With the support of bibliography on African oral literature, and based on Walter Benjamin's theoretical reflections on the role of the narrator in history, the concept of poet-narrator is developed – as the one who brings in his/her verses fragments and "ruins of history" of his/her ancestors. The poet-narrators chosen for this research are José Craveirinha, Agostinho Neto, Noémia de Souza, Alda Espírito Santo and Paula Tavares. Added to them is the visual and performance poet Grada Kilomba, a contemporary Portuguese artist of African origin, whose works are analyzed from the perspective of the black holocaust and the tradition of West African storytellers, the griots, guardians of memory and knowledge transmitted orally.