POET Tecla Nyengeterai Mwoyo has revealed that her forthcoming anthology titled Zvirimuhweva was motivated by her appreciation of different cultural values in Zimbabwe.
The anthology is a collection of 50 poems fused in different languages themed on culture, love and struggle.
Mwoyo told NewsDay Life & Style that she was born a keen researcher although she attained a commercial qualification. The poet has chosen to diversify her interests and do more for society through art.
She is a holder of a degree in banking and investment management, Master of Commerce degree in strategic management and a post graduate diploma in higher and tertiary education.
Mwoyo reckons that she used to write short stories and poems in a notebook until she joined a public speaking club to present her poems to audience.
“I have realised that some people have diverted from our culture to unknown borrowed values which has led them stray to destructive behaviours such as drug and substance abuse, gender-based violence, lack of respect for elders, hatred and tribalism. As such I thought there was a need to remind people about culture through my works,” Mwoyo said.
She said she fused the poems in different languages to broaden her audience, adding that she never studied languages or literature but was driven by eagerness to use art to communicate with people from different backgrounds and places in a way they understood.
“Zvirimuhweva contains poems such as Toitira Mukati which talks about the round hut that we find at every homestead in rural set-ups which resembles oneness and unity. The poem details one’s life from childhood when the family spends time together, eating and sleeping in the hut until the time one gets married in the same hut. The poem portrays the importance of oneness,” she said.
- Culture appreciation motivates poet Mwoyo
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Another poem, Muonde expresses son-in-law (mukuwasha)’s roles and expectations in the family while Koi Koi talks about the chinamwali tradition which teaches young adults how to maintain marriages by satisfying their husbands or wives.
Gombwe talks about how to appease ancestral spirits (vadzimu) and their roles in people’s lives.
