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Wellington Kudiwa Entertainment Reporter
Charismatic female poet Khadijah Finesse, real name Freda Taferwa Mteka-Teka is an unsung heroine who has fought alongside the likes of Batsirai Chigama, Barbara Breeze Anderson and Cynthia “Flowchild” Marangwanda in carving her own niche in the male dominated genre.
Discovered and mentored by one of Zimbabwe’s greatest poets, Chirikure Chirikure, Mteka-teka has managed to show the stuff she is made off at various events including the House of Hunger poetry Slam.
The platform was named after the Iconic Dambudzo Marechera’s seminal script and has developed into the vehicle for emerging poets to announce their presence. Mteka-teka achieved a huge milestone in the spoken word and songwriting sections after she performed at the Harare Festival of Arts for the Hunger Poetry Slam two times in two years, an accomplishment that is only dreamt of by many artists from various genres.
She has featured in a number of poetry shows including events to observe the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence.
In an interview with The Herald Entertainment, Mteka-teka revealed how she got inspired to empower fellow female artists through poetry. “Firstly, I was discovered and mentored by Chirikure Chirikure whom I met way back in August 2005 at the Book Café during the Poetry Slam event.
“Within a couple of months, I became a founding member of the House of Hunger Poetry Slam and since then, I have been working with a number of top poets in the country. “.
“I am inspired by the world we live in as a whole and the emotions we go through like the ups and downs of our daily lives.
“I believe emotions are a universal language and we can portray these through thought provoking poetry. “Poetry is you, me and us because the world as a whole is poetry itself as it is the image of our mind’s eyes that mould into real perceptions” said the poet. Mteka-teka has held various tours around the country alongside the likes of Cde Fatso, Michael Mabwe Snr, Robson “Shoes” Lambada and the late Olley Marume.
Mteka-teka said she is also into theatre and has appeared in the “Stone Cold Season”, a theatre production by acclaimed script writer Tenford Chitanana which appeared at the Reps Theatre in 2008
Online Reporter