Artist
Ngwatilo Mawiyoo
Via Nairobi, Kenya
Poet, performer, actress and musician Ngwatilo Mawiyoo’s new research explores the lives of 20 rural Kenyan families over 200 days. She plans to share her experience on Kenyan and international radio, as well as via digital platforms, and thereafter publish a book of poems. Her critically acclaimed first collection of poems, Blue Mothertongue (2010), explores notions of identity as they manifest in her native Nairobi and the African diaspora. Mawiyoo has previously showcased her work on various international stages across Africa and Europe, and her writing has been translated into Swedish and German. She enjoys collaborating with musicians and other artists to collectively “tell” poetry in an aesthetic she dubs “Puesic” [pew-zik]. Her six-track E.P., Introducing Ngwatilo (2011), showcases some of her solo and music-based collaborations.
