New Voices, New Media: Class Consciousness, Sex, and Politics in Online Nigerian and Kenyan Poetry

Abstract

This essay examines some of the emerging themes in online Nigerian and Kenyan poetry in English. Focusing mainly on identity politics as it relates to some of Africa’s emerging voices, in addition to the politics of the postcolonial state, it analyses the way in which new technologies allow poetry to robustly capture the instability of class in addition to allowing poets to represent conventional and controversial issues. Moreover, it argues that poetry in a digital age is also helping Africans who can afford to be online, develop richer forms of interaction because the most significant trend in African use of the digital space is the increasing use of the various multimedia forms available.