Toronto’s Daniel Maluka may be a debut poet, with his collection, Unwashed, recently released by Mawenzi House Press, but he’s no stranger to the world of art. Daniel has been writing much of his life and his striking visual art has been exhibited throughout the city and beyond. Both Daniel’s writing and visual art are a means to share narratives and he does this with an intricate yet unadorned style that’s singular and absorbing.
Daniel joins us for this Power Q & A to talk about being a multidisciplinary artist.
Welcome, Daniel!
Unwashed by Daniel Maluka.
Q: How would you say your work as a visual artist influences your poetry? If it does at all?
A: This question has come up a few times and people are always surprised by the answer, which is barely at all. My brain for whatever reason views my art and writing as separate things. If I draw or paint something I feel that I have already communicated all the things I wanted to in the visual piece. Adding a written component or imposing words on a drawing or painting seems redundant. If I’ve already “said it” visually why then write something for it. This was always my mindset towards the two but something changed a few months back.
I did a watercolour painting of a mango in 2017 that I never got around to showing anyone. It was just meant for practice as this was years ago when I first started using watercolour. There are few pieces of art of mine that stay in the vault. Within the past year I participated in an excellent workshop with Tender Possibilities at Guild Park in Scarborough. Hoa Nguyen, one of my professors at TMU, led the workshop. She had us walk around the park and write poetry in response to one of the plants while connecting that to a childhood memory. There were no mangos at the park but I recalled a memory of eating mangos under a mango tree as a kid back home in South Africa. My mother found me fast asleep surrounded by mangos.
So, I now had that poem and the mango painting from years ago but I still did not connect them. It wasn’t until I went to Malcom’s of A.B.C (Actual Book Club) magazine launch that the idea of connecting them came to mind. Malcom had asked me to send in some writing or artwork for issue two of the magazine and I first wanted to send the poem alone; forgetting about the mango painting. While in the submission process I remembered the painting and sent in both for A.B.C. I view both of those works as naturally connected now even though they were created years apart. This might be more of my mindset moving forward, but I still don’t want to force a writing painting companion piece just to do it.
More about Unwashed:
Unwashed is a deeply personal collection of poetry, centering on themes of growing up, loss of innocence, love, the immigrant experience, and alienation. The title of the collection is a reference to the urgency of the work. These are not romantic or quiet poems; they are loud and in-your-face. They speak directly to the collective anxieties of urban life and reflect the author’s experience as an immigrant in Canada and a family man in the diverse setting of Toronto. What we are given here is a tapestry of intense, image-rich poetry.
Daniel Maluka.
More about Daniel Maluka:
Daniel Maluka is a self-taught, Toronto-based artist and writer originally from South Africa. He merges Afrocentric influences with surrealist elements to explore the depths of the subconscious in his art. Daniel’s visually captivating pieces have gained international recognition, being featured in galleries across Toronto and collected worldwide.
In addition to his visual art, Daniel has made notable contributions to literature. His works have been published in various magazines, and he has led numerous poetry workshops. His debut poetry collection, Unwashed, published by Mawenzi House, was featured in CBC’s “37 Most Anticipated Poetry Books for Spring 2024.” The collection is known for its visceral, image-rich poetry.