poet mbizo profiled in one ghana one voice 2011

Author Profile - Mbizo Chirasha

Biography:

Mbizo is the official poet in residence for the ISOLA International Conference of Oral Literature 2010 at the University of Nairobi. He is also the Guest poet at the 2010 Arts in Translation conference in Iceland. He was Africa's 100Best Books delegate at Swedish cultural book/cultural centres and the Goteborg Book Fair in 2003. Mbizo founded the Writers Caravan, a creative writing initiative in Zimbabwe. He is also the founder of an amateur poetry conference, a poetry festival and other projects.

He is a widely anthologized poet, published in more than 35 journals, magazines and anthologies around world.

Five Questions with Mbizo Chirasha:

1. The title of this poem suggests the interaction between page ("pen") and performance ("breath") poetry. Do you write your poems primarily for the page or to be performed aloud? Do you think a poem can succeed at both equally?

I believe poetry I write can be performed and read successfully, for I believe the impact on written work can affect readers the same way it does to listeners in a spoken word session.


2. If you write your poems to be performed, how do you feel about your poems being displayed in print, with no audio component? Do you think something is lost when your poems aren't heard as spoken from your voice?

I used to think this, when I was still young in this art/craft. Now because I have grown strongly in this industry, I am understanding the dynamics of the voice we get both in readership and listenership.


3. When you perform your poems, do you have them memorized, or do you read them from the page?

Most of my performances are memorized works 'cause the audience reads, so when you read in front of them, they think that you aren't be a performer, but a writer or a reader. Sometimes in commissioned events I will read, but I must say the greatest performer must perform his poetry by head.


4. You are one of our "poets on the ground" in Zimbabwe. What do you have to report on the current state of the country? Of the country's arts community?

The leadership must stop take chances with people. The unity goverment must bring proficiency and efficiency in the state of affairs. We need a leadership that respects nurses and teachers. One thing that I don't understand up to now is having seventy-six ministers and their deputies: for what?

While the country fails to raise money for power and water as well infrastructural needs, I have my own pan-Africanist views. But pan-Africanism mustn't be the support of the ideologies of those who bring countries from struggle. It must have a name tag of respecting people who are ruled and those who advocate for change. The local government has become corrupt with residential stands and hefty salaries while cities are bathing in sewer. I wonder where is change?


5. How have Zimbabwean artists been responding to the country's struggles?

A lot of things have been happening: discussions, poetry sessions like Poets for Human Rights, and book cafes have offered platforms for voices of freedom. Visual exhibitions are being curated that try to articulate the state of the nations. But some artists don't participate because they feel the impact, they do it 'cause somebody is sponsoring them, or they become voices of those who have agendas for resources and other political reasons.

While I agree that corruption brought us down, other political forces also played part in the fall of the country. Politicians must remember to leave pure legacies and those from outside who say they beliveve in human rights must not do things with double standards, but instead with a focused vision to build Zimbabwe. We as Zimbabweans will also help find the solution if we put hands together here in the first stage of the unity government. I trust it will work for the good for the people of this nation.

Contact Mbizo:

Email: mbizoc(at)yahoo.co.uk
Website: http://www.mbizopoetry.blogspot.com/

mbizo poet heads for East Africa 2011

Mbizo Chirasha Heads for Kenya

Wednesday, 10 November 2010 06:30

Local poet, Mbizo Chirasha, a.k.a The Black Poet will once again represent Zimbabwe poetically when he performs at the Drums Café for Peace Festival to be held in Kenya from December 12-14 this year. This is not the first time that Chirasha has been invited to take part at highly honoured events. He was poet-in-residence at the International Conference of African Development in November 2009 in Accra, Ghana where he says he was the only person titled “Mr.” as all the other participants were either “Prof” or “Dr.” ^ Mbizo Chirasha 'The Black Poet' performs at HIFA 2009. “It is always an honour to be given such a high profile opportunity to perform in the motherland (Africa),” said Chirasha who traces his literary beginnings to the now defunct Midlands Budding Writers Association. The poet with a roaring voice was also one of the founders of the short-lived Writers’ Caravan. “I am working on another book called I am a Revolution having had seen the success of the first one,” he said. Asked what his vision is, Chirasha said he wished to be “the best tomato on the market” and vowed to mentor aspiring artists in the future. However, he was quick to bemoan the status of the arts in the country, saying the sector is being neglected and left only to a very few outgoing people. “Poetry is a medium, a form of rehearsing the future. It is not as comic as many people, including artists, are taking it to be. It is a class of its own,” said Chirasha. The Zvishavane-born poet also pointed out that government needed to set up an independent Ministry of Arts and Culture which will be directly responsible for all arts and culture matters unlike now where art is incorporated with education and sport. Mbizo’s visit to Kenya will boost his 2010-2011 plans to “brand” his name. Chirasha has shared the stage with the veteran local poet Chirikure Chirikure, Jamaican dub poet Mutabaruka, and others of his generation such as Ishkold, Linda Gabriel, Tinashe Muchuri, and Nqobile Malinga. He performs at major arts and culture functions in the country and has recently collaborated with an Indian-born New York based poet, Sweta Vikram, to publish a book called “Whispering Woes Zambezi and Ghanjees.” - Trevor Makonyonga for The Zimbo Jam

mbizo chirasha participating black history month 2011

Zim poets commemorate Black History Month

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Harare, February 2, 2011: Top Zimbabwean poets say poems by African Americans are still relevant to present day Zimbabwe and are a source of inspiration for many young Zimbabweans desiring positive social change.

“Mental images of racial prejudice and other social injustices still exist, and the struggle for emancipation of the human being is still ongoing. In America right now they are talking about health reforms, and in Zimbabwe we have our political differences that result in prejudice of one form or another,” said Mbizo Chirasha, a veteran poet, during an interview after a riveting Food for Thought poetry recital and discussion session at the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section auditorium on Tuesday.

The event was organized by the Zimbabwe Poets for Human Rights to mark the beginning of numerous poetry events in Harare dedicated Black History Month. The next event is a House of Hunger poetry slam competition at 2pm on Saturday, February 5, at the Book Café, Fife Ave Shopping Centre at which the winning poets will receive awards from the U.S. Embassy.

“Commemorating Black History Month is important because it makes members of the public remember what happened in the struggle for civil rights in America. It is more important when it is echoed by poets, because words stay longer than bullets,” said Chirasha who recited two poems, “Anthem of the Black Poet” and “African Names,” during the event.

In the first segment of the two hour discussion, the poets recited and discussed poems by African Americans in the civil rights movement including Maya Angleou, Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks.

“The work of individuals like Langstone Hughes, Maya Angelou and Martin Luther King Jr rekindles important messages and inspires many young Zimbabwean poets,” said Shoes Lambada of the ZPHR.

In the second segment of the poetry session, various poets recited pan African poetry.

“I stayed late to hear snores of the tired sun, I awoke early to get footsteps of the new sun in its royal march towards dawn but I couldn’t find the answer to why our idea of a good name is borrowed,” retorted Poet Dapi echoing in Chirasha’s “African names.”

Poet Dzaoma’s “Zimbabwe was never here” revealed the author’s sentiment that most Zimbabweans feel they are still living in a different place other than the one envisioned prior to the country’s independence in 1980. Tino Acme’s “Pages” told audiences that people should focus on making history today. “You can make history today, not necessarily looking at the past but looking at the present as well,” said the poet during a discussion.

Meanwhile, Police State Poet’s “Rhythms of Defiance” took audiences down memory lane focusing on the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and colonial oppression in Zimbabwe. “In rhythms of defiance we speak to break the silence…I’m vegetarian but I have got beef for the system…the Kingdom suffers violence and we stick to our resistance. The revolution starts in the streets of our slums…toyi toyi to resuscitate black dreams,” said the protest poet.

Poet Semalo’s recital honored former South African president Nelson Mandela and had the audience in stitches with what he called “a prostituted version of ‘I have a dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr.

Each February, Black History Month honors the struggles and triumphs of millions of American citizens over the most devastating obstacles- slavery, prejudice, poverty- as well as their contributions to global cultural and political life.

In 2009, the inauguration of Barack Obama, America’s first African-American president, lent Black History Month a special significance. In his inaugural address, President Obama acknowledged the historical importance of a moment in which “a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.”

Black History Month was the inspiration of Carter G. Woodson, a noted scholar and historian, who instituted Negro History Week in 1926. He chose the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and the abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The celebration was expanded to a month in 1976, the nation’s bicentennial. President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” ZimPAS©2011