The idea of having a SADC Poetry Festival was not far fetched as already Windhoek and Gaborone have experienced the excitement of having poets from the region, workshop, share, recite and perform poetry indoors and more importantly outdoors. The ideal s to take poetry to the people, outside the comfort of walls and intellectuals to the people on the streets, in the open markets, shopping malls, etc. the SADC Poetry Festival is breaking the understanding that poetry is an elitist hobby. It is bringing the stink back to the word through performances in the dust and dirt where the majority of people live and interact daily.
The poetry network in the regions is certainly growing, as more and more poets are sharing platforms and ideals with each other. In so doing they are "cross fertilizing" each other. Politicians called it regional integration and I call it a finding each other and celebrating our intelligence, creativity and lives Where is the next SADC Poetry Festival, many have asked me. Soon we'll all know. Hopefully we'll meet there, again.
For now I just want to encourage the poets to keep on writing and reciting their works. We write from the hearth and voice our feelings and fill our own emptiness with words.
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