Mthatha praise poet, Mandilakhe Twazi, is poised for international acclaim after two poems he authored were shortlisted for an international publication that will feature a collection of poems sourced from poets across more than 70 countries.
This comes after Twazi responded to a call for submissions for the Planetary Song Anthology Project, where each participant was asked to submit two poems with a maximum of 25 verses each, one written in their mother tongue and another in English, themed around the environment.
The poems will then be translated and published in each poem’s mother tongue and another in Spanish, in a book called Canto Planetario, which is due for publication towards the end of October this year, according to Twazi.
The book is intended to provide valuable suggestions to the international community by tackling themes such as global warming, migration to cause climate, scarcity of drinking water, deforestation, destruction of habitants, species in danger of extinction, population and pollution of rivers, lagoons and seas.
“I got to know of this international project through a friend of mine in Botswana, who sent them my contact details.
“To have my two poems accepted for publication in this international project means a lot to me as it will get me international exposure.
“This opportunity also encourages me to work even harder in my craft as I want to go overseas to learn and share knowledge with other international poets,” Twazi said.
He further shared a letter of invitation that he received, which clearly outlines what the project is about.
“Inspired by the theme of the environment, this year we have undertaken an international literary project in an anthology format. Our main objective is to be able to transmit, through the word, a thoughtful message to humanity, as a tribute to our precious planet – a song to our biodiversity. And with this objective, we have summoned outstanding contemporary writers and poets, from more than 70 countries on five continents, to create a multilingual work,” the letter reads.
“The book will be published by Ayame Editorial and distributed through the Amazon platform, estimating that the physical and electronic edition will be ready in the month of October of the current year,” reads part of the letter from Ayame Editorial, in Costa Rica.
Twazi’s two poems that will be featured on the publication are titled iLovane and Zwelibanzi.
