BY SINDISO DUBE
ZAMBIAN poetry group Word Smash will jet into the country today for a poetry exchange programme and performance at the 15th edition of the annual Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo on Saturday.
The programme will be used by Word Smash to build momentum for the Confederation of Southern African Poetry Championships where they will be performing in 2020.
Led by Lusaka-based Zimbabwean poet Bhekumusa “Protest Poet” Moyo, the outfit will bring along Vanessa Van Van that Girl, well-known for her poem, Poetic Brut, whose performance attracted a full house in Lusaka last month.
Other poets who are part of the outfit are James “Names James” Kanyanta Messenjah who represented Zambia at the Africa Poetry Cup.
“We will be in Zimbabwe for exchange and artistically hook up. We are not on a commercial mission. We are in to experience the most consistent festival in Zimbabwe as we prepare for our Confederation of Southern African Poetry Championships planned for April 2020,” he said.
“Zimbabwe will be treated to exceptional poetry. These poets are unique. Their delivery style is sleek. They bring a rare strand as Word Smash Poetry thrives at building poets who speak about real issues obtaining in their localities. The poets are brutal, hard and lyrical. We have poets who drop bars more than prison guards.”
As part of the exchange programme, Word smash will host a poetry slam on Sunday at the National Arts Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.
