South African poet writes a reflection of poetry written over 10 years

Writing lyrically about her feelings, emotions and life’s fleeting moments over 10 years meant former East Londoner Micharn Pollock produced a collection of 100 poems which has now been published in a book called A Long Look in the Mirror.

Pollock, who matriculated at DSG before obtaining a business science degree from UCT, lives in Cape Town where she spends time writing, acting, painting and modelling and has been a familiar face in television adverts.

“This book is a collection of poems that I wrote over 10 years,” she says. “There would be times where I would be writing all day long for days and then months of just thinking and not writing a thing.

Writing a poetry book was not something I was planning on during that time.

“In about 2002 I had a New York literary agent and had a poem published in an American anthology but then I decided to take time off from writing. It was only when I had a collection of about 100 poems that I decided to show them to Europe Books and they offered to publish my book.”

Pollock’s editor has poetically described the collection as “all the feelings that can have a place in a human soul remain stuck to the author’s blank canvas like insects enveloped in a sweetish substance. 

"The transience of feelings becomes eternal concreteness. She explores the beauty and frailty of humanity in the midst of our messy world, in the middle of our chaotic lives”.

A Long Look in the Mirror was published shortly before the author’s beloved mother Jan Pollock of local East London’s Pollock’s Photography passed away suddenly in August.

And although her mother never got to hold a copy of the book, she contributed valuable insights into its creation.

“My mother’s ceramics and prints are exquisite. She showed me all about colouring outside the lines, about finding my voice. My book was published while my parents were away on a trip in Zimbabwe and so unfortunately my mother never got to hold a printed copy, but she was very much a part of the process along the way — giving her advice on the cover, questioning my message in some of my poems and often being someone who would just listen as I read. This was something that she was so incredible at — just listening.”

Her father, well known photographer Rob Pollock was also an inspiration.

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The finalists of the US’ Kirkus Awards 2022 revealed

The finalists for the Kirkus Awards 2022 were revealed on Thursday, September 8, 2022. Here are the writers of African descent among them.

Kirkus Reviews is a US book review magazine that publishes previews of books prior to their publication founded by Virginia Kirkus in 1933. 

The Kirkus Prize was created to celebrate the years of criticism that Kirkus Reviews had contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. It is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction, and young readers’ literature.

Lesley Nneka Arimah won in the fiction category while Brian Broome won in nonfiction in 2021. 2019 was a truly Black year at Kirkus as Colson Whitehead won in the fiction category, Saeed Jones took the honours in the nonfiction category and Jerry Craft was recognised in the Young Adult Category. 

In 2020, Raven Leilani, Mychal Denzel Smith, Gordon C. James, and Derrick Barnes won in their categories.

The finalists for the prize were announced in a variety of categories on Thursday, September 8.

“This year’s crop of Kirkus Prize finalists is an exhilaratingly diverse collection of books on a wide range of topics from authors across the United States and around the globe,” said Tom Beer, Kirkus’ editor-in-chief. 

“Chosen by our hardworking judges from among the very best books our critics reviewed in the past year, these titles are truly on the top shelf of contemporary literature.”

These are the writers of African descent among the finalists;

Fiction

Judges: Author Deesha Philyaw (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies), bookseller Luis Correa, Kirkus critic Wendy Smith, and Kirkus fiction editor Laurie Muchnick

Finalist
God’s Children Are Little Broken Things, Arinze Ifeakandu

Nonfiction

Judges: Hanif Abdurraqib (A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance), librarian Lillian Dabney, Kirkus critic Sarah Norris, and Kirkus nonfiction editor Eric Liebetrau.

Finalists

By Hands Now Known: Jim Crow’s Legal Executioners, Margaret A. Burnham

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones, Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman, and Jake Silverstein;

Young Readers Literature

Judges: author-illustrator Jerry Craft (New Kid), librarian and educator Junko Yokota, Kirkus critic Alec B. Chunn, and Kirkus young readers’ editor Laura Simeon.

Finalist

The Year We Learned to Fly, Jacqueline Woodson and illustrator Rafael López.

The winners will be announced in a ceremony at the Austin Central Library in Austin, Texas on October 27. The ceremony, the first in-person one since 2019, will be live-streamed on the Kirkus’ YouTube channel.

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Meet the poetic family from Botswana

Often times, we meet individuals in a family who are incredibly talented. These individuals go on to carry their family names and make them proud. 

However, in the case of Kunkuru, a family comprised of a couple and their son whose poetry talents cannot go unnoticed, is a rare story. 

The Kumakwane family possesses a rare talent that seems might come once in a lifetime and never be replicated, as a wife’s sweet and beautiful ululation, son and father’s talent of playing with their mother tongue has set them on a fame path.

The trio is Kopanang (husband), Lesego Marry (Wife) and Kenneth Warona Tito who is the son. 

The Kunkuru family became known at the peak of COVID-19 in 2020 after the son recited the poem about Corona, which was played countless times on RB1. In an interview with the family, they said it was after that Batswana, especially RB1 listeners gave them the name ‘Kunkuru’. 

Kopanang, 38, said the poem captured many people’s emotions as it was during the time when COVID-19 ravaged the world and claimed too many lives.

“The radio played this poem countless times because It had verses such as: ‘Letsatsi la tsholofelo le tlaa tlhaba, Corona o tlaa swaba, Corona o tlaa nyelela semmuwane’. The poem was simply meant to console listeners and giving them hope that COVID-19 will varnish and we shall have better days. Batswana then called the poet Kunkuru rather than by his real name and the name Kunkuru originated from that scenario,” explained Kopanang.

In the village, Kopanang is popularly known as Mmadinotshi. He is a poet by nature. He also recited a poem entitled” Seromamowa sa Botswana weee” which is common to most of RB1 listeners. He said he also won the BTC Poetry award on 2019 and won a poetry record deal that had 12-tracked album.

He told Arts & Culture that he has been a Botswana Poetry champion since 2015, 2016 and 2019 under Presidential Arts competitions and even Constituency Arts competitions champion.

Kopanang is also an author. He wrote a Setswana novel titled, “Botshelo Bodiba” La Motsadi Petlwana” published by Macmillan Botswana Company in 2005.

 He said he has also written a poetic book entitled “Sepho” published last year by Macmillan.

On the other hand, his wife, a 31-year-old lady from Digawana village describes herself as a “support system to the boys”. 

She said she is an ululator (mmamogolokwane) who performs at family events and sometimes with other ululators (bomme ba mogolokwane) during the welcoming ceremonies of presidents in the country. 

She also said she was a champion in the constituency competitions when it comes to poetry. She added that she acts as an editor to the novels written by her husband and son.

Their son, 12-year-old boy doing Standard 6 at Kumakwane Primary School, released a six-track album titled Kunkuru weeee. 

The talented poet is also an author. He has written a poetry book titled “Ke a Boka” which was also published by Macmillan Company. 

He recently performed in Harare, Zimbabwe under CHIPAWO Festival.

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Win US$1000 in the MAYDAY Creative Non Fiction Prize

Deadline: October 1, 2022

$1,000 award and publication.

To submit, send an essay (2,000–7,500 words) exploring the theme of “Disappearance” (of people, places, things, etc.). 

Final judge: Darin Strauss, bestselling author of several books, including the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning memoir Half a Life and most recently the acclaimed novel The Queen of Tuesday: A Lucille Ball Story. 

Reading fee: $20. Online submissions only, please. 

Complete guidelines:  www.maydaymagazine.com

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Gaborone Book Festival 2022 kicks off on Thursday

The Gaborone Book Festival 2022 runs at the University of Botswana from September 15-17, 2022. It will be brought to you in partnership with IDM, Botswana, Maitisong, and the University of East Anglia.

The Gaborone Book Festival, founded by Keikantse Phele and Kenanao Phele, first ran in the Southern African country of Botswana in 2018. 

The event, which also run in 2019, 2020, and 2021 was aimed at fostering a love for reading among Batswana and residents of Botswana. 

It has hosted many writers and poets from Botswana and across the continent.

On April 12, festival organisers revealed the dates for this the fifth edition to be September 15-17 in the capital of the Southern African country. 

Since then, they have been sharing more information on the program and the artists who will feature over the three days.

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Teacher launches fourth poetry book

A High School history teacher from Zimbabwe has launched his fourth poetry book titled The Heart’s Detritus.

Beaven Chiweshe said he used the Covid-19 lockdown to complete the book. He officially launched it on Saturday. 

The 29-year-old decided to share his thoughts, expressions, feelings and emotions in black-and-white, through a poetry anthology.

“The poetry book, titled ‘The Heart’s Detritus’ is a book that mainly revolves around matters of the heart, including pain, happiness and sorrow.

“It’s a series of poems about what most people face and encounter in life,” says Chiweshe.

“I started to write this book in 2020 and, when the country was in national lockdown, it was a great opportunity for me to finish writing my book,” he said.

The Heart Detritus is Chiweshe’s fourth book after the Dreams of Golden Zimbabwe, The Central Message of Christianity and Life in the Shoes of a Short Man.

Among the authors who also graced the occasion, Humphrey Sambo lamented the way some traditional publishing houses treat new book writers, when they approach them, seeking the opportunity to publish their books.

“They tell you to wait for them to finish other books which are already on the market and the process will take too long with too many protocols to follow.

“My assessment shows me that they mostly concentrate on primary and secondary school books only, which are always on demand,” says Humphrey Sambo.

His publishers, Beyond Today, highlighted that all Chiweshe’s books are available at their premises at Batanai Gardens in Harare. 

The book will be taken to other provinces, around the country, and rekindle the spirit of reading, which is naturally dying in Zimbabwe, due to the advent of social media and films.

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Social Media Poem About The Queen Goes Viral

As the sad news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II broke on Thursday, and people began to pay tribute to her majesty, a poem about the monarch and her late husband went viral on social media.

The poem is the work of Joanne Boyle, an English poet, and starts with the following lines:

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