Produced in association with Sheffield’s first poet laureate Otis Mensah, Wordplay is a monthly showcase of up-and-coming artists from the city’s literary scene. For this month’s issue of Exposed, Joseph Food spoke to Danaë Wellington – poet, singer and co-founder of Nyara Collective.
Hi Danae, can tell us a bit about your background and how you got first involved in creative writing?
I’m from Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up in the Pentecostal church. Music was a very big part of my life, especially Sunday school and being onstage with the children’s choir – so that’s where I got a taste of performing. In terms of creative writing, I was always obsessed with words as a kid and entered a lot of spelling bee competitions and naturally collected a lot of books that allowed me to explore different voices and worlds. I wasn’t the most social kid but I was quite rebellious and found myself going on these lone adventures in Jamaica and found myself writing what couldn’t be expressed verbally and what I was taking in from the world around me. I moved to England when I was eight and found it really difficult to integrate with the other kids but also had a really tough upbringing, so I started channeling my emotions through the pen into stories that were moments of escape for me.
I always had an affinity to music and when I got to college, I started performing a lot around Sheffield. I met King David from Riddimtion Soundsystem and started writing songs and performing with them, K.O.G and Tom ‘Souldeep’ Hutt – we were all vocalists at many a Riddimtion night! From there I was in a few hip-hop, neo-soul bands and the music helped me to cultivate my writing. I left music in 2014 and met Vicky Morris from Hive South Yorkshire at a Verse Matters Night in 2017, where I performed poetry for the first time – nervous as heck, may I add! I’ve been focusing on poetry and spoken-word since then.
“I started channeling my emotions through the pen into stories that were moments of escape for me.”
What drives you from an artistic perspective?
I think bringing the ancient, spiritual and social black experience into reality is what drives me artistically. I grew up hearing Kumina drumming in the middle of the night in Jamaica whenever there was a Pocomina gathering; the rhythm, pulse and other-wordly but familiar feel of the drums drew me out my sleep as a child. Seeing people become entranced by spirit in church and having my own personal experiences makes me want to bring those stories to life. These stories and practices go back to traditional West-African roots, back to ancient Kemet and as a child of the African Diaspora I feel like it’s really important that I bring forth the stories of my ancestors that existed before the slave trade and colonialism.
Exploring identity through the lens of fantasy and magical realism is pretty much a playground for me. I watch films like I drink coffee – so aesthetics, dialogue between characters and how a story is told visually really shapes the way I write. Any Nollywood movie, The Burial of Kojo by Blitz The Ambassador & Ava Duvernay, The Shape of Water by Guillermo Del Toro, and Daughters of The Dust by Julie Dash with its incredible cinematography by Arthur Jafa is how I’d like to capture words. As a black woman, I believe it’s really important that we don’t get caught up in stereotypical narratives and tropes – particularly how Blackness has been portrayed in the West. I really want to get away from pain and trauma in my writing and hopefully write some epic sci-fi, fantasy afro-futurist story.
You also founded the Nyara Collective – an organisation that provides improved access to the arts. How important is it for the youth of today to find ways of expressing themselves through creative mediums?
I think it’s super important that young people have various ways of creatively expressing themselves. Not having safe spaces where they can lay it all down is a big part of the reason why so many young people are on the streets today. It could be through dance and movement if they don’t want to say it out loud, or painting if its the blending and intensity of colours that expresses the way they feel internally. Sometimes it’s not even about release but just the space to explore all facets of themselves: their minds, their potential and the world around them that can do so much for a young person. It says that they don’t have to eliminate any parts of themselves in order to exist and to thrive.
Social and racial inequality does just that – it says only a part of you as a young person can exist because there isn’t the space, time, nor support for you to explore and learn about yourself in all ways. It’s nearly always about survival. Art and creativity isn’t supposed to be restricted to the privileged few. I hope Nyara becomes a space where creative opportunities can be accessed without restrictions but also a space where young and old from the African Diaspora can come for cross-cultural education and self-exploration. Marcus Garvey said: “A people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” It’s how you find your purpose.
“It’s nearly always about survival. Art and creativity isn’t supposed to be restricted to the privileged few.”
What are the main challenges you’ve faced since starting up Nyara Collective? Scarcity of funding is often cited a key issue for creative collectives trying to make a change in people’s lives.
Scarcity of funding is a massive issue starting out. Even though there is a lot of information out there, if you have no experience writing funding bids or knowledge of the right funding bodies to access then it can definitely become very overwhelming. I’m trying to rise to that challenge and develop those skills but also find alternative sustainable strategies for us to survive and not become dependent on funding.
There’s a lot of brainstorming happening right now! As a young woman trying to build a social enterprise, it does get very overwhelming trying to balance other aspects of my life so it’s finding the right balance and self-care routines. Running an organisation seems brilliant from the outside but it takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice that not a lot of people see and being autistic – even though it can be my strength – it does at times make navigating things a lot harder. So massive respect to my neurodiverse kinfolk and all the young entrepreneurs that are out here building spaces for their communities!
What advice would you give to anyone interested in creative expression but unsure how to begin?
I’d say begin. It’s taking that leap into not knowing what the outcome will be, but that first step can change your life in so many ways. First find out what it is that you want to try, see if there are classes you can find in your local community, check on the internet if there is something that you’d really like to attend. Sometimes just going into these spaces – not participating – but just being there to soak up the energy and to see what it’s like in real time can make all the difference. If it’s writing, head down to Poundland and get yourself a pack of biros and a notebook and begin there. Feel the fear and do it anyway, my loves.
Are there any projects you are currently working on which you can tell us about?
Yeah! So Nyara will be collaborating with The Library of Life ran by John Kamara to host a Fun Labs day of Magical Storytelling workshops at Crucible Theatre in 2020. We’ll be bringing a lot of magic and Wakanda (Black Panther) vibes to Sheffield Theatres, so do look out for more info! I’m currently working on a poetry collection that is full of magical realism goodness and putting together Nyara’s literacy programme which we’ll be introducing in 2020. It’s a pretty busy time at the moment with the planning but do keep an eye out on our socials for more info.
