Keba Evelyn makes her mark with powerful debut

– as spoken word slam performance on absent fathers cops first place

“Just because I haven’t done it before, doesn’t mean I don’t know how to do it.”
Those were the words of Keba Evelyn—an 18-year-old talent who took her first leap into the world of spoken word poetry and made a resounding impact as she emerged winner of the Guyana National Poetry Slam 2025 competition.
Though small in stature, this powerful talent has the ability to rivet crowds with her performance, which focused on the emotional weight of the struggles faced by those forced to grow up without a father or father figure in their lives.
Though new to slam poetry, she is no stranger to the power of similes, metaphors, and personification— she is a true poet at heart as she has taken to the Mashramani stage to perform dramatic styled poetry.
Speaking to this newspaper, Evelyn shared her preparation process for the competition and the joy of copping the grand first-place prize.
“I’ve never done spoken word poetry before,” she admitted. “I usually do dramatic poetry. But I find myself always drawn to poetry—doesn’t matter if it’s spoken word or dramatic. I never had the opportunity to participate in a slam before, but I would always be watching, always interested… so this was the perfect opportunity.”
According to Keba, her journey with spoken word poetry just started, but even then, it wasn’t a solo pursuit. She had assistance from her sisters who chimed in with their views, helping her along the way.
“We sit and put ideas together—it’s never like a one-man thing.”
That collaborative spirit was instrumental in shaping her competition piece—a hard-hitting reflection on absent fathers. The topic was personal, deeply rooted in lived experience.
“I’ve been involved in social issues, you know. Absent fathers is something I’ve been dealing with for the past 18 years. That’s what really drew me to the topic. I had a connection to it, because I’m living it—that’s my lifestyle right now, growing up without a father.”
Her message to fathers who have walked away from their children was direct. She stated that they might think what they’re doing is best for their children—however, it’s not. She urged them to wake up and take their rightful place in their children’s lives because they are needed.
“You being absent causes so much damage to one child… There’s a void that no one else can fill. And no child deserves to grow without a father.”
Keba revealed that the writing process took about two days. But emotionally, it was a mountain to climb.
“It was kind of hard, because no child wants to write about growing up without a father. It wasn’t easy preparing for this, but I knew it was a message that needed to be out there,” she said. “We would gather around, put together our experiences, and think—‘how should we do this?’ We decided it should be from a schoolchild’s perspective, from a daughter’s perspective.”
Each day was a step toward owning the pain, the story, and the power of performance.
“Every day we sat down, put together pieces, going over, you know… it was a process.”
When the big moment arrived, Keba stood among other young poets—many of them more experienced in slam poetry. But despite the nerves, she remained focused.
“I was a bit nervous. I know a lot of the other children probably did this before, so I was wondering—‘am I going to do this right?’ But I told myself, just because I haven’t done it before doesn’t mean I don’t know how to do it.”
While the slam format was new, facing a crowd was not.
“That wasn’t hard. I’ve been doing competitions, so that part wasn’t new. I just reminded myself I’ve got this.”
And she did just that!
Asked how she memorised her five-minute piece, Keba explained her simple but effective process.
“I would read a paragraph over and over, then do it without looking. I practice like I’m already on stage. That helps me a lot. It’s become easy now—since primary school I’ve been doing this. It’s like second nature.”
And finally, when the results were called, Keba stood in disbelief as her name rang out.
According to her, it was as if she was reliving all those moments again.
“My name being called… it felt like I was doing this again. It was such a great feeling. It reminded me that I haven’t lost the spark in me. I haven’t lost the touch for poems.”
It was a moment of reflection, triumph and pride. And if her debut is anything to go by, Keba Evelyn is a name we’ll be hearing much more from in the world of poetry.