A NEW funding partner for the Schreiner Karoo Writers Festival (SKWF, which takes place in Cradock from July 19-22) opens the door to exciting opportunities for potential poets in Cradock schools.
The AVBOB Poetry Project has pledged generous assistance for the SKWF’s efforts to promote a culture of reading and writing in the Karoo.
The funding has permeated many areas of the festival structure and enabled the SKWF to initiate a pilot project this year that will see 60 Cradock learners spend a day with expert poetry coaches.
“The AVBOB Poetry Project support has launched our youth projects on a new trajectory. Our dream is to see a book in the hands of every youngster in the Karoo,” said festival organiser, Lisa Ker.
“We are now a big step closer to making the dream come true – thanks to the amazing people at The AVBOB Poetry Project and their agency, BRANDet al. We are grateful to our loyal friends Etienne van Heerden and Coenie de Villiers who put us in touch.”
“The Schreiner Karoo Writers Festival is a wonderful celebration of cultures and languages, having found its own niche in South Africa’s tapestry of arts festivals,” said Van Heerden.
“This sponsorship will enable the festival to nurture our diversity of languages even more.
“It will stabilise the festival’s investment in the development of young creative talent across our communities. It will, surely, focus attention on the linguistic diversity of the Eastern Cape Karoo, which is such a symbolic and interesting region.”
The Cradock learner poets have been challenged to engage with the theme “Words of Comfort”, in line with AVBOB’s promotion of the healing power of words. The day after their workshop, the new poets will read their work to a general festival audience.
The SKWF shares the AVBOB Poetry Project’s passion for multilingualism and the poetry coaching sessions will be divided into the three most common Karoo language groups (Afrikaans, isiXhosa and English).
National competition in 11 languages
The AVBOB Poetry Project’s major literary exercise is an annual national competition offering prizes to poets in each of the 11 official South African languages, making this the single biggest poetry award in the country. The first round of the competition (in 2017) attracted more than 20 000 entries.
“When it comes to mourning, all people are the same – everyone feels pain in the same way, and you are often left speechless in the face of loss. It is then that someone else’s words can provide comfort and give a voice to your sadness and grief,” explains AVBOB CEO Frik Rademan.
“This is where we believe the AVBOB Poetry Project will make an incredible difference.” A poetry anthology (including the competition’s winning poems in all 11 languages) will be launched at the AVBOB Poetry Gala on June 20.
The initiative has been welcomed and endorsed by major literary figures, several of whom agreed to appear on the website www.avbobpoetry.co.za. Antjie Krog, Medzani Musandiwe, Joan Hambidge, and Bibi Slippers are some examples.
For more information on the AVBOB Poetry Project and the Schreiner Karoo Writers Festival, keep an eye on their websites and like their facebook pages.