Poetrama Magazine Issue 2 April 2021 (2)

POETRAMA
QUARTERLY MAGAZINE
APRIL 2021
PODCASTING:
THE FUTURE OF
THE
ENTERTAINMENT
INDUSTRY.
POETRY FROM:
MAZVITA MUKANDA,
CHIONISO &
KIARAMANAKA
INTO THE
UNIVERSE THAT IS
KAKIC
THE BATTLE
BETWEEN
ARTISTIC
INSTINCT AND
TECHNIQUE:
The Story of Sihle Ntuli.
BECOMING
UMIND?!
PEGGIE SHANGWA'S JOURNEY

Let's explore the workings of
Sihle Ntuli. He is a South African
poet and classicist living in
Durban. He holds a Master of
Arts degree in Classical
Civilisations and has previously
lectured at the University of the
Free State.
contents
Poetrama Magazine| Volume II | April 2021
Contributors:
Tatenda Zimbandu - Graphic Designer & Writer
Takudzwa Goniwa - Chief Editor & Writer
03
10
BECOMING UMIND?! :
PEGGIE SHANGWA'S
JOURNEY.
An interview with the
Zimbabwean spoken word poet
about her journey, achievements
and aspirations.
PODCASTING: THE
FUTURE OF THE
ENTERTAINMENT
INDUSTRY.
With the lockdown coming into
full force podcasting has become
very popular. Let's explore some
of the advantages it brings.
13
INTO THE UNIVERSE
THAT IS KAKIC.
Cover Image:
Photocred : MeckMedia
Make up: Runacohub
Clothes: Brand Thabile
Necklace: Brand Thabile
Earrings: Umind?!
Design: Tatenda Zimbandu
A laid back chat with the brains
behind the content creation
powerhouse. Dive into their roots,
future and everything in
between.
16
THE BATTLE BETWEEN
ARTISTIC
INSTINCT AND
TECHNIQUE: THE
STORY SIHLE NTULI.
19
POETRY CORNER
POETRY FROM:
MAZVITA MUKANDA,
CHIONISO
& KIARAMANAKA

BECOMING UMIND?! :
PEGGIE SHANGWA'S
JOURNEY

Tatenda Zimbandu will be
represented by TZ and Peggie
Shangwa by PS from this point
going forward.
TZ: You are quite a dynamic and
multifaceted individual, say you
meet someone for the first time,
they have no idea who you are and
they ask what you do, how would
you respond?
When one talks about anything
there are always names that are
never to be left out and for the
Zimbabwean poetry scene Peggie
"Umind?!" Shangwa is one of
those names. She is a pioneer, a
trailblazer, a mentor, and a role
model.
Whether she's writing, teaching,
mentoring, or presenting about
things she's passionate about, the
events management and media
powerhouse refuses to label
herself anything other than an
artist. In her own words her
stepping into being Umind?! was
a reminder of what first brought
her into performing and how the
dynamics of the spoken word
space at the time taught her
endurance and that if the work is
put in there's always a reward. I
had an exclusive interview with
her as she shares some insight
and takes us through her journey
from the start of it all to where
she is.
PS: Naturally, I am a person that's
not very much into labels, it took
me a long time to kind of fit what I
do into a label and even now I feel
that what I do is ever-evolving and
changing with time. It cannot be
boxed into one thing, so answering
that question to the best that I can
I would say; I'm a passionate young
woman, I'm a woman of many
passions. Mostly the focus of
everything I do is purpose and
destiny alignment whether it's
storytelling, whether it's
performing in front of an audience
or the mission work that I'm doing
in the background or media work,
consultancy, leadership
development, it's all for purpose
and destiny alignment. I'm living
life and trying to figure out how to
be of influence for purpose and
destiny alignment in the lives of
people that I am meeting,
unlocking potential as I go. That's
how I would answer that.
TZ: You seem very intentional
about what you do or say one can
only guess there's a story behind
the stage name "Umind?!". Take us
into that.

PS: Thank you so much. I can never run away from that one. Well, the name Umind?! is a
rhetorical question as well as a statement of fact . At the time that I came up with the name,
what was on my heart most was the need to remind myself why I started performing because
round about the time that I stepped onto stage in 2011. What had happened is that a lot of
poets were stepping out and I remember at that time I was one of the few Christian poets if
any at the time. It was me and SoProfound. There was a real need to find a message to stand
for, there was a real need for me to understand why I was performing and as I meditated
and prayed I felt like I needed to find a name for myself. I did not want to use
my name because I wanted to be able to separate myself from the stage and
not have to link what I did as an artist with my personal life. So Umind?!
became that reminder for me. One of the reasons why I started
performing was an answer to a call and I felt that I needed to be
obedient. As you know I'm a Christian and I thought, Lord,
I've heard so many artists give so many stories about sidestepping
and coming away from what they did first. I
have a proclivity to talk about the things that I'm
passionate about, issues that I feel so deeply about, do
you mind? And if you do mind this is me in
expression, you can't get it any other way! It is
what is. You get the package as is so the question
is rhetorical plus the statement of fact. I will
gravitate towards what my heart beats for and
most of the time you will find that encapsulated inside
my work will be the gospel. That is it, if you do mind
I don't care. It's kind of harsh, blunt much but it's a
fact. On every stage I go on, what gives me boldness
is knowing that My whole stage name speaks to me
before I speak on that stage, it reminds me that it's not
about me, it's bigger than me and if I can step on the
stage and someone can see God through me not even
just through me but through the work I do, I have done
my job. I've had people walk out on me when I'm on stage
because they don't agree with what I'm saying because of
the environment that I'm in but it's been such a joy just
remembering why I started performing when a lot of
stuff happens the way that I don't quite anticipate and
it strengthens my soul. That's the mouthful around who
Umind?! is.
TZ: That's quite the backstory, it's fitting. Now coming to
the more cliché question about how you started writing.
Was it a process or it was a vivid moment, if it was can
you share it with us?
PS: So from a tender age I had always really been
fascinated with words but I think that's my mom's
fault because my mom was a unique storyteller.
She would memorize entire books and recite it
back to us.

So I fell in love with the words and I remember I
started doing cartoon impressions when I was 8
years old and I started writing stories. From then on
I started doing poems and I remember that in third
grade I did poems by other people. I would recite
these poems and I loved them. So growing up I've
always been writing something but I thought it was
more of a way to process because I am an
introverted extrovert, I like having space. This
helped me just be able to navigate life. I was the
youngest in a family of 3 girls and you know it can
be hectic to be the youngest so I needed to process a
lot of stuff. Writing became an outlet but as I grew
older it wasn't only an outlet but it became a passion.
I wrote my first chapbook in grade 5 and the lady
who helped us put her child’s name on it. Then I
tried publishing at 13 and from there I never really
looked back. It's always been a part of my life, seeing
myself performing was just the new thing that I
started doing but writing had always been part of
my life. Even now I have written poems, written
books, written pieces of short stories that may never
see publishing that may never be read out loud or
see the stage but I just enjoy it, it's something that's a
part of me. I can't even explain it, I love it. I'm also
an avid reader so it kind of comes hand in glove. I
remember in third grade reciting a poem on my
first day of school and I had just transferred schools
and my mum at that time trusted my older sister
more than me so she gave her my lunch box so that
when it was break time she would come and look for
me and then give it to me. My mum was sort of
scared that I would open up the breakfast things and
maybe have a go at its before break time. Then
break time came and she couldn't find me so she
looks around for me and she comes looking for me
because there's now a crowd at the back of my block,
the third-grade block. She's looking for me thinking
I am there probably following whatever the crowd is
following only to discover who is in the center of the
crowd. When she gets there and 700 school children
are surrounding me and they are listening to me go
at it with the poem around my 10 fingers, they are
captivated and they keep going “do it again” and I'm
doing it again because it's my first day of school, it's
so amazing, to have so many people fascinated with
me and coming around me, wanting to get to know
me and hear what I'm doing. I had started with one
person and it grew until the whole school came, for
me that was a clue, the mark of how I was always
meant to be somehow on stage and storytelling.
TZ: From all this one can see that you have always had
the urge to share, to express, and inspire. Take us on a
journey of how you started full-on performing and
networking.
PS: Wow! Thank you, that's such a huge compliment.
My journey to the stage is an interesting one because it
took me by surprise. A friend of mine and I just
decided, "Look we frequented a lot of poetry slams and
poetry events. Why don't we take a whack at it and try
and perform our pieces at the next poetry slam?" So we
decided that we each would pick out our favorite 3
pieces just in case we made it to the third round by
some miracle and we would perform in a slam. It was
the House of Hunger Poetry Slam in October that
month and we decided that we wanted to take part in it.
So I prepared 3 pieces and the day came. I remember I
had to take a quick bathroom break to go and just calm
myself down and learn to breathe again because I felt
overwhelmed and out of breath, I was shaking and I
didn't know what to do.I had a stage name picked out
but I had no idea who would want to listen to me. Even
though I knew I could be convincing it was just very
new. We had been watching poetry slams for a while
and listening to SoProfound, Madzitatiguru and all
these amazing spoken word artists that would go head
to head at the poetry slam. The adrenaline rush was
amazing we didn't know where we would fit in this
whole picture. So then we picked out names from a hat
and we started. I remember I was placed I think about
fourth and I went on and did my poem. People loved it,
I got 30 points I got into the second round immediately
I walked off that stage so quickly like someone was
chasing me. I went and sat down, I couldn't believe that
I was going to do that again but I could breathe now
and I was enjoying it, the adrenaline was amazing.
Then I got into the second round, got into the third
round, and then I had 28 points in the third round so I
did not win. I walked off that stage and the minute I
walked off that stage a DJ from Star FM walked up to
me and said, "We would want to feature you in one of
our programs this week would you come through to
radio?” I was like, "Okay can I just tell you that this is
my first time performing I've never done this before."
She says no way and I say I'm telling you, I'm not lying
to you, this is the truth and she expressed that she still
wanted to feature me. So I ended up going with a
friend to radio. I walked out of that radio station and
before I knew it the guys at the Book Cafe back wanted
to send me to represent the House of Hunger Poetry
Slam as one of the poets that they were sending to
Midlands State University for a slam and to have a
workshop at the slam and I remember I went with
Momo Size,SoProfound and a few others.

The support I got from the team was amazing. From
there doors opened. Before 2015 I had never
organized an event, doors would just open it was like
the Lord would just nudge them and they'd open.
The only thing that I did that I had to organize
myself was my live DVD recording in 2015 at
Crowne Plaza now Monomutapa Hotel which was
breathtaking we had 250 people come out. It was
humbling to find people gather like that to come
and support me so it's been quite a journey. I've
done HIFA without needing to apply, A Shoko
Festival representative Upmost approached me to
do the slam. Shoko Festival was curating the poetry
slam and he said the most unreal thing, "Umind?!
would you want to be part of the slam we think
you'd be awesome so please come through we'll pay
you." I did HIFA then, that same year I also did the
Color of Truth is Grey with the National Ballet
Association of Zimbabwe and Rolx dance crew, we
did 2 shows at Reps Theatre that were sold out and I
did the narration. I wrote the whole script in poetry,
became the storyteller for the production and we
did the collaboration.. It was phenomenal. I still
watch that DVD and I can't believe that I did fifty
minutes on stage without missing a line, it was crazy.
I've toured South Africa twice with South Roots
International a performing Arts Organization I am
part of based in Cape Town and Island Breeze
international based in Kansas City.
TZ: Looking at where you are right now, the things
you have achieved, where you are coming from
makes sense. You had quite the warm welcome into
the spoken word scene, did this in any way inspire
you to do the same and go on to be the founder of
Page Poetry Alive.
PS: The stages I performed at were surreal
opportunities, I think that's as warm as I would say it
was. I faced a lot of challenges when I started I'd
have people shouting in the audience, we don't want
Bible why are you speaking Bible? Why do you
speak gospel? I remember I had some very
experienced poets, people that I respected shout out
at me when I was on stage because they didn't agree
with my content. It was something they didn't want
to have so blatantly put in front of them but the
same people have come back to me and have
mentioned that they have such huge amounts of
respect for me. We have sat down and collaborated,
we have worked together. It's humbling, it's amazing
to see what standing for what you believe in can do.
Because of that, I think I've always wanted to be able to
give someone what I had and what I didn't have. In the
spoken word circles that we had, we had no one paving
the way for us especially with the sort of content we
were carrying. We didn't have a lot of platforms that
would specifically want to welcome us, we had to go
out into the world first then get welcomed back into
the church so we did not start in church we went out
and got applauded by the world before the church
noticed us. Before concerts and conferences even
solicited invites we were invited into pubs and bars,
corporate functions and later on the church opened up
to us and it became a thing that we could go and
minister in this way as it were because it was now being
seen as a ministry but when we started it was a roller
coaster there were lots of questions around what we
were doing. I do not believe that there is a sacred and a
secular but that's another conversation for another day
but I felt the need to say that. Somebody coming after
me must have it easier than I did. We had to pioneer a
lot to get to where we are, we did not have many spaces
when the Book Cafe closed, we had nothing, we had to
start creating our platforms if we wanted to survive and
I noticed that so many people in arts died out, some
gave up and went back to find a regular job, a 9 to 5.
Page Poetry Alive came out of another step of
obedience as in most of my stories, I was praying and it
wasn't even intentional. I had been asking the Lord
about my poems which were getting super long, I
remember I had a poem that was 15 minutes long and
another that was 20 minutes long and I was asking the
Lord where I would get all these poems performed?
Who would want to hear them and God said to me,
"You know what, why don't you start reading?" I
thought to myself "I don't read, I'm a spoken word
artist!" at that time I thought reading was lazy. I did not
see the point of doing page poetry. I didn't see myself
as a page poet, I didn't think it takes any work to be a
page poet until I got some knowledge and realized that
I loved page poetry. I loved performing outside of
slams and I was more comfortable as a performing
spoken word artist than a slammer so, in the end, I gave
up slamming and started focusing more on being a
commercial poet so I started doing a lot more
corporate functions.
TZ: Yours is one of the most unique and inspiring
come-up stories I have come across. It really is. What
are some of the challenges you have faced along the
way?
PS: Well, along the way I have had to deal with losses
and I think most of them have been the issue of
content. I put out a live DVD recording and 250 people
came out to this live DVD recording but unfortunately,
the videographer who took the footage had an
unfortunate incident with his hard drive and we lost
that footage in its entirety.

That was a huge blow for me because I had put so
much into hiring the venue and it had been a
journey of faith for me to raise the money and we
walked that journey. We were pretty sure that
everything was going to fall in place for the team
that was working with me but that footage was lost
and it was really hard for me because I had worked
at the content that I needed to put out and I thought
it was time for people to hear the work and
something unfortunate like that happened but in all
of that I had so many lessons that I learned just from
that
TZ: "Take your Ls as lessons, not losses," is
something people are saying right now, it shows in
your journey. You chose to rise to the challenge. On
another note, you are mostly behind the scenes,
organizing events and mentoring younger artists. Is
that a choice you made? Are taking a step back or
that's how you have always been? Which is which?
PS: Taking the background step..was a choice I had
to make when I started dealing with Page Poetry
Alive in putting structures but mostly I was in the
background here while I was performing in the
spotlight as I toured SA 2017 & 2019 with SRI and
IBI half that time what would happen down here on
the ground PPA wise is we would have Morset and a
team of people to help, volunteers really. I would be
organizing things from Cape town where I was
based so I've been between Cape Town and Harare
for the past 4 years. I only stopped going last year
because of the pandemic but that's how it's been. It
looks so much like I'm constantly behind the scenes.
I got back on stage officially last year you will notice
that even online I've started doing a lot more
features. I did a lot of panels, I was in the Abuja
Litfest Festival, Afridigital’s panel on Content
creation and the digital space then I closed off the
year with Intwasa Festival KoBulawayo. I also
curated festival poetry slams with Page Poetry Alive.
I believe strongly that the PPA platform is not for
me. It's to build other artists, Pouring into the next
generation of artists so that would leave a legacy.
PPA is more about legacy so you'll notice that a lot
of the work that we do with PPA is very outwardlooking
so we will mentor artists, we will platform
them then we will celebrate them and push them
into the world. As we do that one of the things that I
have started doing now is stepping into the spotlight
again because the opportunities are more open
again and I feel I can juggle them now because we
have a structure with PPA.
PPA is now very much established we're looking at
growing the team and expanding so that doesn't
necessarily need me to be in the background a lot
more than it needed in the past. When I made that
decision to be in the background it was not
intentional it was necessary, the situation required
me to travel. I won't say that I won’t be traveling
more because even with how we are expanding PPA
there is a lot of travel opportunities in the future for
how we will expand regionally and globally that
require me to be on the road. Umind?! will be out
there on different platforms performing, mentoring,
doing consultancy work whatever it is that I need to
be doing I will be out there on the ground doing it.
You won't see me in the background a lot when it
comes to my brand but when it comes to PPA I will
very much largely still probably play in the
backlights because that's how we created this
platform for other people. There are other
platforms for me, I don't necessarily think that I
need to be on the PPA platform I have a team that
always has room for me to do stuff with them in
Cape Town and the larger team and beyond. There
is no shortage of things to do when I'm back on stage
and in the limelight, you've noticed since I got back
on stage in August I've been on a post left right and
center just this month alone has been quite an
interesting month with so many features yours
included it's pretty amazing. I feel GOD just kind of
does it.I will be whatever I need to be even in the
background. I know that when I need to be in the
spotlight he'll make it happen I don't have to
engineer it in any way. It's amazing and quite a good
place to be, trust me.
TZ: Well, you being in the background is sort of an
elevated place; like a sensei sending out her "seitos"
out there, in the world, to exhibit what they have
learned. To my knowledge you have younger artists
under your wing, how does that go and how has that
help you grow?
PS: The exciting part is here, where I get to talk
about the artists that we work with. I love the artists
that we work with and I believe in each of them
immensely and I love to talk about them so thank
you. I don't necessarily see myself as a sensei
sending out her seitos. I feel much like a mother
hen. If you talk to a resident artist they will probably
say a mother hen much. It has been our honor as
PPA and as a leader I am honored to be entrusted
with each of the 7 resident artists that we're working
with right now before I even talk about the extended
community that we get to tap into.

TZ: I don't think locally there's anyone or any organization
that can match yours and PPA's consistency in discovering
and nurturing young poets and organizing spoken word even
the way you do it, you are an inspiration. Let's talk about PPA
and the programs you are running right now and are
planning to run to assist poets in your organization and
others.
PS: With the coming of the pandemic we're pretty grateful
because it pushed us into the online space so much more
than before and it's opened up amazing avenues for us. In
April we are coming back with DigiPoems 3.0 this time we're
partnering with writing west Midlands UK ComExposed and
British council Zim and UK. We are working with 6 southern
Africa artists and 6 Uk poets and illustrators. This year we get
to be part of B. B. C. contains strong language festival in
September, all I can say is this , again God is doing it for us.
He is giving us shoe-ins in places that we could never
imagine as young as we are and with such a small
organization as we have we feel so much like a Gideon with
300 people. We are pretty excited about that because that’s
usually a huge event for us as we usually bring poets to Zim
and we host exchange programs where we take southern
African artists to the U. K. This program is rich we get them
to spend a week in the nation and just discover the culture
and soak it in so this year we are part of the cities of culture
and Coventry city has been chosen as the city of culture and
writing west Midlands is our partner down in the UK
connecting us with Coventry city. We have the showcase
event in April that we are hosting as PPA then we have a
round table that we are hosting in partnership with writing
west Midlands in June. We turned 4 on March 27th and we
are stoked. We have been doing celebratory events through
March, we started with the take over done by the resident
poets on Instagram. We then did women poets we love to
read on World poetry day and featured some female poets
we absolutely enjoy. We had Batsirai Chigama, Mercy
Dhliwayo and Tariro Ndoro making it a treat not only for our
audience but us too since it’s women's month we have to
celebrate women and PPA was birthed whilst celebrating
women. The theme of the month is iconic woman. We are
talking to different people young women that are doing the
most and remaining influential in their lane. We look
forward to our partnership with Moto Republik, Shoko
Festival, Intwasa and Kites for Peace as usual.
TZ: What would you say to someone who is just starting and
doubts if poetry or spoken word is for them?
Go through the process, try it out, find out. What
you're good at, what you're passionate about can
you do it if no one ever paid you to do it would
you still do it? If ever anyone asked you do it
without thinking would you still do it? Those are
some of the markers to something that you can do
with passion.. When you do it what do people say.
These are clues that will help you clarify and get
some precision on whether or not you need to do it
but above and beyond I would say. To thy own self
be true. If you don't feel that it's for you after doing
all that I've said then maybe you need to find that
place where you come alive. And grab that with
both hands and don't let it go. After all, you have
one life to live don’t waste time contemplating
whether or not to do something life will pass you
by. Get at it do it. You never know you might be
shocked, look at me I didn't plan this but it’s been a
beautiful surprise, goodness has come our of it I
hope that you can find that too.
Umind?! has done and continues to do so much for
the poetry and spoken word culture in Zimbabwe
and other countries around the world. From the
detailed experiences she has shared with us it's easy
to draw inspiration and knowledge from such an
individual. Her story deserves to be told over and
over again.
"To thy own self be
true. If you don't
feel that it's for
you after doing all
that I've said then
maybe you need to
find that place
PS: Well I think I would just say something very simple you
never know until you try. Nothing ventured nothing gained.
It's such a true saying, if you don't try it out you will never
know and sometimes some things take more time for others
than they do for some people so be comfortable in your skin
don't compare yourself with anyone else. Allow yourself to
be part of a story that is unique to you and just like a story is
written it's written word by word page by page until we get to
the finish line so allow yourself the process.
where you come
alive."
- Umind?!

PODCASTING:
THE FUTURE
OF THE
ENTERTAINMENT
INDUSTRY.
by Tatenda Zimbandu
The Coronavirus has changed a lot of things all around the
world, something most people have labeled the "new
normal." As the rest of the entertainment world changes
with it the poetry fraternity is no different.
We have seen a lot of evolution from people only wanting
to perform on stages to doing short-form videos on their
Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp every week and
trying to maximize their social presence. This has led to
the growth in the popularity of things like podcasting,
Zoom conferences and creatives actively utilizing these
platforms to reach a wider audience.
From having meetings to performances to workshops and
a lot of other dynamics coming into play the rise in virtual
events is an issue that needs no explanation at this point.
Today we want to talk about podcasting. As Poetrama
Nagazine we have managed to start quite the podcast
which has had some great days on streaming and charting
platforms.
"IN CNVRSTN with Ultra" is the name of the podcast, we
get to interview poets, spoken word artists and authors
and it has grown immensely in its first few weeks. The
podcast becoming number 1 on Apple Podcasts Arts and
Performing Arts podcasts category has led to a lot people
giving it attention and realizing the power of starting
something.
3 PODCAST FACTS
a. 67% of podcast
audiences are made up
of people between 18
and 44 years old.
b. Podcasts embody 10%
off all content that
millennials listen to.
c. It is 68% more likely
for a podcast listener to
have a postgraduate
degree.*
*According to
https://www.smallbizgenius.net

We have had the distinct honor of featuring one
of the most popular and popular spoken word
artists in the world, Miles Carter and a host of
local and regional poets. The growth of our
podcast might have been because of consistency
and featuring some well known and rising names
but one cannot ignore the obvious utilization of
the niche. Local podcasters have mostly been
focused on Hip-Hop, current affairs or religion.
If it was spoken word poetry it would just be
compilations of poetry readings. "IN CNVRSTN
with Ultra" came through with a fresh dynamic
which is inclusive and has the contribution of the
poet as the heart of the show.
The lockdown changed the idea the average
person had that access to the internet or
streaming is something that has been reserved
for the elite in countries like Zimbabwe. Locally,
people usually only buy data for WhatsApp,
Facebook and things like surfing the internet and
listening to podcasts seem to be a luxurious but
with the way things have been lately it's safe to
say that people are now realizing that online
media platforms such as Spotify and Apple
Podcasts are where you can grow as a poet, as an
artist and reach an international audience.
Podcasting is the future of the entertainment
industry as it is one of the easiest things to do
considering that it has low barriers to entry with
the platforms like Anchor available for free, you
can see that you can get free distribution and also
get paid no matter how small an audience you
have.
With people wanting to experience liberties that
weren't available a decade ago they are warming
up to things like online radio and are likely not to
listen to traditional radio stations because
podcasting is like a modern way to listen to radio
shows and they also give one the choice to
download and listen to the show in your own
time.
{Listening to FM radio you always find yourself
wishing it was a recording that you could share
with friends. }
Paragraph Not entirely necessary. Use at your
discretion
The pandemic has brought with it a lot of
bad things, we've lost loved ones, we've lost
businesses and people have lost their jobs
but at the end of the day it is only fair to
accredit the new dynamics that couldn't
have been in place without the people taking
a step back and being home and realizing
new things about themselves, the things that
they could do with their phones, with their
laptops, with their voices, a lot of growth on
their social media because of the time that
they have on their hands.
Things are getting back to "normal", with the
lockdown loosening and a few more
businesses opening and school opening. The
situation seems to be loosening up a bit but
at the same time a lot of people are still
skeptical about being in public places. Going
to crowded concerts has been scratched out
of the minds of many, the dynamics of
virtual concerts, podcasting, Instagram lives
and other means of reaching audiences that
were dormant for years are now very alive
in this day and age. Podcasting has a big
stake in this because it gives especially, for
instance, unscripted shows, it gives the host
and the guest so much room to talk and
discuss interesting issues and freely express
themselves.
As an artist your work is the number one
thing that's important but also your image is
very important and people listening to an
interview get to see you showing them your
human side and they will also understand
certain certain aspects of your art better.
Another thing that is lovely and fascinating
about podcasting is that one can start with a
very low budget. For most createive
perfection is all they strive for in their work
but with podcasting one can be {lo-fi} use a
more relatable word
and relaxed and most fans like it when they
feel close to their role model and it feels like
they are having a heart to heart. In this light
starting a podcast doesn't just cement your
place in a fan's heart but could also lead to

Podcasting is growing at the moment because of platforms
like Anchor that are pushing it to the front of platforms like
Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and even Anchor
itself and it's recent collaboration with Wordpress. The new
feature is very essential and easy for bloggers that are into
podcasting but don't have the resources to start.
The plug in gives a blogger the option of turning their blog
posts on Wordpress into podcast episodes on Anchor which
is something fairly convenient for those that don't have the
resources to record a podcast.
The bottom line is that the future of the entertainment is
online; online shopping, streaming, social media,
podcasting and virtual performances and a host of other
things because it will only grow from here.
People have realized that doing things online can be
lucrative for a creative, that one can connect with
audiences from all over the world without having to tour.
More and more platforms are being created where artists
can reach a wider audience and at the same time get paid
for what they're doing because most of those platforms pay
more than streaming income. Podcasting can be more than
just a half hour recording one does weekly, it can grow into
a golden opportunity for advertising and making money
and at the same time become a milestone for featured
creatives! Why don't you start podcasting today? Find a
niche and let the world hear some of those amazing
thoughts!

Maxwell is the
Kudakwashe
head for Kakic Universe.
creative
charismatic animator, video
A
writer who describes
editor,
as a storyteller equipped
himself
an awesome set of skills to
with
his calling. Kudakwashe
pursue
Kakic at the age of 19,
Founded
out of high school and has
straight
on the journey to build Kakic
been
be a multi-media giant in the
to
space. Kuda enjoys art in
creative
various forms and adores
its
creatives and the way they
other
had the distinct privelage to have
I
short sit down over what it is his
a
does as well as the
company
they are currently doing in
things
INTO THE
UNIVERSE
THAT IS
KAKIC.
by Takudzwa Goniwa
do their art.
the arts industry.

T.G
start of with a somewhat selfish question.
I'll
name Kakic, where did the name come
The
what inspired it?
from?
tell me there's an interesting story
Please
it. behind
K.M
something else please
yeaah
are only revealing that when our company
We
at 10 years.
gets
T.G
Kuda, Kakic universe is an imposing name.
Hi
me, what are the services your company
Tell
provides
K.M
universe is a multimedia company that
Kakic
2 sides to it
has
Universe Entertainment- the side that
Kakic
universe business- the administrative
Kakic
service provider that deals with clients,
and
content for advertising, campaigns
creates
the like through Animation, graphic design
and
all other services within our creative
and
arsenal
(As I was promptly shut down...Take 2)
content for entertainment,
makes
and does the contests and the
collaborates
like

T.G
Universe entertainment
Kakic
of the year with a poetry
started
which featured
showdown
K.M
wanted to start the year with a
We
out poets who were not on our
call
and draw them into our circle
radar
possible future collabos
for
to give them exposure.
Furthermore,
of the participants, especially
Most
finalists got huge boosts in their
the
us and the poetry community to
for
collaborate
T.G
there any upcoming
Are
on the horizon with
collaborations
poets that we could know
other
K.M
we have amazing work in
Yes,
taffy (winner of the poetry
lioness
and the rest i'm not
showdown)
T.G
Kakic is there any criteria you follow
As
regards to the type of artists you
in
to collaborate with?
wish
K.M
i guess as a family friendly brand
Well
try to stay away from content that
we
upset our primary audience, but
might
i was to give a type of artist as you
if
we like working with people
suggest,
have passion for their art such
who
when its a collaboration both
that
of projects. When it comes to
weight
art itself, well we do not believe in
the
artists because usually
restricting
people do their best when
creative
have freedom. So we like to work
they
people who are easy to work with,
with
T.G
question.
Last
K.M
endgame for us well is to be a fully
The
production house that will be
fledged
blockbuster hits and series in
producing
work on visibility and getting our
to
out there more
work
from different locales.
contestants
prompted the initiative?
What
and that we did.
bang
main focus was to reach out and
Our
are contributing together in 1
parties
or another and not us carrying the
way
media following.
online/social
i guess above all it was a chance
Bt
contribute to the collaboration,
who
marketing etc and are
distribution,
passionate about their own work
is Kakic headed?
Where
there an endgame?
Is
about?
collaborating with Hey
production,
Preacher, TearsintheSoil, The
Hey
i'd say in terms of quality we've
Africa,
to do well, now we just have
managed
allowed to talk about yet.

THE BATTLE BETWEEN ARTISTIC
INSTINCT AND TECHNIQUE:
THE STORY OF SIHLE NTULI.
by Takudzwa Goniwa
Photography by Niamh Walsh Forster

Sihle Ntuli is a South African poet and classicist living in Durban.
He holds a Master of Arts degree in Classical Civilisations and has
previously lectured at the University of the Free State.
His poetry was short listed for the DALRO Poetry Prize in 2017.He
most recently became the author of a poetry chapbook Rumblin in
2020. He has had work published in South Africa and across the
African continent on notable journals such as Lolwe, Down River
Road & The Johannesburg Review of books.
T.G: Hi Sihle, it is a pleasure to have you here with us. I'd like to
start off with a somewhat cliche question. But seeing as we have
just come from world poetry day celebrations I feel it prudent to
ask;
What does poetry mean to you? And how has its meaning and
significance to you evolved over the years?
S.N: Thank you for inviting me Takudzwa, I'm happy to be here.
So for me poetry is my attempt to get a better grasp of myself and
to engage with the world around me. Poetry is and always has been
a huge part of my life. For an outsider who does not know me very
well, one might consider me to be obsessed, and I actually was in
my earlier days.
You are quite right to point out that the meaning and significance
of poetry has evolved over the years. As someone who is not very
expressive in the public space I'd say poetry allows me to say
enough without saying too much. More and more I am beginning
to understand the road that I want for myself and certain things
are becoming clearer. I understand now that poetry is probably the
most versatile of genres and there are really so many ways to
approach it. So there is a certain beauty in this kind of possibility
for me.
T.G: You mention being obsessed in your earlier days,
Has age tempered your passion somewhat?
I have noticed with myself how when I first started out, I could
produce three poems in a day without much effort, whereas now I
can take weeks mulling over one verse.
Has your growth made you more cautious in your approach to
poetry?
S.N: I'm still as passionate as ever, but it's just a matter of being
more measured about my approach. In more recent times, it has
become a quite dangerous and delicate balancing act between
quantity and quality. I value quality probably more so than
quantity & I have learnt over the years that a poet does more
damage to their reputation with a low quality poem as opposed to
having a low quantity of poems over a calendar year.
One of the things that I still struggle with is letting go of
the poem at the point of it being complete. I wouldn't
consider it being cautious, but I do feel there needs to be
some sort of merger between the technical side of
composition and intuitive instincts of knowing what a
poem needs. Fine-tuning these things can take time, but it
gets easier if you search for the muse often enough. In my
opinion poetry does require a certain amount of boldness,
for me a good poet is one that is brave enough to challenge
themselves and the reader.
T.G: You released a chapbook last year "Rumblin". When
dealing with your editors and publishers, did you
experience clashes when it came to differences in the
aspects you intuitively wanted to keep in a piece and the
technical aspects that they usually consider. If so? How
did you resolve those issues
S.N: I learnt a lot on my first run, especially since my first
chapbook 'Stranger' was co-edited by two poets. I'll admit
I was a little overwhelmed by them and in some instances
even overpowered. I held on knowing that If had a strong
enough resolve I would come out on the other side with a
published chapbook. Looking back now it probably wasn't
the best atmosphere for a first timer, but I believe I learnt
from that vital mistake of compromising myself and
allowing my core principles to be tampered with just for
the sake of the release.
Communication and justifiable compromise are key but
most importantly I'd want poets to understand that once
they reach the editing process not to sell themselves short,
to back the very ability that got them to the dance
regardless of who is opposite them editing. For Rumblin
my publisher was also my editor Nick Mulgrew. Nick has
overseen some of the more notable South African poetry
collections in recent years and so within reason justifiable
compromises were made
I'm very proud of the work that came out with the
collaboration with uHlanga press. It helped me come to a
realisation that the editing process is an optimization of a
body of work rather than a challenge to ones core artistic
principles. There is room for artistic integrity yes but at
times elements of the artist's ego can also make things
difficult.

T.N; I realise if I continue to speak with you we might fill up pages and pages of dialogue. So my last question will be.
If there was one thing you wished you knew before writing/compiling your first chapbook. What would it be?
S.N; I have found that on getting disappointed I easily get disillusioned, in fact there have been many times that I
contemplated retirement after very minor setbacks. So something I would have done differently is to question what
makes 2015 Sihle even think that they are prepared for often unfathomable levels of disappointment to come. How wellprepared
am I to feel disappointment more often than not and how will I motivate myself to continue despite it.
This is one of the most brutal lessons, but it is also one that most writers have in common. A long time I came to the
realisation that I may not be the great poet that I think I am, and it is only my perseverance that will get me there. So in
closing, I advocate writing creatively for the right reasons, even now in 2021 I still have to regularly question my own
motives of continuing, There are some exceptional writers flourishing right now, and it honestly is really easy to compare
oneself to them and fall short.
RUMBLIN' by Sihle Ntuli

PARADOXICAL
A
GENERATION
by Mazvita Mukanda
Though in black and white; the truth is a lie.
Possibly for the world however for our souls, it's an obstinate reality!
We live a lie,
A lie so devouring like the warmth of pit,
It's consuming us inside yet we can't concede,
Our mouths consistently lie.
Well, we realize somewhere deep inside we are dying,
Still, we decide to live in a mask.
We prefer pretense,
Concealing up our feelings,
We need the world to think everything is great,
So we battle to move with the patterns.
Trending fashions, trending styles,
Our profile pictures and statuses are lit,
So lit they can burn hearts.
In a moral sense, regularly our hearts develop super cold,
We've become spirits without a structure,
Beings without a form,
At the point when daybreak comes, we snicker the most intense,
At the point when nightfall falls we cry the most.
We have surrendered to the companion pressing factors of the day,
We believe it's not cool to mind,
We think it’s insanely hilarious to care.
We call others names,
Heartcuffed by poisonous musings,
Presently we are deceitful sex stars,
Eager, obscene, desirous,
We inhale scorn without a reason,
We permitted to love and faith to disappear,
Dimness has daze collapsed us.
All good we buried 6 feet under the grounds because we are scared of not being cool.
We overlook our neighbors‘ love
But deep inside we crave consideration from outsiders,
We want them to follow us, to like us.
What a dumbfounding age brimming with poisonous narcissists.
A people who commend outsiders and savage family,
A people contending on who shows fewer feelings,
Though every dusk our hearts drain.
We feel how void and hollow we are.
We are a wrecked age,
In any case, we decide to negate that,
Even though we realize somewhere inside we are an iceberg of torment and pain,
We are in an incomprehensible age although we say the truth is a lie.
A paradoxical generation who cry when they lose celebrities yet can’t celebrate love,
A toxic people who tell their families they love them on social media where only the world sees it,
We are a broken generation.

by Chioniso
TrapStar
He wants chains all over his body
chains all over his neck
chains all over his arms.
calls it drip.
calls it swag.
but all it is is trauma
from the past.
of generations and generations of
black men trapped in slavery
maybe
that's why he calls himself a
trapstar.
'cause there's celestial light trapped
inside of these black bodies.
but I wish you knew that half the
gold in your rolex watches ain't
worth
the gold I watch in you.

She gazes at me,
Her hazelnut brown eyes
Cold, distant.... defeated.
Somehow she looks familiar,
Suddenly I feel as though I know her.
For that guarded look
Was all to familiar to me.
She looks like an island,
Cut off from the world
Rejected
Denied
Unwanted
I take a step towards her
She seems to flinch as though I've actually hurt her
I gasp
The pain of this woman evident in her every move
And her very appearance
Oh I how I'm sure I know this woman
And it hits me
I've been that woman.
THIS
WOMAN.
by Kiaramanaka.

E P I T O M E M E D I A
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T A K I N G T H E T I M E T O P E R U S E T H R O U G H O U R H U M B L E
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A B I T O F T H E G A P I N T E R M S O F P O E T R Y A N D
L I T E R A T U R E I N T H E A R T S S E C T O R I N Z I M B A B W E .
W E A R E A N O N - P R O F I T M A G A Z I N E T H A T S U R V I V E S
F R O M T H E C O N T R I B U T I O N S O F O U R S T A F F A N D T H E
G E N E R O U S D O N A T I O N S O F O U R R E A D E R S . A S O F Y E T ,
W E A R E U N A B L E T O O F F E R R E M U N E R A T I O N T O O U R
C O N T R I B U T O R S B U T W E A R E H O P I N G T O D O S O I N T H E
F U T U R E . W E U N D E R S T A N D T H E V A L U E O F W O R D S H E R E .
W I T H T H A T B E I N G S A I D ,
W E W I L L S O O N B E O P E N T O P E R I O D I C S U B M I S S I O N S .
B O T H I N O U R B L O G A N D T H R O U G H O U R Q U A R T E R L Y
M A G A Z I N E .
F O L L O W U S O N I N S T A G R A M A N D T W I T T E R T O S T A Y
U P D A T E D O N S U B M I S S I O N P E R I O D S .
F O R A N Y Q U E R I E S F E E L F R E E T O C O N T A C T U S A T
P O E T R A M A M A G @ G M A I L . C O M
W E T H A N K Y O U O N C E A G A I N .
E D I T O R ,
T A K U D Z W A G O N I W A
Thank you!