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Abaantu Festival Author Session: Star Zahra
September 29 at 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Join us for a talk with Nigerian poet and textile artist, Star Zahra, as part of the Abaantu Festival Author Sessions.
“African art has always been distinctive in the way it tells our stories. It is often marked by explosive colour, language and layered notions of time. It cuts into things with remarkable sharpness, carrying an urgency and a wildness that refuses to look away.
My work has always sought to understand why things are the way they are on this continent: why beauty takes the forms it does, why pain lingers as it does, and why the human tendency to cling—to memory, to hope, to people—can be portrayed so vividly that it seems to leap from a page or a piece of fabric and touch another person’s soul.” ~ Star Zahra
Session schedule:
- Monday, September 28: Author reading with Sakiru Adebayo, “Wildfire Verses” Poetry Collection
- Tuesday, September 29: Nigerian poet and textile artist, Star Zahra (online)
- Thursday, October 1: Maasi land activist and author, Maison Ole Nkurrunah (online)
- Friday, October 2: Local authors Umar Turaki and Miracle Adebayo (in-person)
- Saturday, October 3: Inspiring New Knowledges with the Girlship Collective (online)
This series is organized by English and Cultural Studies Lecturer Joanna Cockerline and supported by the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies. It is part of the 2026 Abaantu Festival, organized by Kinfolk Nation. Abaantu: Festival of Stories unites diverse narratives through a week-long celebration of African and I-BPOC creativity, fostering connections across cultures. Join us to explore a rich tapestry of artistic expressions that include spoken word, music and visual art, all while engaging in meaningful dialogues and community building.
