A living archive, place for poems that breathe, bruise, stutter, and bloom.
Each month, a small panel of poets and listeners reads with care. We’re not hunting for cleverness or perfection. We’re listening for truth. For the line that trembles because it had to be written. For language that carries a pulse.
From these readings, we select up to ten pieces that speak honestly to this moment in time. Poems that hold lived experience. Poems that risk being real. This is not a space for performance alone. It is a space for presence.
For the unsaid finally being said. For the quiet courage of naming things as they are.
Poets and spoken word artists from anywhere on the African continent are invited to submit their work. Written or recorded. Refined or rough. What matters is authenticity. If the work is true to you, it belongs here.
At this stage, we are not yet able to pay contributors. We name this openly. We are actively working toward growing Poetry Korna into a sustainable, paid platform that honours poets for the weight, labour, and beauty of their words.
Poetry Korna is a meeting point of stories, accents, languages, silences. A space where art listens before it speaks.
A home for those who write not to impress, but to remember.
Moments When Curiosity Got the Best of Us – March 2026
As the year continues to unfold, we move forward without knowing what lies ahead. This month invites us to lean into that uncertainty with curiosity. To ask questions we have been avoiding. To step beyond what feels familiar. To follow the quiet pull of wanting to know more.
“Moments when curiosity got the best of us” is about the turning points shaped by wonder, risk, and discovery. The times we chose to explore instead of staying still. The questions that opened doors. The decisions that came from wanting to understand, even when we were unsure of where it would lead.
For this edition, we are looking for poems that reflect curiosity, exploration, vulnerability, and growth. Work that captures the beauty and tension of stepping into the unknown. Poems may be playful or reflective, bold or subtle. What matters is honesty. We are listening for moments where curiosity changed something, even in the smallest way.
Submit here: https://forms.gle/3VRcX9XfvrKQLBP28
Living Beyond the Mental Battles We Fight – February 2026
February’s edition of Poetry Korna, Living Beyond the Mental Battles We Fight, continues the movement we began in January. We started by slowing down. By choosing ourselves on purpose. By listening inward. This month turns toward what we find when we sit with ourselves long enough to notice the quiet struggles beneath the surface.
“Living beyond the mental battles we fight” is not about defeating ourselves. It is about understanding. It is about learning to respond to our thoughts with patience rather than panic. About growth that happens in small, steady ways. About choosing healing not as a destination, but as a practice.
The poems in this edition reflect resilience, self-compassion, emotional awareness, and the courage to evolve. From Lazy Poet, Edmans, and Rahim, to Not Just Another Writer, Alusine, and AJ The Poet, these voices honour the process of becoming. Some are reflective, others bold. Some gentle, others direct. What unites them is honesty and presence, language shaped with care, clarity, and hope.
Intentionality & Knowledge of Self – January 2026
January’s edition of Poetry Korna, Intentionality and the Knowledge of Self, brings together ten voices rooted in presence, awareness, and lived truth. These poems reflect the quiet work of choosing oneself on purpose, of moving through the world with attentiveness rather than urgency, and of staying grounded in personal knowing.
From Stormi’s vivid portrait of home and survival in The Slum, to Nema’s reclamation of language and identity in Jariah’s Daughter, the work carries the power of self-discovery. Barrie’s Young, dumb, broke, with ambition meets life with fierce hunger and hope, while Samuella’s Crushed, yet my year and Martin Ngebe’s I am the sun trace resilience through inner struggle and renewal.
Also featured are Taurus, whose poem charts the transformative journey toward becoming a poet; Liz D’s Woe is me, a reflection on longing and loss; Rachel’s meditation on love’s soft ending; and AJ The Poet’s If we were all modest, a gentle inquiry into humility and grace. Silver Secret joins this chorus with a voice that deepens the edition’s turn toward self-knowledge and intentional living. Each piece inhabits intentionality in its own language, direct, tender, raw, and honest, forming a chorus of depth and self-knowing in this first edition of Poetry Korna.
Inkundla Spaces 