CREATIVE SPILLS, THE ORGANISATION BEHIND THE GROWTH OF SLAM POETRY IN KENYA AND ITS GLOBAL PRESENCE

 

Since Creative Spills took over poetry competition in Kenya, the competition has grown significantly and produced tens of slam Kings and queens. It has also introduced various activities in order to bolster poetry appreciation in the East African country. 

The Kenya chapter of Poetry Slam is run by an organization called Creative Spills. Creative Spills was founded in 2010 and has since run the country’s premier poetry competition since 2013. Creative Spills has seen spoken world poetry develop in Kenya and become part of the country’s top annual entertainment event. 

Ian Gwagi, Creative Spills Director. Photo courtesy of Slam Africa festival 2025/26

The history of modern performance poetry in Kenya traces its origin to pre-colonial Kenya. Back then poetry and song were merged into one and took a form of recitation, singing, incantation and lamentations among others. There is scanty of information about the pre-colonial Africa concerning entertainment, especially the verbal art. Unlike pottery, sculpture and drawing, the African performance art was quickly drowned by colonialism and westernization. The little history that remains is interred in written translation which do not carry the rhythm and sound that defined the African poetic and musical past.  

However, with the advent of colonialism, a new form of song and poetry emerged. The songs and poems during the colonial period, in many African communities, would form a unifying force of defiance against the colonial influence in Africa. Slowly by slowly, the songs and poems evolved to become what is now called performance poetry. 

Many of the ‘traditional’ oral poems were performed in incantations and lamentations-some taking a form of prayers. They had a rich emotional code and had powerful solemn recitations. They were laced with enigmatic imagery and invocations often with esoteric language that only a few could decipher. It is these oral poems and songs the gave birth to songs of struggle against slavery, racism and most recently colonialism and the ever stubborn oppression that has refused to go.

Accordingly, Oral protest poems gave birth to the West African ‘Nommo,’ which according to Chicago Historical Society means ‘Magical power of words that brings change.’ In kenya, this rendition would be felt in Erithi- Agikuyu poetic musical form which talked about the oppression that occurred during the 1950s, especially during the Mau Mau revolt. According to ‘The Origins, Nature and Development of Gikuyu Erithi Poetry by Peter Muhoro Mwangi (2019) of Mt. Kenya University, Erithi is the successor of Kamanu, Muthirigu, Kiriiri and Kaiyaba, which were protest poetic and musical forms that were proscribed by the British colonial rule in Kenya. The focus on the Agikuyu does not confine protest to a single community but gives an example of what poetry was like in the colonial period in Kenya. Many other communities had their own forms of dissident creative art forms.  

Audience at past Slam Festival Photo courtesy of Slam Africa festival 2025/26

The material and themes of the colonial poems, especially during the struggle for independence, have never changed in the modern day poetry which is now dubbed spoken word poetry. Modern day spoken word poetry begun with the likes of Tony Mochama and Caroline Nderitu at the British Council. From there, in the early 2000s, the journey to formidable perform begun to take shape. By 2008, poetry had evolved and slam poetry competitions had begun to take shape with poets competing for Slam King and Queen Position.  

Creative Spills was born out of the need to centralize Kenyan poetry performance. Apart from Creative Spills, there were several outfits running poetry performance and discussions across the country many located in Nairobi. I attended some, including Poets and Writers Online (POWO), Fatuma’s Voice and Storymoja Festival. Other groups included Kwani Open Mic and Poetry after Lunch. Some of this outfits are still showcasing poetry to this day. The diverse groups offered a front for nurturing and the growth of creatives in the country. However, the role of Creative Spills is much bigger. 

Audience at past Slam Festival Photo courtesy of Slam Africa festival 2024/25

Firstly, Creative Spills took over the running of poetry slam competitions in the country. Soon after taking over, Creative Spills brought in several changes to the running and management of poetry. Before, the crowning of a new slam King/Queen was held on bi-monthly basis and in each event. It is Creative spills which introduced the annual Slam competition. In order to make things work, the organization introduced three preliminary events spread throughout the year with the grand slam finals held in December. December worked well, until Covid19 when the Grand finals were moved to January. Therefore, since 2022, the grand slam finals are held in January of the following year. 

In 2016, Creative Spills was at its peak of poetry makeover in the country. With ears tuned to global poetry competition, the organizers introduced another segment of women poetry slam with the aim of sending a participant to the Women of the World Poetry Slam (WoWPS) To this day, Qui Qarre, retains the title of the inaugural female poet to grace the global WOWPS competition. She represented Kenya well on global stage. 

I have spoken to Creative Spills Director, Ian Gwagi on numerous occasions concerning the growth of performance poetry in Kenya. The Creative Spills director seems to come up with ideas to make Slam Poetry in Kenya a force to reckon with. In order to achieve this, the Creative Spills team seems to be growing the activities around Slam each and every passing year. 

In this regard, Grand Slam Poetry competition is no longer a one-day event but it has grown to Slam Festival spread within five days offering workshops, engagements, musical concert, Kids poetry showcase alongside the Grand Slam competition. With enough resources, the creative Spills Team hopes to bring on board numerous activities. “I am thinking of honoring poetry legends during Slam poetry,’ Ian Gwagi once told me in a phone conversation in November 2024. The idea was put into practice in the 2024/2025 Slam festival held in January 2025 when the festival honored Sitawa Namwalie in a special way through performance and discussion on her significant contribution in the growth of the Kenyan art scene. 

Through its efforts, Creative Spills has put Kenyan poetry on the global stage. It started in 2017 when Poet Qui Qarre represented Kenya in the WOWPS competition. Besides WOWPS, Kenya has now sent over half a dozen poets to global events including World Poetry Slam Championships in which Dominion become the first runner’s up in the 2025 Championship. 2026 will see Slam King Timelines represent Kenya on the same Global event. 

Creative Spills also hopes to nurture poets from school going children. Through their efforts, they are lobbying curriculum developers to include poetry performance in school curriculum. They also have a segment called. Rising Voices Schools in which they invite primary and high school students to Slam Festival to participate and also learn poetry from accomplished poets.      

In schools, the African poetry was studied under Oral literature in which, in countries like Kenya, Oral poetry was studied as a footnote and sadly, most of the Oral poems studied, like in the Kenyan curriculum, were mere translations. This gave students that the African Oral poetry was supposed to be historical as opposed to being part and parcel of contemporary poetry. Oral poetry in Schools had several major flaws; it rarely focused on materials drawn from the communities neighbouring the schools. It was diverse, thus denying children the luxury to understand their community’s rich oral entertainment background. In this respect, many have studied the written poetry as opposed to the dynamic and satisfyingly rich African oral poetry. Also students viewed Oral poetry as different from the written poetry. 

Written poetry had two major effects, it bestowed on Africans the dynamics and rhythm of western poetry. Secondly, it introduced Africans into western literary styles which did a dent on the African rhythm and composition. In high school, the written poetry was studied for its style and meaning thus denying the students the luxury of enjoying the rich African rhythm like that in Okot P’ Bitek’s work. Therefore, with organizations like Creative Spills being actively involved in curriculum growth, poetry can be learned for its musicality and meaning besides language and style. 

Even though Creative Spills has led to significant milestones in the growth of performance poetry in Kenya, the organization has also seen a decline in the number of sheng poets’ representation in the Grand Slam. May be it is because of the global demands on the caliber of poets needed at the global slam championship or the lack of proper mentorship for sheng poets. Kenya was known for producing phenomenal sheng poets like Teardrops, Virusi Mbaya, Gcho Pevu and even Qui Qarre who represented Kenya at the WOWPS. But Since Qui Qarre, no Sheng poet has made it to the Grand Slam finalists. Sadly, the grand slam competition is slowly turning into an English poetry platform with fewer sheng or Kiswahili poets showing up on stage. 

All in all, Creative Spills’ contribution two poetry is unmatched. No organization in Kenya can boast for hosting events in Kenya for a decade without bowing to pressure. Despite, financial pressure and lack of permanent hosting space, the creative Spills founders have not given up on promoting poetry events in the country. Even though, I have focused on Slam poetry, Creative Spills has hosted numerous events for individual poets like Mufasa, Dorphan, Gufydox, Kikete among others. The outfit is indeed a force to reckon with.