Lilongwe poets set new standards
The standards were high. The poets were excellent and the messages were loud and clear. And if the recitals by members of Living Room Poetry Club (LRPC) in Lilongwe at Ufulu Gardens on Saturday night were anything to go by, Malawi’s standards in poetry are on the rise.
The stage was thrilling, not mentioning the sound and lighting, so captivating to both the poets and fans.
The audience was lively and perhaps added more energy to the 18 poets that shared their views on Lilongwe as a DiverCity.
The menu was so salivating with poems centering on themes of being poets, protests, love, comedy, spirit, language and family as the poetsshowed their versatility in creatively weaving words together and witha transparent meaning.
The Chichewa poems were also marvellous. Full of puns, proverbs and eccentric words that made sense in their context.
Even the coordination among the group was outstanding with no dull moments on stage.
No time was spent by the fans wondering what happens next or perhaps brooding over the lack of enthusiasm in the performers.
The poets also took the time to share their innate thoughts on the Cashgate scam and the death of former South African President Nelson Mandela.
At intervals, the fans were treated to some acoustic music courtesy of George the Artist and DRC native Menes.
“The poets in Lilongwe have set a new standard in the country. It will be amazingly good for them, fans and the country, if they maintain these standards,” said a fan Mercy Molotali.
Meanwhile, the DiverCity event was the launch of fundraising exercise by LRPC members who are planning to work on an anthology.
“We want to come up with a compilation of different poems from us members. And as a means of achieving this, we organised this event to raise funds for the project which is expected to kick off early to mid-next year,” said one of the organisers Duncan McNicholl.
