STORYMOJA

Badilisha! Poetry X-Change ° produced by the Africa Centre°, is an international poetry project based in Cape Town, South Africa. For the past 5 years poets from around the world and across the African continent have been featured at our annual festival engaged with wider audiences and local poetry networks via dynamic interactions in the form of workshops, discussions and multi-media collaborations.

Badilisha! Poetry X-Change is now proud to announce a brand new dimension to the live poetry project. We are soon to launch Badilisha! Poetry.com an online poetry radio station which will produce weekly podcasts of poets from Africa and the Diaspora. Our blog will also facilitate relevant poetry discussions and open the way for continued conversation amongst poets featured on the podcasts, greater exposure of the work of African poets to the world and to each other. Weekly shows will be presented by South African writer and performance poet Malika Ndlovu.

At our Africa Day celebration this past 25th May, guest poet Uche Nduka reminded all that “Africa is alive wherever Africans are living.” In this spirit, BadilishaPoetry.com aims to encourage, expose and celebrate the work of African and Diaspora poets, answering to the need for an Africa-centred platform where these African voices and works from all over the globe can be accessed and enjoyed, as well as serving as a networking space for these artists within and beyond the literary arena.
We hope that you will be as excited as we are about this initiative and we would like to invite you and/or your poetry network to submit recordings of their work to BadilishaPoetry.com for podcasting. Although the site will only be active from end November 2009 we are researching and connecting with the wealth of African & Diaspora poets in advance, to ensure that we have a steady flow of rich and diverse voices and styles represented.
See submission criteria and process below.
° Badilisha! is a Kiswahili expression : to exchange/ transform/ change.
° The Africa Centre is a section 21 company dedicated to supporting and celebrating the rich history and contemporary practice of African Arts and Culture www.africacentre.net

Submissions Guidelines
Poet/Poetry Selection Criteria
1. Poet being resident in Africa or be part of the African Diaspora.
2. Writing and Performance / Recital of the work being of a high standard with dynamic expression and strong vocal delivery.
3. Professional-quality recordings or private recordings including live performances , as longs as the sound quality is not compromised
4. Music vs. Voice Only. While pieces that contain music are accepted, the poet’s voice and poetry content must be the core focus. Also, if the piece is more “sung” than
“spoken”, it is likely to be more appropriate for a music platform than this poetry portal.
5. Number of Pieces. We encourage poets to make more than one submission, up to and including entire poetry albums since this assists us in selecting the particular
pieces best suited to our programme format. Some poets work may be featured three or four times each year, with pieces initially selected being broadcast in future
programmes.
6. Transcripts and translations. Should your poetry not be written or recited in English, we require you to submit a good translation of the text or a summary (a minimum of 1
paragraph and maximum of 1 page) on the essential meaning of the poem and any other information you feel is relevant in terms of the content style and source/s of
inspiration.
7. Additional Work Available. Poets wanting to be featured should be established enough to have an internet presence where our audience can take the next step and
learn more about them. Ideally, this means you have your own website/page containing your detailed profile and ideally products available i.e. CDs, books, etc. If
you are a poet without a website/page or products available yet, we suggest that you establish at least establish a facebook profile or mySpace page with a few pieces of
poetry posted to showcase more of your work.

How to Submit Poetry for Podcasting on Badilisha Poetry Radio
• Via a linked MP3 file: Use the “submit” link on http://badilishapoetry.com, where you can fill out a web form to make your submission. (Note: We don’t charge a fee for
submissions to Badilisha Poetry Radio) This process will expect you to have a downloadable MP3 file to which you can provide a link in the ‘Linked MP3 file’. NB:
MySpace pages are usually not appropriate, since the pieces cannot be downloaded there. If you don’t have a downloadable piece, consider one of the options below. Be
sure to fill out the form completely.
• Via www.YouSendIt.com: If you don’t have a direct MP3 link available, you can fill out the form at http://badilishapoetry.com/submit and then send the MP3 track(s) directly
to http://badilishapoetry.com using www.YouSendIt.com. This is a free service that will allow you to upload your file directly to us. Please be sure to add your full name
and contact details in the YouSendIt message field.
• Via email: Fill out the form at http://badilishapoetry.com/submit and then send the MP3 track(s) directly to project researcher Mimi Cherono Ng’ok mimin@africacentre.net . NB: Send only 1 MP3 per email to ensure that files are clearly identifiable and unlikely to result in timeouts during downloading. Please be sure to add your full name and contact details in the email message field.
• Via CD: You are always welcome to post CDs of your work directly to us. Be sure to include an e-mail address where we can contact you and/ or a website if you have one. Our address for sending CDs is:
THE PRESENTER: BADILISHA POETRY RADIO
C/O THE AFRICA CENTRE, 1ST FLOOR, 44 LONG STREET
CAPE TOWN, 8000, SOUTH AFRICA
Spread the Word!!!
We look forward to hearing from you and to celebrating your work on Badilisha! Poetry.com
MALIKA NDLOVU
Presenter : Badilisha! Poetry.com
Email: malikan@africacentre.net or presenter@badilishapoetry.com