Sitawa Namwalie

Sitawa Namwalie is an award-winning Kenyan poet, playwright and performer known for her unique dramatised
poetry performances which combines poetry and traditional Kenyan music. “Cut off My Tongue,” was her first
production and was performed in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and the Hay Festival, UK. She has been a fellow of the
Sundance Theatre Lab and is currently a fellow of the Tallberg Foundation. Sitawa’s growing body of work includes
dramatized poetry productions and plays, “Homecoming” (2010), “Silence is a Woman”, (2014), “Black Maria on
Koinange Street”, “Room of Lost Names” (2015), “Taking my Father Home” (2020), Escape a musical (2021), articles
and short stories.
Sitawa has worked with the United Nations and the World Bank. She currently earns a living working as an
international consultant and is based in Nairobi, Kenya. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Botany and
Zoology from the University of Nairobi and a Master of Arts degree in Environment, Society and Technology from
Clark University in Massachusetts, USA. Sitawa has achieved excellence in many areas of life, including
representing Kenya in tennis and hockey in her youth.

“My response caused her to sit up even straighter and, without missing a beat, declare: “You’re real pretty for an African! I thought Africans were all ugly with black skin, thick lips, and fat noses.” “