This landmark event will take place on Friday, 13 February 2026, from 5.00pm to 6.30pm in the Hugh Aston Building, Room 0.78 (Stephen Lawrence Research Centre Seminar Room).
To attend, book your ticket here.
The launch is a centerpiece of the university’s events marking Black History Month, celebrated in February in the United States and October in the United Kingdom.
As the second volume in the Africa Migration Report Poetry Anthology Series, the collection follows the success of the debut volume, Japa Fire (2024).
Edited by Nandi Jola and Omobola Osamor, From Here To There serves as a community-driven cultural adjunct to the Africa Migration Report (2nd Edition) published by the African Union (AU) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in 2024.
While the official report highlights that migration in Africa is primarily internal, and is driven by climate change, conflict, and economic aspirations, From Here To There translates these facts and statistics into 101 poems and prose pieces capturing personal, familial and community experience of movement.
The Leicester book launch brings together an international panel of poets to read and discuss contemporary issues surrounding African and African diasporic migration and (im)mobility.
Participants include co-editor Nandi Jola (South Africa / Northern Ireland), Zita Holbourne (Caribbean / UK), Leonora Masini (Italy / Ireland), Ambrose Musiyiwa (Zimbabwe / UK), Francis Muzofa (Zimbabwe / Namibia), and Dike Nwosu (Nigeria / UK).
Nandi Jola, co-editor of the anthology, remarked:
"Migration is often framed as a series of numbers and borders, but for those of us in the diaspora, it is an inheritance of ancestral dislocation, ghost and horror stories, erasures and unrelenting violence. This anthology is about reclaiming the narrative and moving from being the subjects of reports to being the authors of our own journeys."
Francesco Sani, event co-organiser and Outreach and Engagement Research Officer at the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre, stated:
“I am honoured to support this event. There is a growing need to have open and honest discussions on the intersection of history, race, and social justice, which is also one the focal workstreams of the Centre where I work, the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre. These poems offer a profound look at the threads that connect Leicester’s diverse communities to the wider African continent and diaspora, reminding us that every migrant's story is a vital part of our collective heritage. "
Ambrose Musiyiwa who coordinates CivicLeicester, the publisher behind the series, added:
"Following the success of Japa Fire, this second volume deepens our commitment to documenting the lived experience of the Sixth Region. By launching here in Leicester, a city whose history is defined by Roman North Africans, a significant African and African Caribbean presence, and the 1972 Ugandan Asian exodus, we are honoring a legacy of movement that continues to shape our global future."
The launch will feature readings, a Q&A session, and open conversation.
Anthology co-editor Nandi Jola, and publisher Ambrose Musiyiwa of CivicLeicester will take part in person while poets, Zita Holbourne, Leonora Masini, Francis Muzofa, and Dike Nwosu will take part online.
This event marks the start of a global tour, with future launches scheduled across the United Kingdom, the United States, Jamaica, and the African continent, as well as through various online platforms.
Event Summary:
What: Book Launch of From Here To There: 101 Poems on African and African Diasporic Migration
Where: Stephen Lawrence Centre Seminar Room, Hugh Aston Building (Room 0.78), De Montfort University, Leicester, LE1 9BH.
When: Friday, 13 February 2026 | 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm.
Admission: Open to the public.
To attend, book your ticket here.
Media Contact:
aj maruva
Editorial Assistant, Africa Migration Report Poetry Anthology Series
E: forcedmigrationandthearts@gmail.com
Notes to Editors:
Interview Requests: Poets and editors are available for interviews upon request as are review copies.
About the Anthology Series:
The Africa Migration Report Poetry Anthology Series is a creative partnership between the community media initiative CivicLeicester, the international network Forced Migration and The Arts, and the migrants’ rights collective Regularise.
The series has open calls for poems exploring:
- African and African diasporic migration and immobility,
- how African and Asian refugees are being left to drown in the English Channel, and
- Edward Nkoloso, Afronauts, and the 1960s Zambian Space Programme.
About CivicLeicester:
A collaborative community-led channel that uses print and digital technologies and events to highlight conversations of local and transnational interest.
Historical Context:
Leicester’s link to the African diaspora spans 2,000 years, from Roman North African inhabitants to 19th-century abolitionists like Elizabeth Heyrick and Frederick Douglass, the Windrush generation, the 1972 Ugandan Asian migration, and recent African and African diasporic migration.
The Term "Japa": Originating from Yoruba (Nigeria), "japa" means to flee or escape. It has become a defining term for the modern Nigerian quest for better opportunities abroad, a central theme in the first volume of this series that is also echoed in From Here To There.
About the Poets (in alphabetical order):
Zita Holbourne FRSA is a multi-award winning, multidisciplinary artist, author, educator, community activist, equality and human rights campaigner and trade union leader. Her creative practice includes work as a visual artist, performance poet, writer and vocalist. She has exhibited art, performed poetry and spoken around the globe.
Nandi Jola was born in Gqebera, South Africa. She holds a Master of Arts degree in English (Poetry) from Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Nandi is a poet, storyteller, playwright and creative writing facilitator, and is well known in Northern Ireland and beyond for her work in the Arts and Museum and Heritage sector. Nandi edited Issue 14 of Poetry Ireland’s annual literary pamphlet, The Trumpet, and was curator of the Golden Shovel Poetry Jukebox. She is also a creative writing facilitator for Quotidian. Among her plays, the topically titled Partition, and The Rise of Maqoma engage with and also seek to move beyond Eurocentric themes.
Leonora Masini is a scholar of Fascist History and European Colonialism. She works primarily on documentary films representing life under colonial rules. She is interested in collective memories of colonial times, how we preserve them, and how we cope with their presence.
Ambrose Musiyiwa is a poet and journalist with a background at the intersection of activism, migration, and community action. He coordinates Journeys in Translation, an international, volunteer-driven initiative that is translating Over Land, Over Sea: Poems for those seeking refuge (Five Leaves Publications, 2015) into other languages. He is also on the editorial board of the Africa Migration Report Poetry Anthology Series.
Francis Muzofa (aka@Pope) is Zimbabwean poet. His poems have been published by various Platforms both locally and internationally. He is a philosophical poet, who use humor, allegory and satire to poke into the eyes of those who cause harm. His writings are inspired by nature and the social ills that hurt the innocent and vulnerable. If he was God for a day, he would kill poverty and spread kindness.
Dike Nwosu is a poet, a screenwriter and university graduate born and raised in London, of Nigerian heritage. He writes provocative, thought-provoking poems with apocalyptic insights. A custodian of urban folklore, his writing explores the diaspora and the space where the street and Spirit interface. Very passionate about his poetry, he uses it as therapy and as a conduit to address profound questions and provide a communal space for people to delve deeper into the realms of knowledge and understanding of a fallen world.
