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's profile page

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.

"Unwashed gives readers the pure delight that people on Toronto's oral poetry scene have been enjoying for a while: the beautiful, profound poetry of Daniel Maluka sings and speaks from these pages with the voice of the poet in person. There is lightness and sadness, unflinching awareness and equal resilience in these poems that combine contemplative stillness and the momentum of story and song. I think of beautiful poems like 'Field Notes on the Hermit' or 'The Dream', where 'Two silent riders arrive at the ruined tower' In Unwashed, Maluka enters deep into the contemporary self while at the same time living fully, beautifully, often sadly in our world of tv dinners, John Lennon dreams, midnight regrets, assistant managers, cats waiting for a handout, social injustice, and the haunting presence of a father 'aware he sent his son into a world that hates him.' " --A F Moritz

"Daniel Maluka's Unwashed is the unvarnished truth about the experience of feeling unwanted, unloved, and unfree in the midst of Canada's largest city. Maluka turns his eyes forensically on the lives of his family, friends, lovers, and neighbours, and on the conundrum that is Canadian Multiculturalism--so welcoming, so liberating--yet frustrated so insidiously by White Supremacism. These poems are scarily poignant . . . they are for all the 'unwashed'--not to bleach or brainwash--but to clear away the threat of whitewash with the promise of baptismal rebirth. Welcome, now, Daniel Maluka!" --George Elliott Clarke, author of Canticles III (MMXXIII), and Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada (2016 & 17)

"Unwashed articulates a coming into awareness of the junk enchantments animating identity and social belonging in Canada today. Daniel Maluka's voice lays down a story of betweenness--where one's sources of family and meaning conflict bodily and psychically with the foundational myth of home. A bid for tenderness permits hope in this first book of poetry." --Dale Martin Smith, Toronto Metropolitan University professor and author of The Size of Paradise

"Daniel Maluka's Unwashed stirred parts of my soul I didn't know could be reached. The emotions are so vividly captured, it feels like he's written a piece of my own heart." --Carlos Anthony, author of Shades of Black

"Daniel Maluka is a keen and talented observer of the changing social fabric. These poems contain worlds." --Moez Surani, author of Operations and The Legend of Baraffo

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writes abt sew adept n kleer wun uv th best books evr"
--bill bissett