Poetry

Notes

Poetry, very angry poetry indeed …

Rafeef Ziadah is a Palestinian-Canadian poet and human rights activist, who currently lives in London. She is followed by Zimbabwe born Takunda Muzondiwa, a student of Mount Albert Grammar School in Auckland, New Zealand andMwende Katwiwa a Kenyan Queer Womyn speaker, performer, touring poet, author and social-justice speaker, based in the US. The Djapu writer from Yirrkala in East Arnhem Land, Melanie Mununggurr-Williams is one of the around 4600 speakers of Yolnu-Matha, a Yolŋu language spoken by Aboriginal Australians in the Northern Territory. Kerry Washington, US-American actress, producer, and director performs the famous speech that was once delivered extemporaneously by Sojourner Truth, (1797–1883). Born into slavery, she gained her freedom in 1826 and became an abolitionist, women’s rights activist and venerated anti-slavery speaker. US-American poet and teaching artist Natalie Patterson pays tribute to Maya Angelou (1928 –2014) a US-American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. While her seven autobiographies greatly influenced female writers in the 1970ies, her poetry has also inspired the modern hip-hop music community including rapper, singer, songwriter and Trinidad born actress Nicki Minaj. She is followed byEbony Stewart, a US-American touring performance artist and sexual health activist and by poet Rafeef Ziadah again. Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, a Marshall Islander poet, performance artist and educator concludes the programme.