Thabiso Nxumalo
Poets in Masvingo have voiced concerns over their line of trade that seems to be slowly losing position and relevance in the performing arts scene in this modern era as compared to other forms of art like music and sport.
Abel Mauchi, a prominent Masvingo poet bemoaned their side lining and said like absence of a governing body that specifically deals with poetry is the main cause of their predicament.
“We as poets are not taken seriously, especially by relevant bodies, most poets are living in poverty while other artists in music are excelling and living large while we languish in poverty despite our contribution to the society.
“I think in the best way forward for us is to form a poets’ governing body led by poets and not just be led by people who are not directly involved with the profession.
“In this spirit, we call upon the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation to engage us in order to keep the profession alive,” said Mauchi.
Popular Masvingo contemporary poet Mambo Guramatunhu who recently launched a poetry book titled “Kumberi Takamirigwa” at Civic Centre, Masvingo on Saturday, November 20, 2021 said poetry addresses real life issues but lack of airplay is significantly shrinking their reach.
He also said unlike musicians with managers and promoters, they can organise shows and echoed Mauchi’s words of having a Poets board.
He bemoaned the absence of a Poetry Awards body to promote competition and creativity in the industry to give poets recognition and encourage writers to have faith and write more.
“We are addressing real life situations in our societies through poetry, however lack of airplay on Television and radio means the message is not getting to the masses while we sustain our families with the little we have, hoping things will improve. Musicians are leading in the arts because they have sponsors, promoters, shows and airplay while most poets do all this by themselves.
“The Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation should advocate for space for poets on bigger platforms and help in the formulation of a board specifically for poets so that we can be heard
“As it stands, we do not have an awards board in place, we are just poets with their poems,” said Guramatunhu.
A Masvingo resident Cynthia Hove said she doesn’t know any poet, as she knows not even legendslike Musaemura Zimunya, Albert Nyathi and Arnold “SoProfound” Chirimika or even Masvingo’s Abel Mauchi.
“I do not know any of the poets you just asked me, I have never seen them perform anywhere, what I know mostly in Masvingo in terms of arts and entertainment are musicians and gigs,” said Hove.
