While some may think the recent resurgence of poetry has simmered down, indications are that it has yet to peak. Happenings on the current culture calendar place the art form firmly centre stage, the main event being Heritage Month.
The department of arts and culture’s focus on poetry is the third and last leg of a three-year instalment on intangible history.
In 2005, the department honed in on indigenous foods, while in 2006 it turned its attention to music.
The focus on poetry, the department says, goes together with government’s drive to rejuvenate literature in indigenous languages — with a budget of R1-billion.
The annual Arts Alive festival, which rounds off this weekend, will feature its usual Speak the Mind poetry slot. One of this year’s main attractions is Korean-American poet Ishle Yi Park, the first poet laureate of Queens, who mixes poetry with music. She, along with our own poet laureate, Keorapetse Kgositsile, will also be featured in the annual International Poetry Africa Festival, which kicks off in Durban in October.
The department’s programme was launched on September 8 and consisted of poetry workshops and performances throughout the country. ‘The focus was on development and training, which involved partnering with established poets like Kgositsile and Lebogang Mashile so that the workshops would not take place in a didactic manner, but actually allow the up-and-coming poets space to recite,” said the department’s spokesman Mack Lewele.
On the official agenda this month was the awards ceremony for national orders in which several poets were honoured, among them Mongane Wally Serote. He was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in silver for his ‘excellent contribution to literature, with emphasis on poetry and for putting his artistic talents at the service of democracy in South Africa”.
The ceremony was awash with the kind of uncomfortable pomp and incongruity that accompanies politically manufactured heraldry. For the more cynical in the media corner where I sat, the whole thing boiled down to a party patting itself on the back for a revolution well fought, with a soundtrack to match. The Mahotella Queens were pretty much the mascots of the show, punctuating every award with a snappy chorus celebrating the role of women. Simphiwe Dana’s Bantu Biko Street, by contrast, was a sobering cautionary paean to the president, which he seemed to enjoy.
The event made me ask the question: Is a national order conferred on a poet only when he ceases to speak critically of the status quo? And if he helped to bring a government about, can he really continue to speak critically of it if he remains a vital part of it?
Serote is the CEO of Freedom Park Trust, a national legacy aiming to ‘provide a pioneering and empowering heritage destination that challenges visitors to reflect upon our past”. Many poets have alluded to the softer tone of his more recent work and also to his inaccessibility.
Sabata Mpho Mokae, who participated in the department’s events, feels that the order confirms that poets are being taken seriously by the state and that Serote’s focus on his craft had paid off. ‘Young poets have a tendency to chase rhyme and rhythm at the expense of a conveyable message,” he said. ‘Serote is not that kind of poet. He perfected his craft and delivered messages that are still relevant in this time and space. The social critique doesn’t come out like it does in young poets. He went into exile with an ANC card and his criticism is cautious.”
Napo Masheane, a crier at the awards ceremony, agreed that Serote’s tone, strident in his earlier works, had changed, but the crier differed as to the reasons. ‘In the recent History is the Home Address, there is a dialogue between two lovers. You can see that he is also inspired by young poets and can change with time. Our elders haven’t excluded themselves from us. There’s no gap between them and us.”
Masoja Msiza, the organiser of SABC2’s Lenstswe poetry project, feels it is good that poets are being recognised, but he thinks more should be done to honour the contributions of many faceless poets. ‘We can liberate people. Give us more attention and we’ll give you more ideas.”
Mashile said it was a testament to the country’s unique dispensation that creative people could be called upon to play a role in shaping the nation-state. ‘Keorapetse Kgositsile plays the role of artist, political being and elder all at the same time — and he wears all hats with credibility.”
Asked for his views on poets receiving national orders, poet and author Lesego Rampolokeng related a conversation he held with Kgositsile. ‘Your song is going to be informed by where you are sitting. You cannot escape the things you see, touch, eat and smell [as a poet],” Rampolokeng recounted the poet laureate’s words.
‘I once asked our poet laureate whether his honour meant that now he would sing the royal song for his supper. He said ‘No’. His role meant that he would bridge the gaps between generations of poets and create platforms for younger poets. What I wish is that even a nod had been given to Makifa Gwala because of his relevance. He defined what blackness is supposed to be. If we are going to be honouring our art, I want to know what criteria we are using? Who are we ignoring?”
More local and international poets will take to the stage as part of Arts Alive’s Speak the Mind Festival on September 28 and 29 at the Market Theatre