I have never been a firm believer of poetry as a form of healing. I think it is the relatability of poems, how they make us feel like we are not alone, that brings strength to its readers. We all need something to hold on to, to believe in, a beacon of hope. And sometimes a poem is all of that.

. . .if you look at history, many places we now call developed were, to paraphrase a line from Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, one of the dark places of the earth. . .

I like Dis Poem because of the courage and aura behind the poem itself and the author in the person of Mutabaruka. I envy the bold and beautiful way with which it challenges inequality, racism, slavery, murder and injustices around the world.

I like Dis Poem because of the courage and aura behind the poem itself and the author in the person of Mutabaruka. I envy the bold and beautiful way with which it challenges inequality, racism, slavery, murder and injustices around the world.

Like my name, I am here, look, see, wait, just watch me, I am here. I am a sigh of relief. The conqueror of personal traumas, victory personified.

What's the point of writing if your audience cannot relate to your art?

So in both potential and real dimensions, the African century is rising and may render the Asian century very short-lived. The wars are in net reduction, economic success stories are being written, growth rates seek to double digits in a good number of countries and the youthful generations through global education, literature, art, music, film, sports and above all social media are less chauvinistic than the previous independence and post-independence generations.

But what’s contended in contemporary African poetry is of a different kind, the poets writing now are about how the individual African demands to be received, both at home against conventional norms, and globally against what’s stereotypically African.

Africa is my mother and father. Africa is a complicated home and a language I lost my fluency in. Africa is my beginning and end.

(Africa) is my home, and also for a good chunk of my favorite people. And home, to me, is the most important place of all. It’s where you live, love, dream, and eventually if you’re lucky, die. Potentially, it’s just like the cliché goes, the future.