After a weeklong celebration of poetry and poets, the 25th edition of the Poetry Africa festival came to a close on October 16, 2021, during a celebratory closing ceremony. The annual international festival is curated and presented by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
The Festival is one of the single most important contemporary poetry events on the African continent and offers a weeklong celebration of wordsmiths across all ages and cultural and diverse linguistic backgrounds.
The weeklong programme featured engagements with and performances by poets, but also book launches and panel discussions. One of the festival's highlights was a live show that took place on October 15 at The Playhouse Theatre featuring Gcina Mhlophe, Lebo Mashile, Mbali Malimela, Siphokazi Jonas, Thando Fuze and Toni Giselle Stuart.
“It was a great experience to welcome back audiences and poets to a live event; Emfuleni. We all went and drank from the well of knowledge, peace, identity and healing says Siphindile Hlongwa, the curator of the Festival.
Poetry
in Communities Award
The Poetry In Communities Award recognises
a community-led initiative that creates opportunities for poets of all ages and
different demographics to come together and build their communities through
poetry. This year’s inaugural award was presented to the Royal Arts Town
Amphitheatre in Riebeek Valley in the Western Cape for their works towards
building a spirit of shared heritages and promoting cultural diversity.
“This project engages the arts to enliven their community, boost cultural tourism and grows opportunities for artists in their community.” says Centre for Creative Arts director, Ismail Mahomed.
Project manager Mark Graham-Wilson adds: “It is difficult to convey just how much our involvement in the Poetry Africa Festival and, of course, the wonderful recognition from the award has done for the Riebeek Valley. Even though I have been working with the various communities for some time now, I was surprised by the levels of emotion - mostly joy and pride - which the experience evoked, both in those directly involved and the broader community who have embraced the project as their own. The work we do here took a quantum leap forward last week in terms of unity and pride.”
The Award included a donation of R10,000 for their project.
Competitions
A highlight of the annual Poetry Africa
festival is the Slam Poetry Competition. The winner of a prize of R10,000 and
the opportunity to represent South Africa at the World Slam Poetry Competition
in Brussels next year was poet Xabiso Vili. Vili is an award-winning performer,
writer, new media artist, producer and social activist. His writings explore
his inner world to relate to the outer world.
A professional jury reviewed over 600 poems to decide on the winners of the school, open mic and Slam Jam competitions. Submissions consisted of all South African languages and from poets from all over the country between the ages of 6 and 76.
The
winners in the Schools Competition are:
Tshiamo Mqweba (17) from Hoerskool
Bloemfontein with her poem See Me, Hear
Me
Katleho Molaoa (19) from Eldoret Secondary
School in Odendaalrus with her poem Ke
Kopa Ho Bua.
Jess Robus (15) from Heronbridge College in
Johannesburg with her poem Eleven
The
winners in the Open Mic Competition are:
1. Karamel (21) from Polokwane for her poem
Ke jele ka Motseng
2. Patience Labane (25) from Bloemfontein
for her poem Prayers
3. Amahle Kimbili (22) from Pretoria for
her poem GBV
For those who missed the 25th Poetry Africa
Festival, the content can still be watched on www.facebook.com/poetryafrica,
and www.youtube.com/centrecreativearts.
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