Women offered chance at slam poetry
This year’s Slam Emporium was for female poets only and was held under the theme Goddess of the Mic Slam on Saturday, 27 August.
POLOKWANE –According to Slam Emporium Co-founder, Mercy Dhliwayo, this was the second year they hosted the competition.
“The event was hosted by a movement called the Slam Emporium PLK which I am a part of. The Slam Emporium is a Polokwane-based non-profit company which organises and coordinates spoken word events aimed at giving the youth in Polokwane and surrounding areas a creative platform of expression and intellectual growth. Our activities are organised by a team of four, comprising myself, George Kambwiri (co-founder), Danny Mose Modiba, and Thomas Masingi,” she said.
Mercy adds the necessity of creating such an initiative came about after they came to the realisation that there is a lack of mind stimulating and intellectual activities in the city.
This resulted in the birth of the Slam Emporium monthly poetry slams that commenced on 1 May last year which gives poets from Polokwane and its neighbouring areas to compete in three rounds of poetry performances for a cash prize of R500 as well as book prizes for runner-ups to encourage a culture of reading.
“Through the slams, we engage in exchange programmes aimed at affording the young and un-established artists who participate a platform to travel outside the borders of the city and the country with their art. We accomplish this by creating partnerships with poetry organisations outside of the province and the country where we host poets from their organisation under the Slam Emporium platforms in Polokwane and in turn they host our poets in their respective cities or countries, “ Mercy explained.
The Slam Emporium has travelled to Zimbabwe on two occasions with four South African poets, three of whom were Limpopo based, for performances at two renowned annual arts festivals, the Intwasa Festival and the iBumba Festival. The Slam Emporium has in turn hosted four poets from other cities and countries. They also had the opportunity to host the renown Limpopo-born poet, David wa Maahlamela.
“After we noticed the majority of events we hosted thus far were mainly male-dominated we decided to host the Goddess of the Mic Slam event for women only in a bid to encourage more female participation. With this we aim to encourage women to overcome their fear and step up to the plate and have their talent recognised.”
The winner of this slam, in addition to receiving a cash prize of R500, will get the opportunity to travel outside Polokwane or South Africa as part of the Slam’s exchange programme. She, together with the other two slammers, will get mentorship opportunities to develop and grow their talent.
