‘No life without poetry
“I write art that helps people to understand themselves better,”
Teamhw SbonguJesu believes there is no life without poetry. He has written prolifically ever since his school days, after one of his Grade 1 teachers gave him poems to read and recite in front of visiting teachers.
His poems arise out of his life and the lives of those around him. He is completely dedicated to his craft and has started his own imprint, TNG Publishing, in the hope of assisting other talented young poets to get their voices heard.
SbonguJesu, who lives in Elandskop, near Pietermaritzburg, has an LLB degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and an MA in Creative Writing from Rhodes University.
His poems tell the stories of so many other township and rural lives like his, caught in the cycle of neglected childhoods, thrown into life with no support systems, no instruction on ‘how to paddle’, falling into substance abuse, surrounded by role models of failure rather than success, yet burning with talent, alight with dreams, just needing someone to believe in them and point the way forward.
“I write art that helps people to understand themselves better,” he says. “To appreciate and embrace what makes them unique. Art that shows that even the darkest moments are not the end, that something good always comes out of them.”
SbonguJesu has been helped to release his first anthology, Bury Me Naked, by author, Elana Bregin, and Robert Berold from Grahamstown, who encouraged him to study creative writing.
“I first crossed paths with this gifted poet about two years ago when I was freelancing with UKZN Press,” said Bregin.
“Debra Primo, who was then publisher, contacted me to say that this proactive and terribly sweet young poet had come to see her with a pile of poetry manuscripts and other writing. “She wanted to know if I would look at them and give feedback, since UKZN Press doesn’t publish poetry.
“I was very struck by the impact and honesty of the poems. That was how we connected.”
Getting published as a poet is extremely difficult because there are very few publishers who take poetry in South Africa.
SbonguJesu decided not to let that stop him, however, and the results of his determination can be seen in Bury Me Naked.
The poetry collection, which is priced at R150, is available at Ike’s Books in Florida Road in Durban, Top Class Books in Hilton and Clarke’s Bookshop in Cape Town or from the author at TNGpublishing@protonmail.com.