TEDx
Communicating via poetry | Afra Atiq
There is something enlivening, mystical, and hard about slam poetry. The beats, the cadence drives my head to move in unison. It pokes me to shuffle my feet. The poets can spit their words so quickly that I have to strain to keep up. I grew up before Rap Music so I have never developed the second nature ability to understand the words and phrases as they spill out of the rappers mouth. The same for slam poets. But, I want to understand it. To feel it before the words and music fall into my ears.
This is why I feature as much Spoken Word as I can find. I discovered Afra on the TEDx channel.
Afra is the first Emirati female spoken word artist and slam poet. She has been featured on local and international stages (including the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, USA). She was named Best Performer for 2015-16 by Rooftop Rhythms and, most recently, the first Emirati to ever perform at the legendary Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe in New York. In addition, Afra is the only Emirati to perform at the Bowery Poetry Club and win the PoetsNY poetry slam at the same venue.
