The Poetry Africa – International Poetry Festival, hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts UKZN announced the winners for the annual Poetry Africa Schools Competition on Friday, 18 October on the last evening at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre before the finale at the BAT Centre on Saturday, 19 October 19h00.
The Schools Poetry Competition provides learners with the exciting opportunity to showcase their poetry-writing skills in the schools poetry competition, which is a popular component of the festival. Entrants from high schools in KwaZulu-Natal were invited to submit original poems in a theme of their choice, in English, isiZulu or Afrikaans and a panel of adjudicators that included Sakhile Gumede, Sphindile Hlongwa, Noxolo Matete, Carole Gumede, Mitchell Harper and Nomfundo Xolo selected winners for both the English and Zulu competition sections. “This year we had a total of 78 English, 93 isiZulu and 1 Afrikaans poems that were submitted from schools within Durban and the surrounding areas. The selection process was difficult as the scholars brought creativity, originality and inspiration in all of their poems and selecting the winners was difficult” said Tiny Mungwe Project Manager of the Festival. The winners who presented their poems and received prizes during the Poetry Africa evening session on Friday, October 18 at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre are:
In the English section:
1st place: Yuvti Rampersad (Westville Girls High) for ‘We Poets’
2nd place: Amanda Hadebe (Westville Girls High) for ‘The Silent Spectator’
3rd place: Laura Pirjol (Durban Girls College) for ‘Guilt’
In the Zulu section:
1st place: Sibongile Ngidi (Mzingezi Secondary School) for ‘Impela Uyimpicabadala’
2nd place: Latha Philani (Umbelebele Secondary) for ‘Olukamageba’
3rd place: Lee-Ann Jantjies (Umlazi Commercial High) for ‘Awami Amaphutha Ma, Wami!’
The winners were presented with cash prizes and book voucher awards thanks to the long standing sponsorship with Adams Bookshop UKZN Howard College. A further component within the Poetry Africa – International Poetry Festival is the long-standing commitment to nurture a culture of reading and writing amongst the youth of KwaZulu-Natal. The schools’ visits initiative that took place during this year’s festival took place in over fifteen schools within Durban and the surrounding areas.
Organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal), the 17th Poetry Africa is funded by the City of Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture. The Centre for Creative Arts is housed in the College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The CCA is currently a special project of the newly appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Cheryl Potgieter, in the College of Humanities at UKZN.
Website: www.cca.ukzn.ac.za
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