Arranged in words, coloured with images and struck with the right meter, this is what is called poetry whose beauty is being celebrated today being World Poetry Day.
World Poetry Day is celebrated on March 21 every year and was declared by Unesco in 1999 with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard.
And so, poets in the country join the rest of the world to celebrate this artistic discipline that apart from entertaining people has also been used as a vehicle for tackling important issues in order to bring about change.
Renowned poet Q Malewezi, who is also special adviser to President Lazarus Chakwera on Creative Industries, said yesterday that there was need to reflect on poetry’s power to transcend speeches and slogans – especially in this election year.
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“It speaks to shared hopes, fears and dreams, uniting us through our common humanity. Poetry envisions peace, coexistence, and a hopeful future, urging us to listen, understand and reimagine a better world together,” the ‘People’ creator said.
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Award winning poet Refilwe Ntopa from Vilipanganga Poetry Movement that hosts poetry gatherings at Kwaharaba Art Gallery in Blantyre, said World Poetry Day is celebrating a medium that allows people to reflect on collective humanity and personal experiences, while challenging us to view the world through different lenses.
She said as Vilipanganga Poetry Movement, they continue to celebrate poetry through open night sessions every last Wednesday of the month.
“The incoming gathering is on March 26 2025. We also have a poetry event on March 29 2025 at Café Five 79 under the theme ‘Don’t Drink and Rhyme.’ The idea is to find out what happens when people break the rules and drink and rhyme same concept with drinking and driving,” Refilwe said.
Poetry Association of Malawi (Pam) President Robert Chiwamba famed for poems such as ‘Uzafa Imfa Yowawa,’ encouraged all poets in the country to write poetry for peace and unity as per this year’s theme. “This year we will be going to elections in September so, as poets, let us write poetry for peace, unity,” Chiwamba said.
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Meanwhile, Chiwamba has said that Pam has taken advantage of the World Poetry Day today to launch its Copyright Funded project at Alliance Francaise de Blantyre. University of Malawi in Zomba through its Department of Literary Studies has also taken advantage of the World Poetry Day to organise an event.
The department’s head, Associate Professor Wesley Macheso said the event will bring forth poets such as Mashallo Samillo, Yanjanani Banda and Emmanuel Chikuse. “There will also be readings from students, who are members of the Unima Writers’ Workshop. The panel discussion will be on this year’s theme and it will be moderated by Dr Tanaka Chidora, who is also a poet and lecturer in the department,” Macheso said.
Veteran poet Benedicto Wokomaatani Malunga of the ‘Ndizakutengera Kunyanja Ligineti’ maintained yesterday that poetry needs to follow its rubrics. “We should not bastardise a revered art form like poetry by calling everything that is written in verses and lines poetry because some ignorant consumers accept it as poetry,” he said.
