BY FIONA MOTSA
MANZINI– For the love of poetry!
A free poetry workshop is on the card for poetry artists in the country.
This publication has established that the workshop will be held on April 1, 2023 at Matsapha Business Centre.
It has been organised by Likusasa Letfu, UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund)and the European Union (EU).
Likusasa Letfu Project Officer Kholiwe Matsebula said the aim of workshop is meant to capacitate young people on public speaking, confidence as well as self-expression.
“We have invited seasoned poet, Zwakele Simelane to facilitate the poetry session. Simelane will be sharing his inspiring journey with upcoming artists as well as his journey on his upcoming poetry book.
“I invite the youth to take advantage of this opportunity. As an organisation, we feel we have to make it our priority to provide young people with poetry education including building their self-esteem and confidence,” said Simelane.
When sought for comment, President of Eswatini Poetry Association Qiniso Motsa said they were grateful for poetry initiatives that were being made for the youth.
“Poetry is a tool that can be used to address emotions and self-expression. It is imperative that the youth learn how to express themselves and be able to cope with all the pressures in their lives. This then helps them become more confident in dealing with whatever life throws at them.
“We have seen rising numbers in mental health problems and we can only use what we have to address this concerning issue and that is through poetry. We are grateful for the poetry initiatives being made for the youth,” said the President.
Poet Zwakele ‘Octobah’ Dlamini mentioned that he was not taught poetry at school but fell in love with storytelling. “I loved literature back in high school; however poetry was not taught there. I realised poetry was basically storytelling in a very artistic form of wordplay. I learnt how to create poetry pieces by listening to other poets in the game. I think if we had access to free poetry seminars it would have taken our poetry to a whole different level earlier,” said the poet.
