Local poets Mosima Phakane, Ngwedzeni Tshovhota and Mashimbye Hluvukani are among the group of winning poets who beat thousands of entrants from across the country in the recent Avbob poetry competition.
Avbob invited poets in all South African official languages to submit poems with an elegiac feel with the purpose of building a bridge between the poets and their clients who experience bereavement.
Phakane (Sepedi), Tshovhota (Tshivenda) and Hluvukani (Xitsonga) each received R10 000, a certificate and trophy when the winners were announced in Pretoria recently. Their poems have been included in an anthology titled: I wish I’d said.
Phakane, from Korotong village in Ga-Matlala reportedly said she saw the contest as an opportunity to grow as a poet. Tshovhota, based in Muledane village in Thohoyandou, has been writing poems since 2014 and published an anthology titled ‘Mutshakavhili’ (Eclipse) in 2015.
Hluvukani, an educator from Makahlule village in Giyani reportedly said he uses poetry to express and share his compassion, interpretation of life, and as a remedy.
Story: Herbert Rachuene
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