Swiss poet and social anthropologist Andrea Grieder first came to Rwanda in 2005 for her PhD research.

Such was the impression that her one-month stay left on her, that she has since been returning to Rwanda twice each year. 

She organizes cultural and artistic workshops about Rwanda in her native Switzerland aimed at exploring the power of creativity in social transformation. 

In April last year, the poetic side of her led Grieder to organize a two-day workshop under the theme; Discovering the transformative power of poetic writing at the Goethe Institute in Kigali. The large turn up of local poets and writers at that event prompted her to organize the first Kigali Vibrates with Poetry event at the Landstar Hotel in Remera. 

The event returns this year, on January 30, this time at a new location; The Manor Hotel in Nyarutarama.

How did you conceive the idea for Kigali Vibrates with Poetry?

I first got into it about four years ago, in Switzerland, when I went on stage to perform and it was nice to do it.

Then I went to visit a friend in Australia who is also much into poetry. We went to poetry slams, and it was really interesting to see what sort of topics came up:

People spoke about everyday challenges, about fear, about love, about naturalization, violence, about the female body, about being a woman, and what makes people feel alive, and that’s also why I called the event Kigali Vibrates with Poetry because poetry is being alive and having this kind of energy that makes you move on in life. It makes you feel alive. 

I also realized that there are not many spaces for poetry in Rwanda. I started with workshops about two years ago, under the theme; Discovering the transformative power of poetic writing, and I still meet the people that participated and they are still into poetry, and it’s beautiful to see that they have continued to write, and that this kind of event can also encourage them even further.

Doing the event has been a journey, starting with the workshops, and then the first event at Landstar Hotel, then I met Kalisa Rugano, who has written a lot of theater plays, and I discovered that we shared this passion for poetry, and he was one of the judges at the first event.

After the first event I went to Switzerland and then I came back, and I was scouting for a suitable place for the next event when The Manor Hotel called me asking if I’m the one behind the last poetry event and if I could take it to their hotel and I agreed.

The case for poetry

I think that poetry has healing power. Sometimes you don’t know what is happening inside your mind but when you start writing things get clearer, and also you can have access to your intuitive strength, such that you can write out something without thinking, because thinking sometimes stops our connection to intuition.

When did you discover you were a creative writer/poet?

I think I have always been writing –not necessarily poems but what I can call poetic writing. People always told me that I was poetic. For me it’s about how I feel and how I am in the world, that when I write about things it’s poetic.

What can poetry lovers expect at the Kigali Vibrates with Poetry event?

The way the slam is organized is such that poets and poetesses are invited to make an inscription of two poems, then perform the first one, and then the jury will choose the best three. We also have a music session (Inanga) featuring the music of Rugiro, then the poets will perform the second poems, then it’s the audience who will choose the best, and that’s important because then they can also get in their opinion.

In Switzerland the winner of the slam gets a bottle of whisky and they share it on stage. In Australia they give some bottles of wine but they are not shared on stage. 

In Uganda they try to get very important prizes like school fees, and here we have fashion designer Francis Zahabu who contributed with some very nice designs, and also The Manor Hotel is sponsoring other prizes like gym and spa.

A word of advice to budding poets and poetesses

I think if you have something to say, then put it in a poem. If you have the talent, write your poem and share it.

Many people want to be stars, they want to be famous, but first you have to have something to say, then maybe you can start thinking of making it a career. But first you have to have something that you want to say, something that you want to bring out of your being.