Njamba Koffi is a talented poet, musician and writer originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. When Njamba was 11, he and his family, like millions of others, had to flee the DRC. They stayed briefly in Tanzania, then in Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi until finally settling in Eswatini, where Njamba helped set up a youth group in the camp.
His book, ‘Refugee, The Journey Much Desired’ is based on this part of his life and he’s currently working on another part of his autobiography and a book of poetry from his new home in Canada.
He tells us more about these projects in the interview, reads his beautifully crafted poetry (‘Encounter’, ‘Two Waves’, ‘A Flight’, ‘On Life and Death’) and gives his thoughtful analysis on writing, migration and activism – including advice for writers and how the literature industry can be more inclusive of black, refugee and other structurally marginalised voices.
His book Refuge-e: The Journey Much Desired is available online. One of the organisations Njamba is an advisor to – Amala – works with refugee communities to provide education in camps. And another group he works with UBC Africa Awareness Initiative Here’s also a great interview he did with Elie Bahhadi of Jumpstart Refugee Talent.
