'Somehow we survive': 28th Poetry Africa Festival invokes spirit of late activist Dennis Brutus

The annual Poetry Africa Festival, the highly anticipated and much-loved celebration of all things poetry, will take place from October 3 to 15.

This year’s theme, focused on survival, will resonate deeply with poets and lovers of poetry alike. “Poetry: Somehow we survive” is inspired by the poem of the same name by acclaimed South African poet, activist, educator and journalist Dennis Brutus.

Brutus was born in Harare, Zimbabwe (then Salisbury, Rhodesia) and died in Cape Town at the age of 85 on December 26 2009. He survived being shot by the apartheid police, imprisonment alongside Nelson Mandela on Robben Island and exile.

Despite this adversity, he continued to write poetry, organise as an activist and help form the South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (San-Roc) in 1962. He published a dozen poetry anthologies, including the first Sirens, Knuckles and Boots in 1963. In 1982 his collection Somehow We Survive used praise poetry to celebrate the indomitable spirit and resilience of South African citizens.

“This year’s festival borrows from his call to inspire poets to write as a response to the survival of the human spirit and its resilience to the constantly changing political, social and technological changes that impact our lives. We will commemorate the centenary of his birth on November 28,” said Siphindile Hlongwa, curator of the Poetry Africa Festival.

This year’s festival will be hosted at venues in different provinces, beginning from October 3 to 5 in Johannesburg at the University of Johannesburg Arts and Culture Centre. The Performing Arts Council of Free States will host the event in Bloemfontein on October 7 and 8. In Durban Poetry Africa will be at the Seabrooke Theatre at Durban High School from October 10-12.

After the success of virtual events in previous years, some sessions will be presented in a hybrid format and will be online from October 6-11.

Lefifi Tladi, an artist, musician, writer and performer of poetry, is the featured artist for the 2024 festival. He established the Museum for African Art in Ga-Rankuwa in 1971 for the display of contemporary art and the preservation of his personal archive and books. In 1974 he formed The Poets with Kankana Matsena, Bushy Sepeng, Teboho Gilbert Mabale, and Ndabeki, where they recited the poetry of David Diop and Aimé Césaire, along with their own.

He celebrated the vision and power of poets and the importance of artists in his poem Through the Chameleon’s Eye. He amplified these thoughts in an interview with Perfect Hlongwane in July 2023, replying when asked about the role of the artist: “The artist creates. Let the politicians negotiate, but what the artist does is to create. To birth things into existence.”

“Tladi’s work embodies the very idea of self-determination and thriving despite the odds. Something he continues to do and one of his many attributes that will be honoured at the festival,” said Hlongwa.

“Brutus reminded us: 'All our land is scarred with terror, rendered unlovely and unlovable; sundered are we and all our passionate surrender/but somehow tenderness survives.' In 2024, in a world that is scarred with terror, we encourage poets and poetry lovers to join us on a celebratory journey of reclamation of the tender towards a resilient and lovely future.” 

Together with the featured artists the festival boasts 72 participating poets from 21 countries in addition to South Africa: Angola, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Estonia, Italy, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, the UK, US and Zimbabwe.

“While this may be Poetry Africa, the poetry is global and the popularity is universal. This is just a foretaste of what South Africa can experience in 2026 when Poetry Africa will host the World Slam Poetry Competition in Durban in 2026,” added Hlongwa.

The festival is made possible by collaboration with festival partners: the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the National Lotteries Commission (NLC), the KwaZulu-Natal department of sport, arts and culture, the South Africa Human Rights Commission, University of Johannesburg Arts and Culture Centre, the Performing Arts council of the Free State, Istituto Italiano di Cultura – Pretoria and the French Institute of South Africa. Click here for the programme. 

Article issued by Marlyn Ntsele on behalf of Poetry Africa