“To call yourself a poet in Ireland, where poetry runs deep in the soil, I needed to make my mark, in academia, in writing circles and the community locally and internationally.” 

Nandi Jola is a South African born poet, storyteller and playwright who studied her Masters in Poetry at Queen’s in 2021. 

“My MA at Queen’s offered me a once in a lifetime opportunity, it was like a launching pad to my career as an author as I got published by Doire Press, UCD and MOLI archived my work, I got commissioned to write, edit, speak and headline festivals. In 2025 I was guest editor for Poetry Ireland Trumpet pamphlet and professional member of the Irish Writers Centre and run my creative writing courses."

In 2010 she founded the ‘NandiJProject’ with the vision of tackling women trafficking and sexual exploitation.

“When I was still in South Africa growing up under Apartheid, I learnt about Sarah Baartman who was trafficked and exploited in Ireland, England and France and her story resonated with me later in life, as we both came from South Africa, young. She was subjected to the vilest conditions, I wrote a one woman monologue 'The Journey' paying homage to her and the suffering she endured to let her know she mattered to me, to us. The NandiProject was a personal project and work of all the women who have endured similar circumstances and as a survivor of domestic violence I wanted to offer a safe space for women from the global majority. "

In 2025 she was offered fellowship residency at the Ulster Museum following years of research on the colonial loot that came to Ireland in 1873 from South Africa.