A Celebration of African Diaspora Literature and its many forms Curated and hosted by Kayo Chingonyi with Belinda Zhawi, Sam Elmi, Warsan Shire and (me) Nick Makoha. Should be fun see you there.
Kayo Chingonyi was born in Zambia in 1987 and came to the UK in 1993. His poems have been published in a range of magazines and anthologies including The Best British Poetry 2011, The Salt Book of Younger Poets (both from Salt Publishing, 2011), Out of Bounds and The World Record (both from Bloodaxe, 2012). His first pamphlet/chapbook of poems, Some Bright Elegance, is out now from Salt Publishing.
Belinda Zhawi is a 21 year old writer from London and Zimbawe. She has performed across the UK at festivals and events including Bestival, Tongue Fu and the Camden Crawl. She is a member of Rubix Collective. She is also a Politics student at the University of Westminster.
Sam Elmi is a poet and a playwright of Somali heritage. He is the current poetry editor for Helicon magazine and runs the Bristol Poetry Stanza. Poems have appeared in a number of publications including The Cadaverine, Ink, Sweat and Tears, Scarf, Sable and Young Inscribe Anthology.
Warsan Shire is a Kenyan-born Somali poet and writer based in London. She is an artist and activist who uses her work to document narratives of journey and trauma. Warsan has read her work internationally and her debut pamphlet is teaching my mother how to give birth (flipped eye, 2012)