Show up. Write. Play.
A living wall for the collective — a fresh challenge every week, a prompt you can spin on demand, and a form to master. The stage is always open.
This week's dare.
Praise the one who raised you — without their name.
Post your piece and tag @alkebulanpoetry. Selected voices are featured on the wall next week.
Stuck? Let the continent choose for you.
Ten seconds. One line. Go.
Every prompt is rooted in African oral tradition — praise, proverb, place and memory. There are no wrong answers, only unwritten poems. Spin as many times as you like; keep the one that stings.
Learn a tradition, then break it.
Izibongo
Zulu praise poetry — layered names and images that build a person or nation line by line. Bold, spoken, meant to be heard standing.
Utenzi
Swahili narrative verse in tight rhyming quatrains — epic patience, one couplet at a time. Story is the engine.
Zajal
Sung, colloquial Arabic verse — call-and-response, improvised, alive with the crowd. Poetry as a duel and a party.
The wall refreshes every Monday.
Bring your chapter, your students, your open-mic night. Every challenge, prompt and form is free to use on stage, in class, anywhere African poetry gathers.
Add your voice to the collective.
Send us your challenge entries, or start a chapter that runs these locally.