Poetry Sessions

“Voices – Inside The Haunted House" by Prince Kamaazengi Marenga I is a poignant poem that delves into the deeply emotional and haunting experiences of the Ovaherero people as they journey towards the unmarked graves, shedding light on the spiritual and cultural significance of their ancestral connection. The setting is the forgotten and unmarked graves in Luderitz. The metaphor of the haunted house symbolizes the museums in Germany where skulls and sacred artifacts are stored against the wishes of the ancestors, serving as a powerful commentary on the ongoing legacy of colonialism and historical injustices faced by indigenous communities. This poem not only captures the sense of loss, grief, and displacement, but also serves as a testament to resilience, resistance, and the unbreakable spirit of the Ovaherero people. Through vivid imagery and poetic language that is drawn from rich Otjiherero orature, the poem invites readers to confront and face the ghost in the room and to reflect on the importance of reconciliation, restitution, and honoring the voices of those who have been silenced. It serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggles for justice, remembrance, and healing in the face of systemic oppression and historical erasure. It is a call for the repair actions that must take place towards Reparations.” Prince Kamaazengi Marenga

Written and performed by Prince Kamaazengi Marenga

“That That Vast Map Was Useless”* – Poetry performance by Logan February

Against the imaginary cartography of West Africa at the Berlin Conference, Nigerian poet Logan February answers from a future generation no longer beguiled by that colonial simulacrum. The faithless design in Europe’s mapping of Africa comes apart as the poet’s performance meditates on power, memory and time, landscaping a new reality over the tattered ruins of the Empire’s imagination.

*Title borrowed from a famous story by Jorge Luis Borges

Prince Kaamazengi Marenga is a Herero who has been dealing with the history and present of the Herero people and the genocide of the German colonial troops against the Herero and Nama from 1904 to 1908 in poetry and spoken word interventions for several years. He is a poet and author in the fields of poetry, journalism, and short stories. His book, P-O-E-M-S (2019) delves into the fundamental issues and dilemmas surrounding the complex social realities in Namibia and the Genocide. His narrative interests span film, theater, and interdisciplinary projects including Ovizire-Somgu, From Where Do We Speak? His work is not just a reflection but an embodiment of the enduring struggle and spirit of the Ovaherero people. Marenga lives currently in Sedelsberg Saterland, in the North of Germany.

Logan February, born in 1999 in Anambra, Nigeria, is a non-binary poet, essayist, singer, songwriter and LGBTQ activist. In addition to publications in literary magazines, Logan has so far published three volumes of poetry – How to Cook a Ghost (2017), Painted Blue with Saltwater (2018), Garlands (2019) – and the volume of poetry In the Nude (2019), some of which have been translated into Spanish, Italian and Dutch. In 2020, Logan February was awarded the Future Awards Africa Prize for Literature. In spring 2024, the anthology Mental Voodo was published by Engler Verlag in German, English and Yoruba. Logan February has been a fellow in the DAAD’s Berlin Artists’ Program since the beginning of 2024 and has performed in Berlin at the Afrolution Festival, the African Book Festival, the ILB, the Poetry Festival and the Literary Colloquium.