Poet wants to share skills with children
“I started writing first and as time progressed, I realized that I wanted to recite poems."
![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2023/07/ITUMELENG_85669-e1688560154139-450x470.jpg)
Kwa-Thema poet Itumeleng Mpitso hopes to open a centre for children interested in poetry. The 21-year-old is also known as Sonkondlokazi Imbongi Yemizwa.
She started with poetry in 2021 after joining a local acting group called iKusasa Arts Production, the year before.
The little time she spent rehearsing scripts is what drove her to poetry in the first place.
“I started writing first and as time progressed, I realised that I wanted to recite poems. In 2021 I started poetry and left acting.
“With my writing, I entered the Mzanzi Arts Changers competition last year and performed for the first time in front of an audience and I placed third,” said the poet.
Itumeleng said that this achievement fueled her love for poetry as it showed that she is capable.
She highlighted that she has always been passionate about art, but she couldn’t pursue it as she was still in school and did not have access to the information she needed.
Itumeleng has a group of young children, who have similar interests to her, whom she coaches. She said she hopes to open her own centre where she can help equip children and give them opportunities she never had.
“I have a development group that I am still busy with at the moment. I am planning to open my own centre in the future,” said Itumeleng.
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