Kwani? Open Mic April 2016 Edition

Featured Poet: Ivan Irakoze

MC: Cindy Ogana

Date: April 5^th, 2015
Time: 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Venue: The Phoenix Players, Parliament Rd, Inside Professional Centre
Entry: ​Kes ​300 at the door. Limited advance tickets only via Mpesa at Kes 200*.

*Simply select "Buy Goods" on your MPesa menu, enter the "Till Number" (56714) and follow instructions to complete transaction. Advance ticketing closes at 6pm.

Twitter: @KwaniOpenMic #KwaniOpenMic
Facebook: Kwani? Open Mic
Instagram: KwaniOpenMic

Ivan Irakoze first started writing poetry at the age of 11 and he has always had a love for the power of words and poetry in particular – whether written, spoken, or in music. His poetry is inspired by his personal experiences, his environment, and music.

Ivan first started performing spoken word poetry in March 2014 and has since done it on a consistent basis. He regularly performs at Kwani? Open Mic nights on every first Tuesday of the month and he is also the 58th Slam Africa King. Ivan has also had the pleasure of performing at numerous events in Nairobi including opening up for Nigerian-American spoken word artist, Bassey Ikpi’s show ‘Bassey World Live Nairobi’ in September 2015.

Besides being a poet and spoken word artist, Ivan Irakoze is also the head and co-founder of Ink Overflow, which is an organization focused on the youth, artists, and the promotion of art forms such as poetry, spoken word, and music. Ink Overflow currently holds monthly events called ‘Word Sessions’ every first Saturday of every month at the Paa Ya Paa Arts & Culture Centre from 2pm to 5pm which aim to: a) showcase talent to a new and growing audience; b) encourage self-expression from the youth which is a key factor in achieving any change in our society; and c) eventually show aspiring artists that you can make a good living off of your art.

You can find Ivan on social media (Facebook: Ivan Irakoze; Twitter: @IvanIrakoze; IG: @ivanirakoze) and check out his blog (www.museedivan.wordpress.com) which he updates weekly with a series titled ‘His Words My Muse’ that combines poems and paintings by Mitteiy.