Namibia Hosts First SADC Poetry Festival

WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA-- Artsinitiates-Zimbabwe and Township Productions of Namibia will from 25 to 27 September host poets from the region for the inaugural Sadc Poetry Festival. The festival is being funded by Prince Claus Fund while the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre, Township Production as well as Gentlemen’s Club are partners.

The festival seeks to foster a culture of networking among poets as well as producing a poetry anthology after the event. The three-day event will open on Friday, 25 September in the evening before the workshop scheduled for the FNCC on Saturday 26. On September 27 the poets will perform to the public in selected areas.

Some of the poets attending are Tebogo Makgetla and Keselofetse Ditsabatho (Botswana); Moffat Moyo and Milensu Kapaipi (Zambia); Cynthia Marangwanda (Zimbabwe); Khadija Tracey Heeger (South Africa) and Phinda Mkhonta (Swaziland).

Memory Chirere, Zimbabwean writer and university lecturer, will be one of the resource persons, coordinating the workshop on 26 September when participants discuss poetry development in their countries as well as how to treat poetry ‘construction’. Another workshop coordinator is Jairos Kangira, a lecturer at the Polytechnic in Namibia.

They will also discuss why poetry, once regarded as a dead literary genre has suddenly sprung into life especially through the youths.

Since this festival will be a first of its kind, participants will discuss how to make it an annual event.

artsinitiates-zimbabwe focuses on training of artists in various fields and media personnel especially arts and culture journalists. Through its website – www.artsinitiates.co.zw – the organisation promotes budding writers by publishing their poems and short stories. The site also runs arts and culture stories. Award-winning author and former Herald entertainment editor and deputy news editor Wonder Guchu is the editor of the website.

Township Production is co-directed by poet, theatre director/ producer and actor Joseph Molapong and poet, musician Christi Warner. The outfit has produced four anthologies featuring upcoming poets in Namibia. Some of the poets featured on www.artsinitiates.co.zw.

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