BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – Adding cool to Poetry!
This is the birthing story of ‘Poetry Soul Sundays’ which takes place every Tuesdays.
A writer once said ‘It is power when it’s born of one person’s truth’, this is the exact impact of the live performances that take place every week, and it breathes an authentic resonance when it touches hearts.
“We are vibrations after all,” said one of the performers, Jojo, before mesmerizing the crowd with her voice.
Poetry Soul Sundays is a poetry movement aimed at cultivating the art of storytelling in Eswatini, launched on December 19, 2021.
Through its partnership with renowned entities like New Life Entertainment, 23:28 Lounge and The Mic’d Emotions, the poetry movement has successfully birthed Spoken word Tuesdays.
These are poetry and soul sessions which transpire every Tuesday at 23:28 Lounge, from 6 pm. In December alone, they have hosted poets and musicians to celebrate love under a theme dubbed ‘SpokenLove Tuesdays’.
Headlining acts included M.Age, Anthonimas de Poet, Samkele, LaSibuso, Sbu J, and Jojo among others.
Co-founder Siyabonga Dlamini, popularly known as ‘The Silent Writer said the Spoken word Tuesdays are a build-up of sizeable events to be staged every after two months and then culminate to an annual poetry festival in December.
“Our paramount objective is to empower the youth to narrate their own African stories and further export them around the globe,” he said.
In addition, he said from the eight events they hosted, the reception has been highly positive.
“Consistency is how we will grow the sessions. The plan is to exercise culture exchange programmes with poets from other countries. We want to further introduce a new approach to poetry, which includes publicising written/spoken word and poetry integrated with virtual reality,” he said.
The event was highlighted by a crowd of over 60 people and light snacks with wine. People in attendance seemed to be taken with each performance and the delivery of the poetry sessions.
There has always been a discussion of the types of poetry events which include open mic, slams, showcases, and one-person shows.
A popular variation of the open mic in the worlds of stand-up and music is the bringer show, where performers must bring a certain number of audience members along to receive their place.
Whilst these aforementioned event types are the typical types of live events, others do not fit into these moulds. Arguably, the most recent major development in delivering poetry is slams, beginning in 1984, so there is an audience waiting for something new.
Poetry has become an experimental art-form and that should apply to events as well as writing.
The most popular one in the country is the one-man show; some poets develop shows around a theme or narrative.
They perform alongside established headliners and even visiting poets from around the world burning up the mic.
