International Poetry Day was celebrated earlier this week and with that in mind, WITBANK NEWS is showcasing one of the city’s very own poets. Africa Zwelibanzi Ngubane (26) is a poet and a creative entrepreneur.
“Everything began when I was in third grade. I started as a creative writer and performer in 2005,” he said.
Africa went on to explain that he has a decade of experience in the creative writing and performance industry, particularly on the poetry scene, where he has worked for powerhouses such as Siyavutha Theatre Group, performed at the eMalahleni Poetry Night, and appeared on platforms such as Poetry Africa, CSP National Slam, and the Dry Session, among others.
On his journey thus far, Africa won awards for Best Male Poet at the Via Simunye Art Festival in Nigel in 2018, Siyavutha Theater Group’s Internal Awards for Best Theater Maker in 2017, Debut Alumni at Business and Arts South Africa’s The Debut programme 2021.
“As a creative entrepreneur, I believe in the literacy art’s capacity to inspire change and to sustain it,” he said.
He stated in 2019 that he and his partner started a Notepad Poetry movement to organise the Word Sports Movement, of which he is an executive director. Notepad Poetry is a creative writing and performance media house based in eMalahleni.
“Our mission is making superstars out of poets, the future objective is based on packaging poetry in such a way that it’s sellable in corporate spaces,” he further added.
He also said poetry has been getting a lot of attention lately, for commercials, for movies, for brands and so on, which keeps him motivated to create an ecosystem around the art. He said he loves to encourage people to believe in what they do because no one else will.
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