I have created this blog because I am working with a group of seventh and eighth graders in Bath/Brunswick Maine (USA) on a project centered on the poetry of contemporary Africa. We want to find out about the poets, read them, hear them, and see them. We are creating a list here, by country, of the poets we find, with websites and blog connections, if we find them.We are also including some hip hop and rap poets as well. We hope that readers will send us suggestions of poets, especially if their poems are available in English, and that you will recommend web sites, blogs, available books etc. We see this as a resource, and a list to share, and we encourage you to join us in our search.Please check back once in a while, as I am adding names and contacts to this original posting.
Gary Lawless
Here we go:
Algeria
Mohammed Dib
Habib Tengour
Assia Djebar
Amin Khan
Jean Senac
Abdelmadjid Kaouah
Mohamed Sehaba
Botswana
T J Dema her blog here
Barolong Seboni
Derrick Zgambo
Dipako Sesianyane
Tshireletso Motlogelwa
Mandisa Mabuthoe
Lesego Nchunga
Andreattah Drea Chuma
Leshie Lovesong
Juby Peacock
and a great site to listen to individual poets reading their work here
Burundi
Ketty Nivyabandi Bikura
Cameroon
Joyce Batuo Ashuntantang website here!
Congo
Sony Labou Tansi
Mutombo Nkulu-N'Sengha
Egypt
Andree Chedid
Amal Dungul
Emad Fouad website here!
Ahmed Abdel Mu'ti Hijaz
Hisham al Jakh
Fatma Kandil
Iman Mersal
Ahmad Fu'ad Nigm
Abd el-Monem Ramadan
Salah 'abd al-Sabur
Himy Salem
Ahmed al Shahawi
Eritrea
Reesom Haile website here
Paulos Netabay
Saba Kidane
Ethiopia
Misrak Terefe
Abebaw Melaku
Mihret Kebede
Solomon Deressa
Surafel Wondimu
Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin
Gambia
Alhagie Fatty
Ghana
Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva her blog here
Kofi Anyidoho
Kofi Awoonor
Kwesi Brew
Guyana
Beatrice Archer
Kenya
Clifton Gachagua his blog here
Nqwatilo Mawiyoo website here!
Sitawa Namwalie
Mukoma Wa Ngugi website here
Tony "Smitta" Mochama
Jared Angira
Njeri Wangar great blog here
Phyllis Muthori
Nkirote Laiboni
Wanjohi wa Makoha
Libya
Saber Fitouri
Ashur Etwebi some poems here
Malawi
Frank Chipasula
Lupenga Mphande
Jack Mapanje
Morocco
for a selection of poems by contemporary Moroccan poets go here
Abdellatif Laabi
Tahar Ben Jelloun website here and hit the translate button
Fouad Laroul
Abdehhak Serhane
Hassan El Ouazzani
Mohammed Bennis
Malika al-Assimi
Mozambique
Mia Couto
Namibia
Mvula ya Nangolo
Nigeria
Yusuf M Adamu blog here
Chris Abani website here
Ben Okri myspace here
Sefi Atta her website here
Zaharaddeen Ibrahim Kallah blog here
Toyin Adewale
Niyi Osundare an interview here
Abdul Rasheed Na Allah
Wole Soyinka website here
Uche Nduka
Chinua Achebe website here
Stephen Ajadi
Tolu Ogunlesi website here
Toni Kan
Lola Shoneyin website here and her blog here
Christopher Okigbo website here
Tanure Ojaide
Denja Abdullahi
Ismail Bala
Sulaiman Zailani
Khalid Imam
Tijani Muhammed Musa
Bello Sagir Imam
Safiya Ibrahim
Aisha Zakari
Nabila Ahmed Rufai
Senegal
Leopold Senghor
Alioune Badara Coulibaly
Amadou Lamine Sall
Sierra Leone
Syl Cheney Coker
Oumar Farouk Sesay
Somalia
Ladan Osman - a poem and interview here
Warsan Shire her music blog here and her tumblr
here
Cristina ali Farah
K'naan website here
Abdirashid Omar news here
Ali Jimale Ahmed
Mohamed A Eno
South Africa
Dennis Brutus
Breyten Breytenbach
Antjie Krog
Pikuta Ntuli
Lebo Mashile
Mari Pete website here
Concord Nkabinde
Gabeba Baderoon website here
Busiswa Gqulu
Ronelda Kamfer
Geina Mhlophe
Natalia Molebatsi website here
Kobus Moolmen
Mzi Mahola website here
Daniel Kunene
Tijan M Sallah
Sipho Sepamla
Es'kia Mphahlele
Jeremy Cronin
Tatamkhulu Afrika
a great Cape Town literary journal Chimurenga here
Sudan
Al Saddiq Al-Raddi poems here
Ladu Jada Gubek
Hassan Awad Aboulela
Lost Boy Onam Liduba
Swaziland
Sarah Mkhonza blog here
Jazz P
Tanzania
Charlotte Hill O'Neal - Mama C
Haji Gora Haji
Euphrase Kezilahabi
Tunisia
Tahar Bekri
Aboul el Kacem Chebbi
Mustapha Khraeif
Abdelwahab Meddeb
Hedi Kaddour
Adel Hammani
Jamila Mejri
Amina Said
Muhammad al-Ghazzi
al-Munsif al-Wayhabi
Salah Garmadi
Uganda
Okot p'Bitek
Timothy Wangusa
Zimbabwe
Tsitsi Jaji
Mbizo Chirasha website here and blogspot here
Comrade Fatso (Farai Monro) website here
Julius Chingono
Chenjerai Hove
Tendai R Mwanaka blog here
Batsirai Easther Chigama her website here
Chirikure Chirikure web here
Musa Zimunya
Sam Mtamba
Innocent Fungurani aka Answer, formerly know as Police State
Bhekumusa Moyo his blog
here
Thanda Richardson
Dikson Slamajamjar his site here
Cynthia "FlowChyld" Marangwanda
Roxanne "Xapa" Mathazia
Wadzani "BlackPearl" Chiuriri
Barbara "Breezy" Anderson
Madzitateguru
Fungai Machirori
Blessing Musariri
Ignatius Mabasa
Ethel Kabwato
Mgcini Nyoni
Aura Kawanzaruwa
a great source of recordings of African poets reading here
africa writing journal here
african poetry web here
