Catching up with Nottingham poet and cultural historian Panya Banjoko

How did you first get into poetry?
I was very shy as a youngster and afraid to speak in front of people. So I set myself a challenge: to perform poetry in front of an audience. The first few times, in my early days, I was an absolute mess. But I persisted, because I felt I had something to say. It was a dare to myself, a challenge to overcome my shyness. I started writing at about sixteen, inspired by people like Linton Kwesi Johnson and Jean Binta Breeze. The genre I started in was dub poetry, which is quite musical, and I kind of went on from there.

You've got two collections of your own poetry out there. Tell us about them.
Some Things was my debut collection, released in 2018. It's a mix of my experiences as a Black British person – second generation immigrant – growing up in Nottingham. I was really pleased with it. It's published by Burning Eye Books, which is a Bristol-based publisher. Then my second collection, Reframing the Archive, came out in 2022, just as we were coming out of the pandemic. That was a mixture of poetry about my love of archives and history; looking at the archive from different perspectives.

You're the founder of the Nottingham Black Archive, which turns seventeen years old this year. Tell us about that…
It’s a great love and a great burden, being responsible for this history. If you know anything about community archives, their existence is precarious. We've moved around different places and funding is always an issue, but since October 2025 we've been at Backlit Gallery, and we're moving from strength to strength once again.

Is the archive a big physical collection?
Yes, it's physical, though we do have some digital material, and we record oral histories too. In terms of items, we have lots of newsletters and political letters, and various objects as well. We have a cabinet, the kind that almost all Caribbean families had in their homes. We have a very early pedigree doll, one of the very first Black pedigree dolls, which is actually older than me at about 75 years old. I think the oldest physical items we have are things pertaining to World War II, from George Powe's collection. He was a very prominent activist in the city and wrote a pamphlet called Don't Blame the Blacks in the mid-1950s, which is one of the earliest examples of political literature coming out of Nottingham from somebody in the African Caribbean community. 

In 2022 you declined an MBE. Tell us why you decided to say no to that…
I realise that a lot of people crave and covet an MBE. It’s flattering to be offered one, but I declined it because of the whole 'empire' element. We live in a world where we still have inequality and injustice and I didn't want to be associated with an organisation that doesn't recognise that. Also, the word 'empire' has such negative connotations, especially for people like me, that I didn't want to be associated with it. 

Let's talk about your relationship with Nottingham City of Literature…
I was one of the founding patrons ten years ago now. I've always had a special place in my heart for it, obviously as a writer, but also as somebody who was there right at the beginning, when it was being formed. It's a wonderful accolade for Nottingham, because we do have a really brilliant, rich literary history with great writers of both the past and of the present.  

Tell us about StoryArcs, the programme and your fellowship with them?
StoryArcs is a programme designed to harness the power of storytelling to address real world challenges. It’s funded by the UK government and led by Bath Spa university. The fellowship came at a really great time for me. Two or three years ago, I got a grant from the Arts Council to move my poetry from the page into the digital realm. I was given funding to buy equipment and it bought time for me to work on creating digital poetry and create videos. That was really fulfilling and after it came to an end, I wanted to continue exploring story-making in a digital way. Then I saw the advert for this and that it was connected to Nottingham City of Literature. I saw an opportunity to unite two of my favourite things.

What can we expect from you as outputs of this fellowship?
I’m creating work to mark and celebrate ten years of Nottingham becoming a UNESCO City of Literature. I've been doing that using digital poetry and making poetry films. I've made one film already, which is called 10 Ways to Read a Book. It's light-hearted and fun, and it's aimed at encouraging children and young people to pick up a book and read.

Are you a one-woman team with this?
Yes, I write the poem, read it, film it and edit it. Sometimes I’m even in front of the camera too. There's a lot to think about and a lot to do, and I'm still working on honing my craft, but I'm getting there slowly. 

It’s cool you’re doing this in your mature years. What is it that keeps you going?
Some people probably feel I should be sitting in a rocking chair somewhere knitting, and not be involved in anything at all. But what they don't realise is that as you get older, you become more confident in yourself. You take more creative risks, and you want more challenges to keep you alert. I'm achieving more now in my more mature years than I was in my 30s and 40s. Age really is nothing but a number. Don't write off the older ladies. 

panyabanjoko.com