Today, Somewhere In Nakuru, a group of Poetry lovers would be gathering at Agora for what would have been the 77th show on @NakuruUpgrade calendar. Loosely translated, today we celebrate 7 years. #UpgradePoetryAt7

Back when I was 18, I knew I wanted to write and perform Poetry. I was still in Nakuru and honestly, Spoken Word was some sort of foreign art. Unheard really.

With nowhere else to showcase my Poetry apart from church services and friends who would care to listen, I hit up my two friends. People who really loved my Poetry back then and genuine art lovers and shared the idea of an event. They were game.

@simon_dox and @uba_wilson were sold but since we didn’t have anything. Little knowledge on how to start and run an event, we decided to be texting our contact list some dope lines and signing it off with the #UpgradePoetry tag line. We started doing this in 2012. The texting.

We texted people for a whole year. We didn’t know what we were doing until it caught on. When I came to Nairobi late 2012 to pursue my Film Production studies, I was introduced to a bigger and what seemed to be a more structured way of Art and Poetry.

People here were going to events. Open mics were a norm. Concerts were full of people who loved to listen to Poetry and I was amazed. So I began learning and observing and passing that knowledge to my two friends back in Nakuru.

When possible, Uba and Simon would come attend these events.

April 28th 2013.

We did our first ever Poetry event in Nakuru. And we named it #UpgradePoetry. And 7 years on, every last Sunday of every month for 7 years, This Poetry event has been going on.

A home of Poetry and art in Nakuru.

Today,

Knowing how many people have grown and made a life from this tiny platform. It makes me happy and as a founder, I’m glad to have impacted and started a culture in Nakuru where almost 200 people converge every month for Poetry.

#UpgradePoetryAt7