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Dilaminou Theila strides confidently onstage in a working-class neighbourhood in Senegal’s seaside capital Dakar to recite free-form verses about love. “Like the prodigal son/I set out to discover the world and its seductions/But all I got was sorrow,” she declaims, in French, winning uproarious applause from about 50 slam-poetry enthusiasts.
Dilaminou Theila strides confidently onstage in a working-class neighbourhood in Senegal’s seaside capital Dakar to recite free-form verses about love. “Like the prodigal son/I set out to discover the world and its seductions/But all I got was sorrow,” she declaims, in French, winning uproarious applause from about 50 slam-poetry enthusiasts.
Popular across French-speaking Africa, slam has taken root in Senegal. In the Medina district of Dakar, dozens of slammers meet for "open mic" nights, after more than a year's interruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Senegalese artists find 'freedom' in slam poetry