African Poets

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