Wordfest galore as slam jam poets gear up to strut stuff
THE Poetry Africa festival, presented by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, is in full swing and runs until October 16.
With the theme: Poetic (In) Justice: voices that breathe, move and transform, it presents a packed programme of established poets, young, inspiring talents and spokenword artists from South Africa and abroad.
For the first time, the festival will be presented in three locations: in Johannesburg from October 6 to 8; in Durban from October 10 to 16; and online, from October 10 to 15.
Internationally-renowned poet, writer and activist Diana Ferrus and award-winning performer and writer Xabiso Vili have vastly different backgrounds, but are both featured for their commitment to building a society grounded in social justice. They have been selected as Poetry Africa’s Legendary Featured Poet and New Generations Featured Poet respectively.
Ferrus will deliver the keynote address during the online event “We’re not ghosting you” on October 10 at 3pm. She will make live appearances during the Durban leg of the festival.
Her poetry is recognised for its impact on politics and for giving a voice to the anti-apartheid Struggle in South Africa.
Vili won the Poetry Africa Slam Jam last year and has released an album, a one-person show, and a poetry collection, and he co-authored a YA novella. He created an AR poetry-audio-visual project, exhibited in Paris in June 2021 and was recently crowned World Poetry Slam Champion in Brussels.
Among the highlights in Durban are South African poets Lebo Mashile, Phillippa Yaa De Villiers and Siphokazi Jonas. International poets include Paul Gausch (Catalan), Nachla Libre (Sweden), Lydol (Cameroon) and Philip Meersman (Belgium).
The programme is available on poetryafrica.ukzn.ac.za. Tickets for the Durban events are through Webtickets.