TOP TEN KENYAN FEMALE POETS
The 2016 was a turning point in the history of spoken word poetry in Kenya. It is the year that saw Slam Africa Poetry Festival born and a growing number of talented female poetry. It is also the year that Cre8ive Spills- the organisers of Slam poetry in the country introduced the group slam fete and female slam competition that saw the country represented at the Women of the World Poetry Slam (WOWPS) in the USA. The following list presents top female poets in the country that have shaped the voice of the woman apart from the renown spoken word poets like Shailja Patel and Vagina monologues host Sitawa Namwalie.
1. NAMATSI LUKOYE
Though she is yet to win slam poetry in Kenya, Namatsi is a long term poet having graced different platforms in the country. She is a powerful advocate for female power in her poem ‘Queen’ which lists the legendary queens of Africa from Queen Makeda to Cleopatra. Her poetry performance is rife with music and art- a package she borrows from her rich background as a writer, fashion guru, and a musician. She proudly refers to her creation as “Soem”- that is song-poem combination. Besides art Namatsi is art, Namatsi is white collar in the communications industry with a degree in Public Relations from United States International University-Kenya and Diploma from Kenya Institute of Mass Communication. She uses her academic skills to navigate the corporate world at the Cerebral Palsy Society of Kenya
2. WANJIKU MWAURA
The ninth slam poetry winner, Wanjiku Mwaura could be looked at as the oldest slammer among women having participated in the second Slam Poetry event at Daas Ethiopian Restaurant where she was trounced by Dan Oballa’s Sheng poem. However she went ahead to become one of the biggest poets in Kenya, appearing on different stages both locally and internationally. Her artistic voyages saw her perform in the 2010 in the Johannesburg Arts Alive International Festival alongside Queen Godis (NY,USA) and South African Poets like Mphutlane Wa Bofelo, Napo Masheane(South Africa) and Qbibo intalektual (Swaziland).
Her poems have been featured in several anthologies including the 2013 poets’ initiative anthology ‘The Power of Words.’ She has also published her own anthology under the title ‘The Flow of my Soul.’
The dynamic Wanjiku is currently a journalist with the Germany broadcaster Deustche Welle (DW) besides running a radio series on cybercrime and a pan-African web show What Else. Although she holds a degree in Sociology, Gender and Development Studies from Kenyatta University and a Project Management Diploma from Kenya Institute of Management, Wanjiku’s love for language is what would see her start of as an animator with the DW-Radio. Her most famous poems are I am only Fourteen, I Speak Continental and What Do you Want?
3. RAYA WAMBUI
Raya is intrigued by Kenyans who naturally switch into English when talking to her because of her light skin and curly hair. “I speak fluent Swahili and Gikuyu,” she confided in me once. In fact, her latest poem, ‘Boda Boda Lullaby’ has sweet lyrics in Sheng!
Raya began performing poetry more one and half a decades ago. Her poetry has been described by some as revolutionary because it speaks at length about mass emancipation from draconian leaderships and fight against corruption, tribalism, racism among other vices.
Crowned the thirty ninth slam queen, Raya is also a judge at the Kenya premier poetry competition- Slam Africa Festival. The poet has had many performances in the country on platforms like Wamathai Spoken Word at the Louis Leakey auditorium (The National Museums of Kenya), Ink Overflow at the Michael Joseph Centre (Safaricom House), Slam Africa Festival, FreeQuency among others.
She has also graced various international shows in Bamako, Mali and Durban, South Africa thanks to Pan-African competition and exchange project; The Spoken Word Project and the annual Poetry Africa festival.
The love of her life is poetry, Painting and reading. However, the soft spoken poet holds a private pilot licence and she is a manager at a pet spa.
4. SHINGAI KAGUNDA
Shingai is an English major student at Daystar University in Nairobi Kenya. Blue is her favorite colour. Her poems speak about various topics touching on humanity, feminism, the rights of the girl child among others. She is an avid traveller who loves meeting different people from different walks of life. She has travelled to over ten different countries and worked in different aspects of human association. For example, reaching out to kids in rehabilitation centres in Germany, teaching refugee Burmese children and Monk Kids in Thailand English, feeding , singing songs, and playing with kids in living in poverty in the Philippines.
Shingai which means being bold/ courageous or strong in the Shona language from Zimbabwe brings out the amiable character of this Zimbabwe born Kenyan poet. In the year 2016, Shingai would display a remarkable talent in the many events that she participated in. During the FreQuencies Event organised by Crea8ive Spills in July, Shingai showcased unrivalled oratory and powerful punch lines that revealed her resolve to fight against the injustices of the world. She is a soft spoken tigress on the Mic. Her brilliance in 2016 shone bright in the Slam Africa Poetry preliminaries, Women Slam competition and Group Slam in which she displayed the leader in her. Despite the fact that she could not win the Slam Queen title or the Women Slam, she indeed brought out a true meaning in the adage ‘everybody is a winner.’ Together with Mumbi Macharia, they would lift the group Slam title trouncing Romeo and Juliet.
2016 was her year to perform with greats like FreQ Tha Mighty and Raya Wambui, both excellent poets. It was also her year to test her powerful set of lungs with other Kenyan poets who rise with the strength of the desert sun ready to devour any poets who dare show signs of weakness. Shingai also was among the acts at the April 2017 Ink overflow where her feminism torch shone bright in her 30 minutes performance dubbed “Conversations.” Besides feminism, the poet addressed various issues including Google’s silent racism. The poet accused the internet search giant on putting Caucasians first when one looks for top most beautiful faces, babies, and hair among other things.
With the growth of poetry in Kenya, Shingai has truly shown her mark as a true disciple, a founder and a queen in her own right.
5. LAURA EKUMBO
She is currently involved in the show Too Early for Birds- a theatrical performance on the recent history of Kenya from crime, corruption and extraordinary acts by Kenyan legends who have been shelved. Laura creative journey can be traced back to her school days. Apart from the class work, Laura was an active in musicals and school production- a situation which prompted her to take Music, drama and English in high school.
From school Laura evolved into an actor, writer and a poet. Apart from Too Early for Birds, Laura has been involved in various projects like Spring Awakening and We Wont Forget. Laura’s work can be found on her blogs; Relevant Ranting and Laura Ekumbo both on Wordpress.
6. TESS AURA (SOCRATESS)
Socratess is an avid student of Socrates hence the moniker. She is an activist and a poet with a bias on women empowerment. Her prowess in poetry came to a test in the 2016 Slam Africa Festival where she was a runner up. On performance, the agile poet was part of the all-female performance at the British Institute of East Africa (BIEA) during the Crea8ive Spills’ Freequency. She also featured in last year’s Soul Experience among other shows at the Alchemist and other entertainment hotspots in Nairobi. Tess also runs a podcast 254 Kaa Rada together with Meremiya Hussein (Amer)
Furthermore, she believes in the liberation of the Africa, enlightening and fighting for the rights of the oppressed and the downtrodden. An ardent fan of songstress Beyonce, Socratess brings to poetry the energy of a liberator.
Socatess is also an outgoing young mind, when she is not locked up in her room; she is out dancing in clubs. She admits that any outdoors is fun for her as long as she is in good company. Her favourite movie is ‘Life’ - it stars Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy. “The movie is relatable to how I make friends, but I can moved by any other movies.” She added.
When bored she listens to podcasts such as The Read, The FriendZone, and Whats The Tee; they give her the chance ‘to think about my perspective on whatever they are talking about,’ she says. She has been to the USA, Canada and Zimbabwe.
7. SHIKIEY
Born Faith Shikanga, Shikiey is the fifty ninth Slam Africa Queen. Like many of her women contemporaries, her poetry centers on the plight of the girl child and the struggle for the women in the resilient masculine world. She has showcased her craft on different platforms including Fatumas Voice, Slam Africa Festival among others
As creative, Shikiey has been active in campaigns advocating for equality, end of tribalism and racism, plight of the girl child among other courses.
She is currently working with a group known as Revolution Art Hub- an entertainment group that hosts History vs His-story and She is. The production of History vs His-story would be February 17th, 2018 at the Pawa 254 in Nairobi.
8. BECKY WAIRIMU
The winner of the 2016 poetry Slam, Becky is media shy a fact that makes her almost incognito in the entertainment industry. Despite her timidity, her huge presence at the 2016 Slam Africa Festival would echo the strength of a woman in that vulnerable weak persona the world has put her. Her presence on stage was theatrical and her mannerisms defiant, her energy was limitless and her words radical.
She has been featured on many poetry platforms including Eve of Poetry Nation (EOP Nation) among others.
9. QUI QARRE
Qui Qarre surprised many when she clinched the 2016 women Slam in Nairobi. Her sheng poetry during the 2016 festival would put her on the limelight as the fighter of the oppressed. Her poems on mob Justice and a critique on artificial beauty won favour with the judges who gave her the ticket to represent Kenya at the Women of the world Slam in the USA (WOWPS).
Ranked the 29th best poet of the WOWPS 2017, Qui would become the first poet from Africa to participate in the event. As poet, Qui’s steady career which blossomed with the Slam Fete, would put her on platforms at an invite only event Colours and Reflections at the Michael Joseph Centre and Africa to the World’s at the PAWA 254’s Mageuzi Theatre in Nairobi.
Born Wangu Wangare, Qui’s epiphany in performance poetry was in 2008. From then she has picked up several tags including singing and design. Her highly agile mind is always on the spin mode for she does a lot of thinking and reflections on the wisdom passed on by her beloved aging grandmother.
10.MUMBI MACHARIA
The name Mumbi means ‘the creator’ among the Agikuyu community in Kenya. Young Mumbi started creating poems at the tender age of 16 and since then, she has become the word. Her poetry oozes the black power and shakes the demons of oppression slavery and female subjugation. She has performed severally on one of kenya’s poetry platform kwani? Open Mic and in November 1st she was the featured poet.
Mumbi was a contestant in the 2016 Slam Festival both in the individual Slam and the group slam where she teamed up with Shingai Kagundas. The duo went ahead to win the group category.
She is definitely indefatigable and her creativity and oratory, a definition of the word.
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