Amos Marcel Nyongesa Tabalia – poet and performer

Amos Marcel Nyongesa Tabalia was born in Saboti, Trans Nzoia County in 1985 in a family of seven. He was educated in Webuye Town at St Joseph’s RC primary School and later joined Friends School Kamusinga where he did his KCSE in 2004. It was while in primary school that he fell in love with literature.

His passion for poetry and other related arts was evident when he joined high school. He started a Readers club that was instrumental in helping other students to grow affection for language and current affairs. He is an avid reader and his mantra, ‘To write, read’

He joined Kenyatta University in 2006 and to the surprise of many, decided to pursue a degree in an engineering course and not in literature as many expected. Currently he is a 5th year student taking a Bachelor of Science in Water and Environmental Engineering.

Amos is a talented poet who likes to meet new challenges. His works capture themes ranging from the various social, political and economical challenges that a young Kenyan youth experiences. His poetry tries to merge African culture and western influence. His poetry crosses borders and explores the universe. He believes that we are citizens of the universe and we should respect the laws of nature.

His artistic styles are also highly influenced by his childhood experiences, tribal clashes, poverty, wealth, love, education, history, religion etc. Tribalism is also one thing that haunted his childhood and corruption are some of the issues that are greatly reflected in his poetry.

He is a founding member of Poet-wise Kenya, a group of young Kenyan poets trying to promote the new breed of poets. He is a performer and also a critic at the Amka Space Of women writers.
His hobbies include using the social media, travelling and listening to rock music.

Amos Tabalia’s Riddles of my Mother was published by Nsemia Inc. Publishers in the in August 2011.