NAMIBIA’S aspirant writers are invited to polish their poetry and dive into the self as Township Productions releases its third poetry collection.
Each collection was compiled by Keamogetsi Joseph Molapong and edited by him. This arts company builds on the success of ‘Naming the Tomb’ last year and 2020’s Walk from the Self to present ‘A Conversation. The Africa in ME’, its third poetry anthology.
“The broader theme of ‘A Conversation: the Africa in ME’ is self-analysis in finding an answer to an age old question of: Who am I?,” says Molapong. “The anthology calls on poets to really be introspective. They must be honest about their own self-reflection. We need to redefine ourselves as Africans by finding the ‘Africa in ME’ and through this create a more compassionate, humane version of ourselves.”
Township Productions has two previous anthologies available online through Amazon.
“Printing is extremely expensive and there is not funding available for Township Productions to print the two anthologies. It is a strange and sad situation in Namibia,” says Molapong.
“On top of that, poetry is not commercial as yet. The market, which is primarily dominated by the government, has yet not stocked any national, regional, or local libraries with Namibian poems. Anthologies give more poets the opportunity to be published and they also help with reaching a broader readership,” Molapong says.
“Even though Namibia is regarded as a nation that does not read, literary publications and poetry in particular enable academia to have access to content from Namibian writers and to integrate some of the works in their lectures and even for the students to analyse and study as part of their course work.”
Poetry writers from Namibia, regardless their country of origin are invited to submit original poems and be considered for the larger, global poetry project.
“The role poetry affords the writer is that of an observer and commentator of social, political and even economic importance,” says Molapong.
“Through poetry, writers can express theirs and others’ thoughts, emotions and engage the reader through discussions aimed at resolving, appreciating or calling communities to action,” he says.
“Many a time, we claim to be what we are because of what external forces and influences dictate for us to be. As a result, we rarely pronounce ourselves on who we are, and how that which we are is portrayed to the external,” Molapong says.
“Introducing our inner most true-self to the external factors and influences is what this anthology is attempting to achieve.”
Submissions to A Conversation: Africa in ME’ are accepted until 30 September. The anthology will launch on 21 March 2023 as part of Namibia’s independence celebrations and World Poetry Day.
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– [email protected]; Martha Mukaiwa (Twitter and Instagram); marthamukaiwa.com
Source: namibian
