More Fiya edited by Kayo Chingonyi

Edited by Dylan Thomas Prize-winning poet, editor, and DJ, Kayo Chingonyi, More Fiya follows in the footsteps of Lemn Sissay’s seminal The Fire People first published in 1998. 

In More Fiya, Chingonyi has drawn together his dream mixtape of both new and established voices including Janette Ayachi, Dean Atta, Malika Booker, Rachel Long, Roger Robinson, and Warsan Shire. The anthology balances quiet reflections on family and love with searing takedowns of the hostile environment and systemic oppression. Many of the poets experiment with form and language to address the haunting shadows of empire and colonisation while allowing for joyous examinations of diaspora. The collection is rich for its array of imagery, lyricism and rhythm which brings to life ancestral homelands throughout the African continent and Caribbean isles while also highlighting what it means to be Black and British in the 21st century.

In his introduction, Chingonyi acknowledges a rise in diverse Black voices being published, programmed, and lauded. However, he is careful to argue this move toward diversity is still in its infancy and visibility as a sign of systems changing cannot be where the work stops. More Fiya serves as a powerful reminder of what is possible when communities are given the opportunity to champion and celebrate themselves outside the confines of homogeneous understandings of poetics.

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Canongate Books, out now, £16.99