Thalassic

Malaika Kegode is a poet, promoter and workshop facilitator based in Bristol. She has performed around the UK at a number of celebrated venues, festivals and poetry events, such as Tongue Fu, Out-Spoken at The 100 Club, WOMAD, Boomtown Festival and BBC at the Edinburgh Festival. In 2017 she was support for Saul Williams at The Fleece. Malaika’s work tells of how we can find beauty and hope through the darkness. Her overall themes of family, mental health, addiction and love always have an undercurrent of optimism and strength. Her performance style has been described as “filmic” and “musical”. Malaika’s debut poetry collection Requite was published by Burning Eye Books in 2017.

In Thalassic, Malaika Kegode doesn't just illuminate the eternal marriage of music & poetry, she breathes it. These poems are both an anthem, free of restriction or page, but also a study in line breaks, showcasing the value of taking a moment before moving on. Kegode hides rhyme like easter eggs, wedged in the middle of rhythmic prose and lyrical movement-when the reader emerges, they are bound to be singing these poems aloud. - Olivia Gatwood; Malaika has made a concise collection with an intimate ease that slowly reveals many subtle profundities. The stories within are complicated: full of grief, sadness then finally, grace. Its form is playful and experimental, never letting the reader rest on their laurels. If you've ever had to redefine what love and life mean to you, these poems beg to be read again and again. - Vanessa Kisuule