“LUST”: Why Nakuru Poets are getting real about Love, Sex, and Society
Poster of the upcoming LUST show.
Nakuru’s art scene is about to get raw, real, and refreshingly honest as Poets from Nakuru and Nairobi are joining forces for a daring performance titled LUST, a spoken-word and poetry event that dives headfirst into some of society’s most uncomfortable truths.
Forget sweet rhymes and romantic verses this is poetry with a bite. Blending music, storytelling, and hard-hitting spoken word, the show takes on issues such as toxic love, gender-based violence, femicide, paedophilia, defilement, social injustice, and political accountability.
According to the organisers LUST is more than just performance it's about starting conversations. “We want to create a safe space for dialogue, especially for young people, around topics that are often silenced,” says Belvin Thee Poet, one of the curators behind the concept.
The show's title, LUST, may sound provocative, but its message is deeper than that. It's about confronting desire, power and vulnerability in all their messy, human forms. Through verses performed in Sheng, English and Kiswahili, poets including Belvin, Nitap, Nyash, Timelines and Scar will take the audience on an emotional journey through the intersection of love, pain and justice.
“We want to normalise conversations around sex education and relationships, free from fear and shame. It’s not just for young people. We also want older audiences to join in so that we can have honest, intergenerational conversations about these issues," Belvin explains.
Belvin Thee Poet.
The event is aimed at young people aged 18–35, as well as creatives, students, educators, and anyone hungry for authentic expression. As well as performances, there will be interactive sessions and moments of reflection designed to spark thought and inspire change.
Following the Nakuru edition, the team plans to tour the show across other Kenyan towns, spreading their message of awareness and healing through art.
At its core, LUST is more than just a night of poetry it’s a mirror held up to society. It promises to be an evening where art meets activism and words become instruments of truth, courage and healing.