Apples and Snakes present #ThisIsARuralPoet. An hour of poetry and conversation exploring how growing up in rural Britain impacts your work when your cultural heritage has deep roots elsewhere.
How does growing up in rural Britain impact a poet’s work when their cultural heritage has deep roots elsewhere? Poetry organisation Apples and Snakes presents an hour of poetry and conversation with three dynamic spoken word poets hosted by literary activist Rufus Mufasa
Rufus Mufasa – host
Literary activist Rufus Mufasa is a pioneering participatory artist who advocates hip-hop education and poetry development accessible to all. Lyricist, rapper and performance art poet, with an MA in scriptwriting.
Rufus is a Hay Writer at Work, supports several intergenerational projects, mentors men at Parc Prison and is planning her fourth visit to Finland, where she recently headlined the Helsinki Literature Festival. As well as being the first Welsh artist to perform at Ruisrock festival, she mentors Finnish beat poets, and now writes trilingually as a result.
Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa
Safiya is a British born Barbadian raised choreo-poet and PhD student at the University of Leeds in Cultural Studies. Her interdisciplinary art, braids dance and poetry on the page and stage.
Safiya is an Obsidian Foundation fellow and an Apples & Snakes/ Jerwood Arts Poetry in Performance recipient. Her work has appeared in a variety of journals including Poetry London, Poetry Review and Wasafiri.
Her debut poetry collection Cane, Corn & Gully (Out-Spoken Press) arrived in November 2022. Cane, Corn & Gully has been shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize and Barbados’ Gine On People’s Choice Book of The Year Award.
Malaika Kegode
Malaika is an award-winning writer, performer and creative producer based in Bristol. Her work is focused on uplifting and celebrating the overlooked and misunderstood. Beginning her arts career as a performance poet in 2014, Malaika has since developed her practice to encompass theatre, radio and film writing. In 2022, she was the recipient of the Kevin Elyot Award, and became writer-in-residence at the University of Bristol Theatre Collection.
Her gig-theatre show Outlier, an autobiographical piece about addiction and isolation in rural England performed with prog-rock band Jakabol was the first piece of new writing to appear on Bristol Old Vic’s main stage in 2021. Malaika’s work has been featured on BBC Radio 4 and Black Ballad.
Her poetry collections Requite (2017) and Thalassic (2020) are published by Burning Eye Books.
Saili Katebe
Saili Katebe is a Zambian-born writer, performer and workshop facilitator based in the South-West of England. His work stretches across disciplines, celebrating art as a means of bringing the community together and giving voice to ideas, ideals and moments. From Poet in Residence on Brunel’s SS GB to leading workshops for young people, he looks to support and explore the possibility for story.
Saili was a BBC Words First Finalist in 2020, BBC Poetry Slam Runner up and his poem Portrait of the Poet as Protest is featured on the BBC. He is the co-host of spoken word event Raise the Bar, Milk Poetry super slam winner and was long-listed for the Best Collaborative Work by Saboteur Awards 2022. Saili is signed to Nymphs & Thugs, the UK’s leaading spoken word record label