SADC poets unite in the name of love (The Citizen (Tanzania))

Fifty years ago, it would probably be hard to imagine how you could promote African literature involving artists from all over Africa without having them assembled in one place. In 2015, the internet has done us a lot of good.Vus’umuzi Phakathi, a South African poet can surely testify to that. As the brainchild of ‘Current State of Poetry’ project, Vus’umizi and partner Lehlohonolo Masina have managed to compile 17 poems in audio files from SADC member states, all lending their voices in an unanimous expression of love.Aside from this venture being inspired by and launched on Valentine’s Day, Vusi explains that the compilation aimed at celebrating African cultural diversity whilst still highlighting our inherent similarities as Africans.Vusi explains that the project was inspired by xenophobic attacks in SA that happened early this year a phenomenon that is by no means an alien in that country.”I therefore thought that perhaps if we could trample borders and collectively focus on love as Africans, we could somehow make a difference, irrespective of how minute it would be.”And there wouldn’t be any other better unifying medium that has given people of diverse races and ethnicity common ground more than the arts, says Vusi. “Arts have unified people from six countries with this mix tape alone, and not even much has been done as yet.”He goes on to say, “The focus of The Current State of Poetry (CSP), the movement I founded, in 2015 is to explore and unify the various poetry markets in the African continent as part of the mammoth task of creating a stable and sustainable poetry industry.This can be made possible through resolute relationships between the numerous scenes.” This coupled with the idea of taking a break from all the negativity gnawing at our continent and shifting our focus to spreading love, the idea of a ‘love mix-tape’ then came up Valentine’s Day seemed best as the day of release.When the idea came to mind, CSP went in search of poets who are both skilled and have established themselves as brands in their regions.Every region has a prominent poetry house that hosts and thus knows the hardest working poets in that particular region. For the most part, these are the people they approached, asking for three poets, and from that three, they made their selection based on the quality of the work relative to the nature of this particular project.The ‘World Wide Web’ made all this possible.”I love The Internet. It is one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind. People are swiftly moving away from purchasing hardcopies of CDs to buying music online, and this is awe filled.Mainly because it has a much wider reach, we have people all the way from Kinshasa to Cape Town downloading the mixtape. We need to utilise this gift.”The search and the whole project was fun and challenging, Vusi confesses. “Getting in contact with all these various poets and enjoying their works was the fun part, now the real challenge begins, having to take this project to the world.”The list of skilled wordsmiths spans over the Southern tip of our continent to unite writer-performers from South Africa’s Conelius Jones Mfundo Ntobongwana Page Ngwenya Lesika Wa Ha Dipholo Siyabonga Ngcai Gontse Wa Chaane and Sabelo Soko Zimbabwe’s Batsirai Chigama and Twarelo Mothobi to Swaziland’s Mxolisi “Last Man” Radebe Malawi’s Qabaniso K.L Malewazi the DRC’s Menes La Plume Zambia’s Luka Mwango Botswana’s Mandisa Mabothoe and Tanzania’s Esther Karin Mngodo.Esther’s poem ‘Penda Wewe’ which also won her the Ebrahim Hussein Poetry Prize 2014 was delivered in Kiswahili. This was done intentionally, says Vusi adding:”I asked Esther to deliver her poem in Kiswahili because another focus of the project is to expose the beauty in Africa’s diversity. We did this by requesting that, if they so wish, the poets can submit poems in their native languages.We also seek to celebrate this diversity, and I personally acquired an acute need to learn Kiswahili so to understand that poem which sounds so beautiful, and this is our aim.”It comes as no surprise to note that such a venture would resonate with Esther, herself a firm believer in the ability of art to influence public perception and drive social change.”Her work possesses a very rare and highly refreshing quality, effortlessly weaving vivid tapestries and drawing lyrical landscapes which instantly transport the listener to wherever her pen motions,” remarked Vusi when asked to substantiate his reasons for choosing the Tanzanian poet for the project.”It is amazing what Vusi has done through this space called ‘the internet’. Gathering poets from all over southern Africa is a thought to be commended.Especially since it didn’t remain a thought but became something that can now be enjoyed. I am also glad that I could present my work in Kiswahili. I am proud of my language and my people,” Esther said.Vusi says that they are determined on widening the grasp that poetry has on both the entertainment industry and popular culture as a whole.Aside from being available for free streaming and download on www.bozza.mobi/csp, they are leaving no stones unturned in getting African radio stations to playlist this mixtape.Future plans include a bimonthly African Poetry Mixtape targeting various countries within the continent, and a poetry festival comprised of all the participants, an idea that is still at its infant stages but sure to manifest.

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