Date: Sunday 26th April 2026

Venue: Watershed (W3)

Time: 18:00 - 19:30

Tickets: £5 / £3 / FREE

✅ Live Streamed (book a ‘Live Stream Ticket’ at checkout)

✅ All Lyra Fest venues are wheelchair accessible. Access Information Pack available at www.lyrafest.com.

Roots, Resonance and African Heritage

Presented in partnership with Ujima Radio, and in association with Poetry Africa

For Lyra Festival’s closing event, join Ujima Radio for a dynamic evening showcase of established, emerging, national and local poets and spoken word artists of African Heritage. 

With performances from Theresa Lola (Ceremony for the Nameless) and Joladé Olusanya (Jabez Incarnate) whose latest books both explore culture, memory and history through a Nigerian-British lens. These striking and lyrical texts reflect on belonging, ancestry, and tradition across places and generations, asking how these shape names, expectations and diasporic experiences. 

The event will also feature performances from Bristol-based poets and artists, including Muneera Pilgrim, Blackout Ja and Ripton Lindsay, and a virtual reading in partnership with Poetry Africa in Durban. Hosted by Corrd The Seeker. 

Plus a short video poem from Zewande Bk. Bhengu, courtesy of Poetry African in Durban.

Ujima Radio:

Ujima Radio is the leading Arts and Media social enterprise that primarily serves Afrikan Heritage communities in Bristol and the South West.

Theresa Lola:

Theresa Lola is an award-winning poet and artist. She has performed at the ICA, Royal Albert Hall, and Jazz Cafe. Her second poetry collection Ceremony for the Nameless was awarded the Derek Walcott Poetry Prize. The book uses names as a philosophy to explore memory, collectiveness, growth, and the constructed self. A poem from her first collection In Search of Equilibrium is studied in the UK’s GCSE syllabus. The collection explores memory, grief, and resilience. She has been commissioned to write for The National Gallery, Selfridges, Nest New York, and Rimowa. Theresa is also the founder of Your Envoi, a lifestyle brand that uses poetry inspired principles to create tools for mindful living. She infuses creativity into the wellness tools, designing them to deepen human connection and bring enlightening discoveries. 

Joladé Olusanya:

Joladé Olusanya is a British–Nigerian poet, filmmaker and photographer based in London. His debut pamphlet Jabez Incarnate, published by Out-Spoken Press, traces faith, family, migration and inheritance through an intimate, narrative-driven lens that runs throughout his work on the page and on screen. He was a finalist in the inaugural Young Poet Laureate for London programme, a winner of the Out-Spoken Prize for Poetry, , their Performance Poetry Prize and the Poetry London Prize (3rd Place). His poems have appeared in The Poetry Review and numerous anthologies, and he has been commissioned by organisations including the Roundhouse, BBC 1Xtra, Barbican, Transport for London and BET. He has performed globally and toured with the likes of US poets Jasmine Mans and Rudy Francisco. In recognition of his contribution to contemporary British poetry, he was invited to Buckingham Palace for a reception with the late Queen Elizabeth II. He is an alumni of the Barbican Young Poets, Obsidian Foundation and Malika's Kitchen.

Beyond the page, Joladé is the founder of By The Kin, a production studio and creative home for films, visual projects and community-centred work. His photography practice spans portraiture, music and street culture, informed by the same attention to intimacy, atmosphere and everyday beauty that shapes his poems. He regularly facilitates work-shops with young people and emerging artists, using poetry and storytelling as tools for reflection, dialogue and possibility.

Blackout Ja: The Unstoppable Force of Reggae & Jungle

Born Christopher Hendricks in Portland, Jamaica, Blackout Ja is a veteran artist whose career spans the foundation of dancehall to the electrifying pulse of modern UK bass music. Mentored by legends like Dennis Brown and General Lee, his raw talent was first showcased with his hit debut "Question Man." He commanded the stage at major Jamaican festivals like STING and Sun Splash.

Today, Blackout Ja is an unstoppable force, seamlessly blending the sounds of reggae, dancehall, and jungle. He is a prolific collaborator, having teamed up with global artists on the drum and bass scene like Run Tingz Crew, Dread Squad, and Mongoes Hi Fi.

His recent output demonstrates his non-stop energy, with new albums and singles dropping consistently. His latest projects include the albums Keep On Rising and World Destruction (2023), and the anticipated 2025/2026 releases Black Pepper and Carnival Vibes (The Remixes). Recent singles like "Dancing Pro," "Never Run," and "Queen Majesty" keep him at the forefront of the music scene. Having performed at major events like Boomtown and Notting Hill Carnival, Blackout Ja continues to take his vibrant, genre-mashing sound to audiences worldwide, including an upcoming Europe Tour and a run of dates in Japan alongside the legendary Congo Natty.

Muneera Pilgrim:

Muneera Pilgrim is an Poet, Cultural Producer, Writer, Ujima Radio Broadcaster, Community Researcher, TEDx Speaker ,WOW Festival Speaker, and Obsidian Poet Alumni. Currently she is in residence at Bristol Old Vic until 2030 where she will write at least 2 plays. She performs, conducts workshops, guest lectures, hosts, and finds alternative ways to educate and exchange ideas while focusing on methodologies of empowerment for non-centred people. Muneera is a storyteller concerned with disrupting mainstream narratives. Rooted in spirituality Muneera uses poetry as a tool for community building, archiving, explorations, and change. This year she celebrates 5 years since her debut Poetry collection 'That Day She’ll Proclaim Her Chronicles’.

Ripton Lindsay:

Ripton Lindsay (Souls Liberation), DJ/MC/Poet Ripton, is a person who understood music and its power from a very early age. He was raised in a community where music is the cornerstone. Exposed to a wide range of music by his father - who listened to anything from Junior Murvin to Neil Diamond, Kano, Barbara Streisand and Desmond Dekker; Lipps Inc and Bill Withers to Falco – as a young teen he began to discover new musical experiences and tuned into performers like Todd Terry; Frankie Knuckles; The Shamen; Funky Four Plus One, De la Soul and everything in between! His love and understanding of music saw him begin DJing as a teenager and at a later age, working in clubs, resorts, private parties and parades in his home country of Jamaica. Ripton's talents took him to the UK in early 2001 where he based himself for 15 years before moving to Ireland in 2016. Since coming to Europe, Ripton has been a resident DJ for Revolution Bars and the Fez Club as well as worked in clubs across the UK and in many other European countries. His signature shows – Soundscape and World Beats (with DJ Metisse) - were regular features at The Croft and Big Chill Bar in Bristol, where he also held residencies. Ripton has showcased his talents at major festivals around the world and performed with acts like Afrika Bambaataa of Zulu Nation; Daddy G/Massive Attack; Lee Scratch Perry; Mim Sulieman; Aquasky; Freq Nasty; Mr. Benn; and many other world-class artistes, producers and performers. Audiences are taken on a true musical journey through popular tunes, underground music, obscure pieces and his own productions. Ripton offers audiences a truly uniting experience, he is a purveyor of deep, infectious dance grooves that create a genuine feel-good atmosphere.

Zewande Bk. Bhengu

Zewande Bk. Bhengu is a multi-award-winning multi-disciplinary artist. As a spoken word artist, he has collaborated with numerous corporate brands and NGOs and has been crowned champion on several slam poetry stages. He is the author of Children of Ghosts, a poetry anthology that interrogates race, masculinity, and the power of art. In 2025, Zewande Bk. Bhengu was crowned the Poetry Africa National Slam Champion.

Part of Lyra – Bristol Poetry Festival 2026

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