Poetic license

By Chiquitta

There has been a lot of talk and non-constructive criticism about poets and the burgeoning poetry culture in Nairobi. Bloggers and columnists (most likely still weaning themselves from the Moi era) have slammed the trend calling it a pub fad and claiming it’s better left to high school students.

Some of the so-called critics have gone on to claim the only true poet was William Shakespeare, no doubt having never read or heard of Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, Lebo Mashile, Saul Williams or even the less recent and departed Edgar Allan Poe and Sylvia Plath.

Maybe in high school the so-called critics were not fans of poems by Okot p’Bitek, therefore, have no appreciation of Africans telling their own stories. They claim that today’s poets are a little too fond of dramatic pauses. Me-thinks they have not really watched high school choral or solo verses, then and only then will they truly understand the meaning of dramatic pause (and pose depending on the subject matter).

Styles

They also claim that rappers are the real poets not knowing that rap came from poetry and that there are poets who wear the rapper hat and vice-versa and given the chance can out rhyme Kenya’s top ten rappers any given day. It also ceases to amaze me that they think these poets have no grasp of alliteration, consonance, similes, metaphors or imagery. The critics think that by throwing in words like diphthong (the occurrence of two vowel sounds like in eye or boy) makes them sound smart.

It’s time some of these so-called cultural pundits got schooled on the latest anti-establishment establishment and learn a thing or two. Remember, people fear what they don’t understand and hate what they can’t conquer.

To begin with, poets don’t walk around claiming to be the best, there are good poets, okay poets, and poets whose work is better read than said. Bad poetry, just like trashy blogs, ill researched opinions and wack a**rappers do exist. Good poets are not hard to find and, just like art or music, it depends on what you are looking for.

It’s an art that’s not about to get shut down and a big sign is it’s diversification; there are poets who use traditional musical instruments, poets who retain the old school style of recital, poets who prefer intimate spaces, competitive poets and creative writers who happen to write poems.

Unfortunately or fortunately (because who wants haters at their reading), most of these commentators only attend a single event, which they then use as a gauge to judge all poets and poetry events. At the moment poetry events are a dime a dozen, some are perfectly organised while others could do with some work especially when it comes to sound and presentation. By the way, that’s what constructive criticism looks like.

Another thing many people fail to understand is the different types of poetry events that exist. It’s not just a pub thing; poetry events take place in cafÈ’s, cinemas, theatres and libraries. And when it comes to jargon, these self appointed poetry experts keep shooting themselves in the foot. Here’s a brief…

Reading Space — a forum where poetry and writers meet to share and compare their work.

Open mic: The most common, works with a sign up, first-come first-serve basis and features recited poetry, performance poerty, spoken word poetry and so on.

Spoken word: This is poetry recalled from memory and articulated by the poet and sometimes recorded.

Performance poetry: The oldest form of poetry and the kind found on high school festival stages is poetry creatively written and rendered for presentation.

Slam poetry: Competitive poetry that has judges pre-appointed or chosen from the audience.

Poetry recital: The reading of poems written by the poet or from another published or unpublished poet.

From shyly performing at open mics to performing at international events and publishing their own books, Kenya’s young poets are rising and why shouldn’t they, it is their poetic license.