Kayo Chingonyi (born 1987) is a Zambian British poet and editor who is the author of two poetry collections, ''Kumukanda'' and ''A Blood Condition'' (2021)''.'' He has also published two earlier pamphlets, ''Some Bright Elegance'' (

Salt Publishing Salt Publishing is an independent publisher whose origins date back to 1990 when poet John Kinsella launched ''Salt Magazine'' in Western Australia. The journal rapidly developed an international reputation as a leading publisher of new poetry ...

, 2012) and ''The Colour of James Brown’s Scream'' (Akashic, 2016). He is a writer and presenter for the music and culture podcast ''Decode''. Chingonyi has won the Geoffrey Dearmer Prize,

Dylan Thomas Prize The Dylan Thomas Prize is a leading prize for young writers presented annually. The prize, named in honour of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a remuneration of £30,000 (~$46,000). It is open to published w ...

and

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to ...

. He was elected as a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

in 2022.

Biography

Chingonyi was born in

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

in 1987 and moved to the UK at the age of six. He has a BA degree in English literature from the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

and an MA in creative writing from

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

. Chinyongi was in the first generation of The Complete Works mentoring programme.

Writing

Chingonyi's collection, ''Kumukanda'' ( Vintage Publishing, 2017) won the

and a

. ''Kumukanda'' was also shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Prize and the

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish Irish poetry, poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966), his first m ...

Centre First Poetry Collection Prize, the

Ted Hughes Award The Ted Hughes Award was an annual literary prize given to a living UK poet for new work in poetry. It was awarded each spring in recognition of a work from the previous year. It was a project which ran alongside Carol Ann Duffy's tenure as Poet ...

for New Work in Poetry, the Roehampton Poetry Prize and the

Jhalak Prize The Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour is an annual literary prize awarded to British or British-resident BAME writers. £1,000 is awarded to the sole winner. The Jhalak Prize was launched in 2016 and was created by writers ...

. His second collection, ''A Blood Condition'', was published in 2021 by Vintage Publishing. Chingonyi's work has been published in several anthologies, including ''The Best British Poetry'', ''The Emma Press Anthology of Aunts'', ''The Emma Press Anthology of Political Poems'', ''Out of Bounds: British Black & Asian Poetry'', and ''Ten: The New Wave''. His essays, poems and reviews have been featured in online and print publications. He won a Geoffrey Dearmer Prize in 2012. In 2015, he was Associate Poet at the

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

. Chingonyi was a Burgess Fellow at the Centre for New Writing,

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. He then went on to be assistant professor of creative writing at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

. He is the founding editor of The Poetics of Grime, poetry editor for ''

The White Review ''The White Review'' is a London-based magazine on literature and the visual arts. It is published in print and online. History Founding ''The White Review'' was founded by editors Benjamin Eastham and Jacques Testard, and released its firs ...

'' and has edited issues of ''Magma Poetry'' and ''

Poetry Review ''The Poetry Review'' is the magazine of The Poetry Society, edited by the poet Wayne Holloway-Smith. Founded in 1912, shortly after the establishment of the Society, previous editors have included poets Muriel Spark, Adrian Henri, Andrew Mo ...

.'' Chingonyi was mentored on The Complete Works poets of colour mentoring scheme initiated by

Bernardine Evaristo Bernardine Anne Mobolaji Evaristo (born 28 May 1959) is an English author and academic. Her novel ''Girl, Woman, Other'' jointly won the Booker Prize in 2019 alongside Margaret Atwood's ''The Testaments'', making her the first Black woman to win ...

to redress representational invisibility. The scheme (2007–2017) was directed by Dr Nathalie Teitler, during which time thirty poets were mentored.

Awards and honours

Literary awards

Honours

* 2022: Elected a Fellow of the

Biblio

* * * * *

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chingonyi, Kayo 1987 births Academics of Durham University Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Alumni of the University of Sheffield Black British writers British literary editors British male poets British people of Zambian descent British podcasters British poets Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Living people Zambian poets