Spatial deconfinement by: Kibsa Anthony Ouedraogo

A Poetic Journey Through Birth, Politics, and Pandemic

In the first Deconfining Writers’ Residency, four talented authors—Kibsa Anthony Ouedraogo, Teodora Grigaitė, Greta Ambrazaitė-Norkūnė and Laura Sheilla Inangoma—embarked on a collaborative exploration of shared themes, emotions, and narratives that transcend geographical boundaries. Through debates, workshops, and lectures, they delved deep into the universal human experiences that bind us together despite our differences. The culmination of their collective efforts resulted in a series of literary texts, each offering a unique perspective yet resonating with interconnected emotions and values.

 
Kibsa Anthony Ouedraogo’s text is partly autobiographical, political, and simultaneously poetic. It explores the confinement of a person in space when he cannot escape it and cannot physically reach his loved ones at a critical moment in his life—the birth of his child. The work analyses the main character’s emotional state and the environmental factors, such as the political obstacles and global constraints caused by the pandemic outbreak.

Kibsa Anthony Ouedraogo

Kibsa Anthony Ouedraogo is a Burkina Faso-based writer, screenwriter, actor, and mime artist from Ouagadougou who writes in Mori and French and is active in African and European theatre events and projects (including the well-known pan-African festival Récréatrales). His political works deal with contemporary life and society.