The Poetics of African and African Diasporic Migration – Open Calls for Poems

[Ambrose Musiyiwa]

Greetings,

The Africa Migration Report Poetry Anthology Series is inviting poems (40 lines or less) and short prose (100 words or less) exploring:

• African and African diasporic migration and (im)mobility,
• how African and Asian refugees are being left to drown in the English Channel, and
• Edward Nkoloso, Afronauts and the 1960s Zambian Space Programme.

Because every day is Africa Day, we are accepting poems 365 days a year. 

We take the African diaspora to include all people of African descent in all the ways they define themselves, e.g. African, African American, African Asian, African Brazilian, African Canadian, African Caribbean, African Italian, African Latino, African Palestinian, Afropean, Afro Turk, Black, Black British, Black Canadian, etc.

The series was inspired by the Africa Migration Report: 2nd Edition (African Union and International Organisation for Migration, 2024). 

So far, we have edited and published two collections: Japa Fire: An Anthology of Poems on African and African Diasporic Migration (2024, edited by Munya R and I) and From Here To There (2025, edited by Nandi Jola and Omobola Osamor). More are on the way. 

To cover some of the costs associated with the work, we have a crowdfunding appeal. 

Any support you can lend us around this and in spreading the word about books in the series will be most appreciated.

Kind regards,

Ambrose Musiyiwa
Coordinator, Africa Migration Report Poetry Anthology Series 

Ambrose Musiyiwa | Coordinator, Forced Migration and The Arts (Blog), Journeys in Translation (Journal Article; Video Playlist), and The Africa Migration Report Poetry Anthology Series (Concept Note; Call for Submissions; Video Playlist; Funding Appeal) | (Ed.) [New Book] Japa Fire: An Anthology of Poems on African and African Diasporic Migration (CivicLeicester, 2024. Co-edited with Munya R from the migrants' rights collective, Regularise); Welcome to Britain: An Anthology of Poems and Short Fiction (CivicLeicester, 2023); Black Lives Matter: Poems for a New World (CivicLeicester, 2020)