Push to revive poetry recitals

A group of poets has unveiled plans to revive poetry recitals which dominated weekend arts events few years ago.

Events such as Chiphwando cha Ndakatulo, Chitsinda cha Ndakatulo and others were some of the popular platforms where talented poets showed their skills on stage.

Other poetry events included Land of Poets and The Warm Heart Festival organised by Sylvester Kalizang’oma which brought poets together to celebrate poetry and showcase talent.

Malawi Talents Promotions director Hudson Chamasowa told The Nation that financial challenges and extensive airplay of poems on various media platforms have contributed to the blackout of live poetry events.

“The economic challenges are affecting the turn-up of people to various events and organisers have put down tools for fear of making losses. That is affecting us as poets,” he said.

In a separate interview, poet Raphael Sitima said lack of poetry events has affected up-and-coming poets as they lack exposure and the experience facing a live audience.

“A decade ago, we could see that there were poets being placed into the limelight within a short time due to live events,” he said.

But a new dawn of poetry shows is around the corner as plans are in the pipeline to revive them.

Chamasowa said under Malawi Talents Promotions, plans are underway to bring back poetry shows.

He said: “We are working on establishing poetry hubs in pilot districts so that we unearth hidden talent and at the same time promote the art.

Poetry fanatic James Solomon said interest in poetry is fading because watching poetry on the Internet does not provide the vibe shows do, adding that reviving live shows would be the way to go.

Poetry Association of Malawi events’ organiser for the Southern Region Kenneth Khondiwa said the major reason for the decline in poetry shows is finances.

Poetry Association of Malawi vice-president Daniel Zabuloni Dama said the association is pondering on how they can increase their reach to audiences.