Patricia Foster McKenley delivers a lecture for young Gambian writers, in Gambia, January 2017. Photo was taken by Clovis McKenley.

Poetry Readings / Workshops

Mboka Literature Festival 2017

Part of my assignment as the first Sable Lit-Mag Poet-in-Residence, was to participate in the first Mboka Literature Festival, held in Gambia in January 2017. This assignment, was an honour and complete privilege. The first event of the literature festival, was my first ever poetry event in West Africa, or indeed on the continent of Africa. I was a special guest and highly anticipated poet. During the space of one week, I delivered a lecture to the entrepreneurial and dynamic writing collective 'The Cloud', two workshops and read at the showcase event. My final workshop, held at the African Poetry Library a.k.a. The Mango Tree, challenged me as a poet and poet educator, but the outcome was probably the most amazing, rewarding teaching experience I have had so far as a poet. The output of work, considering the language barriers was phenomenal.

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