Female poet Tanyaradzwa Tiffany Nyikadzino has said her latest anthology Fading Rainbows was motivated by what people experienced during the COVID-19-induced lockdowns.
Nyikadzino said the anthology, which carries 30 poems, looked at how people live and interact in society because of changes that came about as a result of the pandemic.
“I was inspired to write because we were all going through so much change during the COVID-19 lockdowns. These changes led to genderbased violence, abuse in the form of rape, broken relationships and depression,” she said.
“People also lost their jobs and had to find alternative ways to feed their families. It is through all these that I just found myself penning these emotions down into an anthology.”
She added: “The poems in the book centre on how we get depressed and the things that affect our happiness such as grief and broken relationships, among others.
“The continued lockdowns also affected the mental health of some individuals due to depression, bipolar, anxiety and loss of loved ones.” Nyikadzino said the anthology’s last chapter, called Love, centres on reclaiming the happiness for hope of a better future.
“At the end, I was reminded that one has to just accept and appreciate themselves as they are and that is how the book ends with a poem of realisation,” she said. Nyikadzino said although the journey had been bumpy, she defied odds and soldiered on.
Afro Poetry Times
