DAGOGO HART is a writer, playwright, performer and spoken word artist. He is based in Dublin but he is originally from Lagos, Nigeria, Dagogo’s fascination with words started at the age of 13 and never abandoned him. When he was in secondary school he was part of a rap group “Domack”. This experience helped him sharpen his writing skills. In 2010, he moved to Ireland and continued to write, switching over from rap to poetry. His work was published in University College Cork’s Motley magazine and The Moth magazine.
In 2016 he moved to Dublin from Cork and made a move from page poet to stage poet, as he started participating in open mics and poetry slams such as circle sessions and Slam Sunday. His inspiring performances have enthralled audiences, and when he won the Slam Sunday Grand Slam, he qualified to perform at Electric Picnic under the Cuirt International Poetry festival in 2017. Since then, he has performed for festivals like Mother tongues, St. Patricks, Dublin Fringe, Drogheda literary festival, Spirit of Folk, Body and Soul, Loud Poets Scotland and First fortnight.
After meeting fellow spoken word artist Felispeaks in 2018, they co-founded WeAreGriot, a poetry collective that curates exciting art events around poetry. As part of WeAreGriot Dagogo has co-curated and co-written See True (a riveting spoken word variety show with a strong visual element) and Boy Child (a spoken-word play and a harrowing coming of age tale focusing on identity and masculinity). WeAreGriot also presents Talkatives, a hip-hop and poetry slam that features Ireland’s talented spoken word artists curated by Dagogo himself, Felispeaks and Samuel Yakura, another member of the collective. The trio is contributing to shape the Irish poetry and spoken word scene in exciting ways.
Dagogo Hart’s personal works include, among other things, RedBeard Paddy (a poetry short film), his contribution as Africa Day 2018 champion (he was involved in the organisation and served as host and performer), and Lantern Smoke (runner up for Button Poetry Video contest). In 2021 he featured with his poem Paper Planes in a series of poetry short films commissioned by the Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation in conjunction with Poetry Ireland and directed by Matthew Thompson. He has recently received a commission from Poetry Ireland, sponsored by the Arts Council of Ireland, to produce a multimedia poetry film on the migrant experience of ‘home’.
By day Dagogo is a pharmacist, but on his social media he defines himself as poet 24/7. His art is inspired by his hometown in Lagos and his experience in Ireland. He writes on personal and societal issues and always strives to dispense truth in all his works. Because poetry is the best medicine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3LeoWNmajM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ketmzvpzDFY
