Highly poignant and rich with dazzling language and exquisite imagery, A Blood Condition is stunningly crafted in Chingonyi’s authoritative, distinctive poetic voice. The poems touch on racial identity, religion and grief, music, youth and the power of names. The sequence about Nyaminyami, god of the Zambezi river, and its discussions of slavery and colonialism, man vs nature, is gut-punchingly powerful.
‘Kayo’s poetry is beautiful, thoughtful, musical and nostalgic’ Nikesh Shukla
‘Chingonyi’s poems are full of questions that need asking. His gift is for pushing poems further than you expected them to go’ Observer
‘Whether recalling his parents’ deaths or celebrating the art of the mixtape, Chingonyi’s poise is astonishing’ Daily Telegraph