Samuel Yakura
About Samuel
Samuel Yakura is a Nigerian born writer, poet and performing artist residing in Ireland. He is a multiple-time Poetry Slam Champion both in Nigeria and Ireland, winning Slam competitions like ALS, OxFam, Talkatives and currently the Leinster Regional Slam Champion.
Samuel is a member of the WeAreGriot Poetry Collective based in Dublin and has created commissioned works for the likes of Poetry Ireland, Abbey Theatre, Dublin Fringe, IMMA, Adam Brinkerhoff Foundation amongst many others.
His debut Poetry Play "The Perfect Immigrant" received multiple nominations and 4 star reviews as part of Dublin Fringe Festival 2022 and recently completed an all Ireland tour in Autumn 2023.
Artistic CV
The Perfect immigrant
Written and performed by Samuel Yakura, The Perfect Immigrant follows the story of Levi, a young Nigerian man pursuing a masters degree in Dublin, as he encounters the everyday obstacles of being an immigrant in Ireland while carrying with him the (literal and emotional) baggage from home.
Originally commissioned by Dublin Fringe Festival, the project was part of Weft, funded by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon through the Open Call initiative for 2021. Developed with the support of Fishamble’s New Play Clinic, the 2023 tour was funded by Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon. Read more here.
NEST
NEST, is a visionary, artistically ambitious project of scale that saw 23 stories inspired by Dublin 15’s children and young people brought to life through collaboration with leading multi-disciplinary performance artists to produce 23 new contemporary works that map the present through the eyes of our children and young people. Samuel was one of the 23 artists selected to participate in this project. Read more here
NEST is funded by ART: 2023, a Decade of Centenaries Collaboration between The Arts Council and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
WeAregriot
Samuel is a founding member of WeAreGriot, a collective of Nigerian-Irish poets and storytellers, alongside Dagogo Hart. Their goal is to reflect the times we live in through our work, to celebrate culture and community, and to stretch the boundaries of poetry. They currently run a monthly poetry slam competition called "Talkatives" in Dublin and have been commissioned to take part in numerous events with the most recent being at Tradfest where they explored the Irish folklore of Queen Maeve, Fionn Mac Cumhaill and Cú Chulainn.
Multiple Award Winning artist
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Current Leinster Region Poetry Slam Champion (2023)
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Nominated for Fishamble’s New Playwriting Award and Bewleys Café Little Gem Award
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Participant in WEFT Studio Artist Development Program sponsored by Dublin Fringe
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Agility Award Recipient sponsored by the Arts Council
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Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation participant
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One of the 6 Poets shortlisted for Versify 2019 by Poetry Ireland
Services
Samuel is a multi-disciplinary artist and performer that can be engaged for a range of bespoke services
Writer & Performer
Samuel has been commissioned to write a number of works covering diverse subjects with a track record of delivering engaging performances. Previous clients include: Business to Arts, Festival in a Van and Dublin Fringe Festival.
Event
Host
Samuel is an experienced event host utilising his quick wit and poetic license to capture audiences and put event participants at ease. Most recently Samuel was the MC for a celebration of community, creative voices and contemporary Irish culture at the Guinness Storehouse.
Workshop Facilitator
Samuel is available to facilitate a range of workshops covering writing, poetry and performance. In addition, workshops can be tailored to suit a range of audiences from school children to corporate teams encompassing confidence building and public speaking skills.