Swahili poetry poetry poetry, in its many and various forms and genres, is at the heart of this urban and multi-ethnic, maritime, mercantile, literate, and Islamic East African culture. Swahili poetry poetry poetry is not only a regular feature found in almost all Swahili newspapers; there is hardly any important event or social function in the society, whether secular or purely religious, in which poetry poetry poetry does not play a role. The fact that, up to the present, women do not play a central role in the descriptions, ant…