ugochi’s music has allowed her to travel to many countries in Europe, including performing her extremely individualized form of sound power in Paris, Amsterdam and London. She has performed with acclaimed artists such as Common, Malik Yusef, J. Ivy, Eric Benet, Michael McDermott, Edwin McCain, Maxi Priest, Umphreys McGee, and most recently John Legend and Femi Kuti. She was selected as a finalist in the HBO/Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam 2001 Competition. In 2003, legendary Chicago diva Chaka Khan saluted the emerging artist as someone who will have a long life in the music business, when she was selected as a semi-finalist on Star Search. Ugochi also wrote the only original song for the critically acclaimed Red Hot and Riot Compilation, in honor of the late Fela Ransome Kuti and global AIDS awareness. The song, So Be It, was performed by R&B star Kelis.