Relief fund helps poets

THE Poetry Relief Fund has already assisted 45 poets during this lockdown through the first season of the Hear My Voice web series.

The fund has reopened applications to assist a further 35 poets. The second phase of the relief fund aims to focus on areas and languages under-represented in previous episodes.

“Thousands of creative practitioners are currently sitting without the ability to earn an income and poets are often left out of funding opportunities. We wanted to find a simple, yet effective, way to help the sector. Something that kept both poets and poetry lovers in mind,” said executive director Ishmael Sibiya.

Cultural and creative industries across the world have been some of the hardest hit as a result of lockdown and social-distancing measures prohibiting live performances and events.

While many programmes have been instituted to assist the arts sector, the poetry community is often left underserved. Hear My Voice is a non-profit organisation which focuses on developing and supporting spoken word artists.

In a recent survey conducted about the impact of Covid-19 on the cultural and creative industries, 94% of respondents reported having lost work that was scheduled for this year (South African Cultural Observatory). Now, poets again have the opportunity to make up for some lost income by applying to the only relief fund in the country aimed specifically at poets.

The Poetry Relief Fund web-series pays poets R1 500 per online-event, and hosts live-streamed poetry shows with up to five poets an episode. The initial season included poets from eight provinces. Poets from the North West are encouraged to apply, as the next round of open-calls aims to target provinces and languages under-represented in previous episodes.

The organisation works with Poetry Potion, The Market Theatre – Windybrow Arts Centre, Poetry Africa, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and private donors.