Meet Award-Winning Poet, Margret Daramola

Margret Daramola is a writer, spoken word, and public speaker. She was raised in Switzerland and began writing at an early age. Power of Poetry led her to speaking engagements at major conferences and events organized by the African Union, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and Women’s Hope International among several others. Her first book, A Pathway Through Survival, was ranked #1 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases in two categories. Margaret currently studies creative writing and history at Hampton University. 

Margaret’s love of writing began when she was about 8 years old. She first discovered quotes online and was exposed to a piece of writing that she could directly relate to. 

“I remember just thinking, wow someone else has been through the same thing that I’ve been through. Up until that point, I thought each experience was unique to every human being. With relatability came beauty. I didn’t fall in love until later, however, when writing became a necessity for survival,” said Daramola.

Poetry is life for Margret. 

It’s a way of expressing herself, it’s a way of bringing experiences that she has had and experiences that other people have had together in a common basket. 

“I think I only really began to appreciate poetry when I saw how much other people could relate to my work, to my words, and the effect it had on people. I would say poetry is a way to describe what we all feel,” said Daramola.

Margaret believes poetry is in fact therapeutic. 

“Writing in general is therapeutic. Poetry is a way of embellishing hard experiences. Suddenly, when the pen meets the paper, you find language for your trauma. Suddenly, you understand. Suddenly, you see. It goes from being blurry in your head to be clear on paper, and that transition alone is therapeutic,” said Daramola. 

Poetry is important in today’s society because it provides an escape for readers to be imaginative and find clarity. In a world where technology exceeds literature it leaves us to question, is poetry still relevant in the modern day. Margret believes poetry is still relevant in today’s society. However, many students have been exposed to a rather theoretical and sometimes boring way of viewing poetry. 

“Very few have read poems they actually understand and speak to them. If so, it is usually through old-school rap. Poetry is still relevant and necessary,” said Daramola. 

Margaret believes poetry can also be used to promote social change. 

“Poetry can be used to promote social change because it offers a voice to the voiceless. I’ve performed poetry at many human rights conferences in Switzerland. I never knew how powerful poetry was until I saw policymakers reconsider decisions based on poems I had written. Poetry and spoken word specifically, give people an opportunity to view injustices from a new perspective. If one makes good use of pathos, one can reach almost any audience,” said Daramola. 

Margaret’s advice for someone who wants to start writing poetry but doesn’t know where to start is that they need a first draft before it becomes a poem. 

“They need to let their feelings, emotions out on the page -first- before they even think of making it a poem,” said Daramola.

If someone would like to write poetry but doesn’t know where to start Margaret would tell them to start with freewriting. 

“After the first draft, I would encourage them to revise their work. Can they add metaphors or similes? How can they be more descriptive? Also, they should put an emphasis on showing, not telling. Once all is done, I encourage them to workshop their work. They should leverage any writers, teachers, or poetry clubs they know and ask for feedback. Keep practicing, nothing comes overnight,” said Daramola.

Poetry is important in today’s society. It overall provides an escape for readers to be imaginative and find clarity.

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