Language and Poetry, pt 1

CELCE is delighted to announce the first of the poetry and nature workshops. The event features poetry reading and discussions by Amita Sanghavi (poetry on the Omani mountains), Ahmed al-Mashikhi & Kamela al-Barmi (Shehret, Oman), Mercy Geno Apachi (Ugandan poetry), Jordan Megolonyo (Akholi poetry), Elena Vedernikova (Meadow Mari poetry), Katrina Porteous (Northumberland poetry):

About the Speakers

Amita Sanghavi holds an MA (TESOL) from Lancaster University, UK, where she studied as a British Council Hornby Award scholar and has attained her M. Phil (English Language and Literature SNDT Universisty, Mumbai), and MA (English Literature) from University of Mumbai. She teaches English at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. She has presented academic papers in the USA, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Malaysia, Japan, Egypt, Oman and India.

Poetry related activities/achievements:

• In 2018 she was honoured as the World Poetry Canada Ambassador to Oman.
• She has recited her poetry and also co-hosted Vancouver Radio show, World Poetry Café several times.
• In 2020 she was honoured as the Representative to Oman as pronounced by The Art Movement, 'Immage&Poesia' Italy
• Many of her poems have been published in various national and international magazines, anthologies and journals.
• Her first poetry book published was in 2018: Lavender Memories and other poems, launched at Indian Embassy Muscat. ·

Event: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTMONJJ4sJvV4zXbatD5-Qw/videos

• She recently won the best poet award International Poetry Contest, Savona Italy, for her poem ‘Daily self-reminder’. (Jan 2021)
• Amita has also co-edited an Anthology of poetry, “WORLD POETRY PEACEATHON’, (ISBN digital number: 978-1-926457-04-8) World Poetry International, Canada publication.
• A set of her poetry is taught at the BA and MA level English Literature course at the Akaki Tsereteli State University, Georgia
• She has recently judged the Bangladesh ‘Sahitto international award for Literature’ and several other poetry contests and debates. · Youtube: https://youtu.be/Wd9b3OziOOk · Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amita.sanghvi.1/

She lives in Oman with her daughter, who is her strength.

Kamela Al Barami is a poet and a PhD student at the University of Leeds. Her research is supervised by Prof Janet Watson and Prof Stephanie Dennison in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies. She has an MA from City University London in Media and Communications, and a BA in Communication Studies from Simon Fraser University, Canada. She has worked in Foreign Affairs for 5 years at the Embassy of Sultanate of Oman in London.

Ahmed al-Mashikhi worked at the department of Mass Communications, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat. He completed his BA and MA at Belarus State University, Russia, and his PhD at the University of Exeter, UK on Television in the Sultanate of Oman: its development, role and function in the Omani society. He is a member of numerous councils and committees, including State Council, where he is Chairman of the Culture, Information and Tourism Committee. From 1987–1998 he worked as Advisor to the Under-Secretary Office, at the Ministry of Information. He is a native speaker of Śḥerεt and Arabic and a fluent speaker of Russian and English.

Jordan Megolonyo is a Ugandan Lawyer, Poet, Creative Director and Drummer. Jordan Megolonyo comes from the Acholi tribe in Gulu District, Northern Uganda.

He is passionate about Alternative Dispute Resolution, Humanitarian law and is a lyrical poet. Jordan uses the lyrical mode of freestyle poetry to write and recite about Love, Politics, Nature, Culture and other relevant themes in our society today.

Jordan Megolonyo started writing poetry in 2004 and performing in 2013. He has consequently performed in the Northern, Eastern, Western and Central parts of Uganda. Jordan’s poetry is written and performed in his mother tongue- Acholi, Luganda and in English.

In 2019, Jordan Megolonyo founded The Clan, a poetry group in Kampala that uses poetry to celebrate the African Culture.

Jordan Megolonyo’s personal mantra is: “To be that which I desire to see.”

Mercy Geno Apachi started out with a journalism career in Senior six vacation at a local community radio station in Kitgum district known as Mighty Fire FM where she co-hosted a weekend show and later became their youngest English News Anchor.

She then joined Uganda Christian University where she joined the Inter Universities journalism competitions organised by Media Challenge Initiative and won her first award as Best Business reporter in 2015 , second runner up best English news anchor in 2016 , and was selected among the best 20 students to look out for in Journalism to join the first ever Media Challenge fellowship program in 2018

In 2017 she participated in the East African Students Film Festival held at Daystar University in Nairobi where she was first runner up in the Documentaries category for her story on Nodding Syndrome in Northern Uganda.

She was also a contributing writer to her class end of year film project and eventually later she acquired a Bachelors degree in Journalism on 2018 .

In an initiative with Konrad Adeneur Stiftung, Uganda and Media Challlenge she was picked as a student to go for a media trip in Berlin, Germany in 2019 of which she returned to be a part of a theatre fellowship with Tebere Emerging Artists lab where she wrote her first play “Ojwiny” a true story about journalism yet to be published.

She then had a short freelancing career with Daily Monitor where she contributed to their “My Wedding” blog and later went on to do Digital Marketing for Artfield Institute of Design, Uganda 2019-2020.

As a poet, Mercy has managed to stage two shows under the poetry group Echo Minds poets: One staged at the Uganda National Theatre named “She 4 She”, a show highlighting the woes of women and encouraging them and another staged at the German Institute, Goethe Zentrum named “We Silently Hurt” highlighting stories on depression.

As a solo spoken word artist, she has occasionally graced various prestigious platforms as Kwivuga, Ntebeza, Stubbon poetry, Ink-liners, Native voices, She is Hip hop as a workshop facilitator, Human Rights Conference 2019 organised by Chapter 4 UG, Women Leaders colloqium organised by Oxfam in 2021

In 2020, her poems I Want Humanity, My New Husband and Jailbird were published in an Italian Magazine named One Voice Global, A U.S anthology named “Home” and Writers Space Africa as the editor’s choice respectfully.

She has been a part of the African Writers Trust publishing process Residency programme in 2020 and Emerging Artists Theatre Lab residency workshop in 2019.

In 2021 Mercy was a poetry judge for Voluntary Support Organisation where poetry was submitted by youth to promote understanding and peaceful co-existance during and after elections.

Before that she was a poetry judge for Daughters of Makwena, a poetry competition in Malawi organised by Professor Timwa Lipenga.

Elena Vedernikova was born in 1982 in the Kugener village, in Mari El Republic (Russia). In 2004 she graduated from the Mari State University with MA in Mari and English (Mari El). In 2011 she defended her PhD thesis in Mari historical linguistics. From 2012 to 2015 she held a postdoc at the University of Tartu (Estonia). In 2019 she obtained her MA in English Studies (Applied Linguistics) at Eӧtvӧs Loránd University (Budapest, Hungary).

Since 2020 she has been working a teacher of English and Russian at the Department of Finno-Ugric Studies at Eӧtvӧs Loránd University (Budapest, Hungary).

Katrina Porteous is a poet and historian on the Northumberland coast. She writes of the ecology of place and community, especially local inshore fishing culture, in both standard English and Northumbrian, and is President of the Northumbrian Language Society. Her collections from Bloodaxe Books include The Lost Music (1996) and Two Countries (2014), and poems written for planetarium, Edge (2019).  www.katrinaporteous.co.uk. Check an example, See, an example of her poem Cubby.

See our Nature and poetry event flyer for more