Calling on all aspiring Durban poets
Do you have what it takes to be a curtain raiser at Poetry Africa?
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The Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal is encouraging emerging poets to take part in the 19th Poetry Africa Festival as prelude poets.
Poetry Africa, with principal funding from the city of Durban, takes place from 12 to 17 October and brings together some of the world’s finest poets and musicians to Durban, with artists from the African continent and beyond.
Four Durban poets are needed to perform curtain-raisers for the festival. This gives the city’s poets the opportunity to showcase their work to audiences at the country’s premier poetry festival. Many poets performing in this space have gone on to be invited as festival participants in Poetry Africa and other platforms in subsequent years.
Participants will be required to audition original works within a five-minute limit. Auditions will take place at The Centre for Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal Howard College Campus) on 3 and 4 September.
Auditions slots will be assigned by booking. To book an audition time, applicants must send an e-mail with their full name and contact details, with ‘Poetry Africa Prelude Auditions’ in the subject line, to poetryafrica@cca-ukzn.co.za.