New National Poetry Slam Champion, Durban-born Kwanele Nyembe, at the recent Poetry Africa Festival. Picture: Supplied
Durban-based poet and UKZN student Kwanele Nyembe walked away with one of the most wanted rewards in poetry – the chance to compete for the World Slam title in Brazil next year.
Last year Xabiso Vili was crowned World Slam Poetry Champion representing South Africa in Brussels.
Nyembe’s chance at the World Slam Poetry Competition in Brazil next year came after being crowned National Poetry Slam champion at the recent Poetry Africa Festival.
“South Africa has the best poets in the world, and I am grateful to Poetry Africa for echoing this established belief. I am looking forward to retaining the title next year in Brazil,” said Nyembe.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama and Performance Arts and Media and Cultural studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where he is now pursuing his Honours degree in Drama and Performance Arts. He facilitated writing and performance workshops and organised and hosted monthly shows called In My Own Voice.
Nyembe has fond memories of his mother accompanying him to art shows and he fell in love with performance.
He relates how he sharpened his writing skills in high school. There was no drama class, so he used the gap as an opportunity to fall in love with the words.
“Being home alone with just a pen and paper wasn’t an issue. It’s not that I was lonely, but I just loved putting everything into words and everything would just make sense after writing,” he said.
Nyembe was the runner-up in 2018 and Slam Jam champion in 2019. In 2020, he was selected as an honourary poet for the Poetry Africa festival, which was held virtually because of Covid-19, as part of the New Voices Segment. He was also part of the judging panel that year.
He started studying law at the University of Witwatersrand, but dropped out because he realised he was doing something he was not passionate about.
“I would skip classes just to attend poetry sessions and sometimes partake in them. I met a lot of poets and my love for art awakened in me. I saw that art was something I really wanted to do for the rest of my life,” he said.
Nyembe says he writes his poems from the heart and they are usually about how he views the world, life experiences, personal healing and his family. He said he overcame nerves while performing by shifting his focus through breathing.
Centre for Creative Arts director Ismail Mahomed said the 2022 Poetry Africa was “an incredible success”.
“The festival affirmed its place as the most relevant platform that brings together poets from across the world to share, critique and celebrate each other’s creativity. At the same time, the festival is a barometer of how poets read and interpret our social, political and global conditions. Poetry Africa is a dynamic advocate for social justice”.
The Independent on Saturday