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Utendi wa Mwana Kupona [Mwana Kupona’s Poem] is one of the most popular poems in Kiswahili literature. It was written around 1858 by Mwana Kupona binti Mshamu (c. 1810-1860) for her daughter, Mwana Hashima binti Sheikh (1841-1933). Didactic in…

Utendi wa kutawafu Nabii, a characteristic example of the utenzi tradition in its early expression, commemorates the life of the prophet and includes his final message to the faithful before being visited by the angel of death. The poem exemplifies…

Utenzi wa vita vya uhuru, composed by the noted and prolific Tanzanian author, Shaaban Robert, is possibly the longest utenzi poem ever written. In 3,000 stanzas, Robert recounts the events of World War II from the German invasion of Czechoslovakia…

The earliest Swahili poet of note whose works have survived to the present day is Fumo Liyongo. Dating his life and work, and hence dating the emergence of the Swahili language itself from its Arabic origins, have been a matter of considerable…

Newspapers served as an important literary forum for the publication of both Swahili poetry and works of prose. During the 1930’s and 1940’s, the Swahili newspaper, "Mambo Leo" [Current Affairs], served this purpose for many aspiring young Swahili…

Swahili poetry prior to the twentieth century was written in ajami script that was adapted from Arabic. Many examples of this script have been preserved in manuscript form, as illustrated by the reproduction of the poem shown left, Utumbuizo wa…