Kayo Chingonyi. Image from African Poetry Prize.

Zambian poet Kayo Chingonyi’s first full-length collection, Kumukanda, is receiving praise. The Guardian has hailed its “lyrical elegance” and “many nuanced portrayals and unflinching reflections.” Chingonyi’s poem, “The Colour of James Brown’s Scream,” was shortlisted for the Brittle Paper Award for Poetry. The author of two poetry pamphlets, Some Bright Elegance (Salt, 2012) and The Colour of James Brown’s Scream (Akashic, 2016), he was awarded the Geoffrey Dearmer Prize and has twice been shortlisted for the Brunel International African Poetry Prize, in 2013 and 2017.

In the video below, posted on Movingpoems.com, he and the poet-dancer-choreographer Sean Graham offer a dance interpretation of the coming-of-age rituals at the center of Kumukanda. The video is created by the director Fiona Melville and the producer-creative director Nathalie Teitler for the Dancing Words project. Its composition is by Gemma Weekes.

Watch it below or HERE.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=M_3sX8Nf22A%2520frameborder%3D0%2520gesture%3Dmedia%2520allowfullscreen