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Poets organise fiesta, train in poetry

 

Poetry Association of Malawi (PAM) says it is reviving Chitsinda Cha Ndakatulo and seeks to bring back on stage renowned poets who have been dormant for some time.

PAM general secretary Paul Sezzie said in an interview the poetry festival is scheduled to take place at Kamuzu Institute for Sports in Lilongwe next Saturday.

He said they are looking forward to bringing back on the stage seasoned poets such as Benedicto Okomaatani Malunga, Nyamalikiti Nthiwatiwa, Sylvester Kalizang’oma and Felix Njonjonjo Katsoka.

They will brush shoulders with budding poets, including Herbert Chiwamba.

Mooted to perform: Okomaatani
Mooted to perform: Okomaatani

Said Sezzie: “There have been a number of factors why some seasoned poets have not been on the stage, including the issue of appearance fees. But we are working on bringing them back so that, while performing alongside them, the current team of poets can learn from them.

“I urge people to turn up in large numbers because we are bringing a different recipe from what they are used to. This is the first such show and the final one for the year, so one cannot afford to miss it.”

Meanwhile, Sezzie said up to 50 poets from the country’s major cities have recently been trained in poetry composition and performance.

He said 20 poets have been trained in the Central Region while 15 each have been trained in the Southern and Northern regions.

“Although we failed reach the target of training 20 poets in each of the three cities, we are happy with the training because it has brought about new insights in both poetry composition and performance.

“It was a good initiative because trainers included veterans in the field, including Alfred Msadala, Joe Mlenga, Q Malewezi, James Sitima and Misheck Mzumara,” he said. n

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