MAUN INTERNATIONAL POETRY FESTIVAL (26/10/13-2/11/13) The 3rd Maun International Poetry Festival promises present a lineup of established poets and story tellers from Botswana and beyond. At a press conference, Legodile Gabanabeng, aka Dredd X of Poetavango, the organisers of the festival, said with the aid of sponsors, who had pledged P200,000, this year’s event will run from October 26 to November 2. He said the festival will include interschool poetry competitions, visual arts spontaneous creativity workshops, evening book readings, children storytelling sessions, performances by the disadvantaged, writers’ workshops and symposiums, jazz and folklore performances, music workshop and world standard poetry performances. Dredd X expressed gratitude to their sponsors who comprise of the Department of Arts and Culture, Botswana National Library Services, American Embassy, Events Live, DUMA FM, Okavango Artists Association, Great Plains, Spectrum Aviation Services, Laha Superette, Cresta Riley’s Hotel, NCONGO and Nhabe Museum. He said with the aid of the sponsors, they have decided to encourage a reading and writing culture. “The festival is in fact more than just a poetry event, it is a literary gala punctuated by visual arts and music”, he said. Another member of Poetavango, Thato Molosi aka Mr T added that there will be a jazz and poetry night on October 30 at Cresta Riley’s hotel, the main performer being a jazz band from the USA, Anthony Stanco Ensemble as well as Stiger Sola, Kabo Leburu and Poetavango collective. He further said on October 31st, Anthony Stanco band will hold a music workshop for local musicians, to ensure that the festival does not only benefit poets and writers but, also seeks to develop the music fraternity. Mr T said this year they are hosting a lot of countries for the main event which is on November 2 at Maun lodge at 6pm. The event will be graced by renowned poets and story tellers from Lesotho, South Africa, Zambia, DRC, Zimbabwe and Botswana and tickets go for P200 pre-sale and P250 at the door. He said those who cannot afford the amount can attend the free shows available to them prior to the main event. P30 will get them into the jazz and poetry night where the Anthony Stanco band from USA will be performing. Principal Culture Officer, Mr Moabi Mabe from the Department of Arts and Culture urged the media to be objective and respect the arts so the community can respect their creativity and authenticity to avoid the onslaught similar to the controversy that surrounded Berry Heart’s performance at the previous festival. (BOPA)
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 17:59:54 +0000
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