the word supplement

Sekou Sundiata passes away

2007-07-20T07:55:00.000Z

One of the true legends of the spoken word, Sekou Sundiata passed away recently; a huge loss in s minute world. Mr. Sundiata was a poet and performance artist whose work explored slavery, subjugation and the tension between personal and national identity.

Read more about Sekou on NYT obituary » »

the Ghana effect

2007-03-06T06:55:00.000Z

i wrote a short reflection piece for the BBC Africa Beyond site for today, Ghana's Independence Day. check it out at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/africabeyond/africanarts/18150.shtml

been ages, but the word lives

2006-08-04T11:47:00.000Z

I know it's been forever, but my blogging habits are improving. This here is excerpted from another blog I started, but only the 'poetry relevant' stuff:

Last night I judged a youth slam at the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, London and, man... The kids were so good; they had questions lingering like dragonflies and families falling to pieces piece by piece with no peace and fell in love like gangstas fall in love with rims etc. Crazy. And there was a kid called Henry who lied about his age to get on a writing workshop (said he was 14 but was 12), who just blew us away with his performance. On my way to the slam I was reading on writing for kids so it was very enlightening to see the range of imagination and points of view on offer during the slam. Great night out. Heartening to know there's a new generation brewing all around the world in little workshops/events just like that...

x jazz reviews: OPINION: jazz FM --> smooth FM

2005-11-06T04:31:00.000Z

x jazz reviews: OPINION: jazz FM --> smooth FM

If only it was as clear as a metaphor!

2005-10-24T00:27:00.000Z

As you can see, i am indeed terrible at this blogging thing. I guess I have to summarise 6 months in six lines:

Been amazing
In Denmark met Mark Kelly Smith who originated the Slam in the US - excellent to talk to
In London one of my favourite events of the year has been September's African Writers' Evening
One of Jack Mapanje's poems said something about even the dust being subtle in England - classic!
Bringing the House Down has been another highlight, very successful tour with revealing performances from new poets.
Overall, I think my development of the year has been the trend I see in young poets to start working on a collection, that and the cellar - whenever I go I have a great time...

Stay well and keep speaking the word...

welcome to the supplement

2005-05-15T22:46:00.000Z

Hey,

I've started this blog in response to many people's request for me to start a blog to supplement the old-skool word page I manage on x-bout.com, so, welcome I hope you enjoy it. I'm not sure it will make me post more stuff, but I'll TRY!

Nii