B.Born in Zambia in 1987, poet and writer Kayo Chingony moved to Newcastle when she was six. In 2017, she published her first book of poetry. KumkandaWinner of the Dylan Thomas Award and the Somerset Maugham Award. his second collection, blood condition, was published last year, and in July he was made a Fellow of the Royal Literary Society.he presents decodingthe UK version of the US hit podcast dissect, he analyzes UK rap albums one track at a time. At last month’s British Podcast Awards, decoding It won Gold in the Best Entertainment and Smartest Podcast categories.
1. Shopping
heritageDumbo, New York
Now the possibility of world travel is open to us again.I’m back to my former pastime.Shopping for records in faraway places.Recent salsa from Colombia and in this place I’m particularly happy with hard-to-find rap, R&B, and disco records. My friend Ron from Brooklyn told me about black-owned record stores. It is a place of pilgrimage in record-collecting mythology because it is brand new. It was beautiful: not too much stock, not too little. A comfortable place to sit. And a nice rotating mechanism shelf that I keep wanting to recreate at home.
2. Hobbies
movie photo shoot
With lockdown stripped of my pre-Covid daily routines and events, I tried to use my running shoes but quickly got injured. Itching for activities that would take me out of the house, I bought a film camera on a whim and went back to what I was doing as a kid: taking pictures with a film camera. As a form that insists on slowness, attention to detail, and above all, patience, it’s the kind of mindful exercise I’ve missed over the years. Rarely.
3. Music
Art: Benny Sings
This album has probably my favorite R&B flavored pop song, Realize. In my opinion, this is one of the best recent examples of the hybrid space between pop songs, R&B squats, and hip-hop. Persistent drum grooves, graceful vocals, and perennials in the lyrics: lost love and a quest to regain it. Well-worn themes turn refreshing in Benny Sings’ sweet and pure voice. I’ve been looking for this on vinyl (at an affordable price) for years. Imagine my delight when it was re-released by Benny Sings himself.
4. Artwork
Ndongbod To Lazarina Matsuta
On my recent return to Zambia, I was fortunate enough to visit the 37d gallery in Kabulunga, Lusaka. This is the picture that sticks in my mind. Wow. The canvases are bright and dominated by powerful female figures gesturing towards the life of her ancestors and the lore of her tribe, complicating the conception of her contemporary artistic style. I love this picture and more generally her 37d. From the moment I saw this painting, I couldn’t stop thinking about the light falling on the trees in the courtyard and spilling into the café.
5. Make a reservation
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett.
I get sent a lot (and I mean a lot) of books. It’s hard to know where to start.But by chance a colleague [Chingonyi is a poetry editor at Bloomsbury] Alexis Kirschbaum kindly sent me this collection of essays by Ann Patchett. Two articles have completely captivated my imagination. Patchett writes like an eloquent, sharply intelligent, linguistically gifted friend. Someone who knows exactly where she should put each emphasis.
6. Events
Medellín International poetry festival
Medellín lies at the crook of two mountains and I instantly fell in love with the place. The festival, run by a team dedicated to building kinship, crystallized this love. Poets from the Latin world recite alongside poets from Europe and the African continent, building a sense of a small but imaginatively expanding global village. There is something esoteric and very human about coming together to test the limits of language in this traditional way. I will definitely be back.