Black Poet Miniature Challenge 2.0 Kwansaba Edition
Curated by Angel C. Dye, our 2022-2023 Shirley Graham du Bois Creative in Residence, the BPMC 2.0 challenged Black and African diasporic poets to compose and submit their original Kwansabas (a form of praise poem created 1n 1995 by Eugene B. Redmond.)
WHAT IS A KWANSABA?
The Kwansaba (Swahili: “kwan” = first fruit + “saba” = principle), as its name suggests, is an homage to the seven-day Kwanzaa holiday and its seven principles of unity, self-determination, collective work, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. It is made up of seven lines, each with seven words per line, and no words longer than seven letters. Think 7-7-7!
Check out all 31 featured poems below!
WHAT IS A KWANSABA?
The Kwansaba (Swahili: “kwan” = first fruit + “saba” = principle), as its name suggests, is an homage to the seven-day Kwanzaa holiday and its seven principles of unity, self-determination, collective work, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. It is made up of seven lines, each with seven words per line, and no words longer than seven letters. Think 7-7-7!
Check out all 31 featured poems below!
Black Poet Miniature Challenge: First edition
Curated by Marlanda Dekine-Sapient Soul, our 2021-2022 Shirley Graham du Bois Creative in Residence, the first Black Poet Miniature Challenge encouraged poets of all ages to write 15-syllable haikus and 31-syllable tanka poems. Check out all 43 featured works below!