Loraine Masiya Mponela publishes her second poetry collection NOW I SING to mark her 50th birthday.
Coventry-based writer, performer and activist Loraine Masiya Mponela has published her second poetry collection NOW I SING to mark her 50th birthday. It follows the success of her first collection I WAS NOT BORN A SAD POET which has sold more than one thousand (1, 000) copies, and is still counting.
NOW I SING can be bought via Amazon
Loraine says “It’s a chance for me to share my personal journey as well as celebrate all our collective journeys and showcase my gratitude to the world at large.”
Loraine was born and raised in Malawi. She worked as a Lecturer at Malawi College of Health Sciences, Lilongwe campus. She came to the UK to study in 2008 and graduated with a Masters in Public Health (Merit) from the University of Leeds. Loraine claimed asylum in 2015 and was granted refugee status in 2022. She waited for 7 years to get recognised as a refugee, whilst volunteering for a range of organisations including Coventry Asylum and Refugee Action Group (CARAG), Baobab Women Project and Migrants Organise.
She has been writing poetry since June 2020, and also performs as a poet and as a comedian with the No Direction Home stand-up comedy collective including at London’s prestigious SouthBank Centre and Soho Theatre.
“Loraine Mponela is a national treasure” Tom Green, Counterpoints Arts
“I read with excitement all these beautiful poems covering so many varied topics: friendship, solidarity, activism, hope and support, culture, sadness…
Reading “Ubuntu” filled me with joy.
‘Ubuntu
is who I am
and
there is no I
without we’
Loraine is a proper example of Ubuntu! If the decision-makers of the UK immigration policy had “Ubuntu,” Loraine and many others would not have to live in limbo for years.” Alphonsine Kabagabo, Women for Refugee Women
“Wherever Loraine is, connections are made, communities develop, warmth and care grow.” Dr. Moira Dustin, Women in Refugee Law
LAUNCH DATE: Saturday 27 January 2024
TIME: 2-4.30pm
VENUE: Methodist Central Hall,
Warwick Lane, Coventry CV1 2HA
(We are on ground floor, Lower Hall)
Contact: Laura Nyahuye: lauranyahuye@maokwo.com
Loraine Masiya Mponela: activistlorainemponela@gmail.com