The Nigerian German writer and performer Olumide Popoola is part of a burgeoning African German cultural scene. As a poet she weaves her different voices into complex, politically charged spoken-word performances. Her themes are political conflict and issues of national identity, but also experiences of space and of healing. She has performed internationally as a solo artist and in ensemble collaborating with musicians, visual and performance artists and other poets. Her deliverance is inspired by different forms of expression such as Hip Hop, Jazz Poetry and African story telling traditions.
In Germany she is known especially in connection to the anthology ‘Talking Home. Heimat aus unserer eigenen Feder. Frauen of Color in Deutschland' which she edited with Beldan Sezen (blue moon press, Amsterdam 1999).
'Talking Home' became an important anthology, moving many as it was the first book bringing together creative writing explicitly by women of colour in a German context.
(see below).
In 2004 Olumide Popoola won the May Ayim Prize for Poetry, the first International Black German Literary Award.
Her work has been published in magazines, newspapers and anthologies since 1988 in Germany, Slovenia, South Africa and Nigeria.
Academic analysis about her work has been published as early as 1999, for instance in "Aufbrueche, kulturelle Produktionen von Migrantinnen, Schwarzen und juedischen Frauen in Deutschland" (Ulrike Helmer Verlag 1999, Gelbin, Konuk und Piesche (Ed.).
Olumide Popoola’s work has been featured on various radio programs in Germany, the Netherlands and Slovenia and she has appeared on different, smaller TV programs with her work in Germany. 'this is not about sadness- a fragment' has been translated to Czech.
Recent work:
In 2006 she was invited on a performance and reading tour in the US organized by the conference 'Remapping Black Germany, new perspectives on Afro German history, politics and culture' in conjunction with the Goethe Institute Boston.
In 2007 she was fortunate to work with Pops Mohamed in Norway. Further collaboration is planned in the near future.
She is part of the artists featured in the documentary 'More than skin deep(Black Germany- Artistic perspectives)' by Urban Affinity which premiered in October 2008 in London.
She is also featured in the exhibition and accompanying catalogue 'Homestory Deutschland. Schwarze Biografien in Geschichte und Gegenwart' - 'Homestory Germany, Black Biographies in Past and Present' as one of the Black personalities in some ways impacting on Afro German life. The exhibition is currently touring Germany.
She holds a BSc in Ayurvedic Medicine and lives in London.
"Ms. Popoola has a professional voice fit for the stage and broadcasting and thus by far exceeds the usual quality of readings given by authors. In addition, her great musicality allows her to deliver her poetry in wonderful interaction with music. Though subtle in spirit, her work appeals to any lay audience and is at once driven by strong emotional content and cool intellectual irony. Her work addresses her complex background and experiences as a bicultural Nigerian German but is not limited to political reflections on identity. It also displays a great deal of humor, satire and lyricism, speaking to contemporary life in general."
Matthias Konzett, Tufts University 2006
hey, its been some time since i passd thru..... the keeping poem is beautiful and the bass underlines the rhythm very nicley.... hope all is well in ur world.... so from poet to poet i thought i'd share this clip from a set i playd in berlin not long ago... hope u n-joy:)
