Known more by her trademark ‘The Kenyan Poet’. Njeri Wangari is arguably Africa’s pioneer poet blogger. Her journey into poetry began in 2004 as a fledgling writer who was among an emerging breed of African poets riding the crest of a ‘new wave’ of keen interest among Kenyans in ‘spoken word’ performance born with the publication of Kwani! launched by the Binyavanga Wainaina. She represents Africa’s first generation of contemporary poets and is one of Kenya’s first spoken word artists.
“She is one of the most respected female poets in Nairobi today”. The Sunday Nation writer Joseph Ngunjiri says of Njeri, “Njeri Wangari has a powerful voice, and she knows how to put it to good use. Whenever she takes to the podium to recite a poem, she has her enthusiastic audience applauding all the way.” –Sunday Nation
Njeri authored her first anthology, Her book Mines & Mind Fields in 2010. The volume is an urban blues poetry collection whose 40 poems explore themes on Urban Blues, Love, Identity, Traditions, Cultural changes, Exploitation and Politics among others.
Read her full Poetry bio
Njeri is a prolific writer who started out as a blogger in 2004 and one of Kenya’s veteran bloggers & social media mavericks.
She frequently writes on Africa, technology, internet culture and the arts. Her articles, research and investigative reports have appeared on Al Jazeera, Fast Company, The Standard (Kenya) Business Standard, The Elephant, Global Voices, Tech Moran and Techweez among other publications.
In 2014, Njeri founded Afromum.com– a leading African parenting publication focusing on African women in their careers, lifestyle and parenting.
Some of the downloadable publications she has co-authored include; Free Basics in Kenya, Sports and gambling among youth in Africa, African Millennials, The state of the Internet in Kenya among others
Njeri is known for her prowess in shaping narratives, telling stories and using various digital mediums to amplify the voices of her fellow Africans. She has honed her skills in strategic communications and content creation through her experience having served in various roles at Cellulant, GeoPoll, East African Educational Publishers, Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE), iway Africa (formerly Africa Online) and Liquid Telkom (formerly Kenya Data Networks)
Her interest and work are at the intersection of technology with media, PR, arts, culture and advocacy in Africa.
Njeri now works as a full-time strategic communications consultant helping startups, organisations and individuals strategically build and position their brands online.
KenyanPoet’s podcast is a show that engages some of the most prolific and outspoken African creatives, thinkers, makers, and builders for candid conversations about weaving their own thread in Africa’s new identity through its host Njeri Wangari. On it, she explores how African creatives are finding their voice and asserting their agency through this digital, connected, and virtual world as she gets them to share how their work and expressions are reaching across all divides and bypassing traditional gatekeepers as they interrogate the past, forge a new identity, shape new narratives, re-imagine and create a bold future that is proud of what it means to be an African.
The podcast launched in July 2011 and became one of Kenya’s first podcasts earning the title ‘legendary’ from its listeners.
