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The Nigerian German author Olumide Popoola was born 1975 in Neuss. She has lived in Nigeria, germany, the Netherlands and England and spent various month in India and South Africa traveling and as a student.

Initially enrolling in a theatre course in Utrecht near Amsterdam she soon developed her unique poetic voice she uses on stage. In her appearances she weaves different voices into complex, politically charged spoken-word performances. Her themes are political conflict and issues of national identity, but also experiences of space and of healing.

She has performed internationally as a solo artist and in ensemble collaborating with musicians, visual and performance artists and other poets. Her deliverance is inspired by different forms of expression such as Hip Hop, Jazz Poetry and African story telling traditions. Visit www.cityofwomen-a.si for more information.

In 2004 Olumide Popoola won the May Ayim Prize for Poetry, the first International Black German Literary Award. Visit www.cybernomads.net
for more information on this award.

With Beldan Sezen she edited the book “Talking Home. Heimat aus unserer eigenen Feder. Frauen of Color in Deutschland”, blue moon press, Amsterdam 1999 which became an important part of writings by women of color in Germany.

Her work has been published in magazines and newspapers since 1988 in Germany, South Africa and Nigeria and in the anthology accompanying the May Ayim Award, published by Orlanda in 2004.

Academic analysis about her work has been published as early as 1999 in books such as "Aufbrueche, kulturelle Produktionen von Migrantinnen, Schwarzen und juedischen Frauen in Deutschland" (Ulrike Helmer Verlag 1999, Gelbin, Konuk und Piesche (Ed.).

Olumide Popoola’s work has been featured on various radio programs in Germany, the Netherlands and Slovenia and she has appeared on smaller TV programs with her work in Germany.

Most recently, in 2006, she went on a performance and reading tour to the US organized by the conference “Remapping Black Germany, new perspectives on Afro German history, politics and culture in conjunction with the Goethe Institute Boston. Visit http://www.goethe.de for more information on this conference.

A short feature of her is portrayed in the exhibition and accompanying catalogue ‘Homestory Deutschland. Schwarze Biografien in Geschichte und Gegenwart’.

She is currently working on a CD in collaboration with renowned musician Jean-Paul Bourelly which is due to be released in autum 2007.

Olumide holds a BSc in Ayurvedic medicine and lives in London.


"Ms. Popoola has a professional voice fit for the stage and broadcasting and thus by far exceeds the usual quality of readings given by authors. In addition, her great musicality allows her to deliver her poetry in wonderful interaction with music. Though subtle in spirit, her work appeals to any lay audience and is at once driven by strong emotional content and cool intellectual irony. Her work addresses her complex background and experiences as a bicultural Nigerian German but is not limited to political reflections on identity. It also displays a great deal of humor, satire and lyricism, speaking to contemporary life in general."

Matthias Konzett, Tufts University 2006

all rights reserved, please contact olumide popoola at msolumide@gmail.com