I write to keep my spirit alive when I die: Poet

Yvonne Ncube, Showbiz Reporter
MANY contemporary authors have abandoned the traditional core essence of writing as they are now writing to compete against one another for rewards.

It therefore, comes as a surprise for a 24-year-old to assert his writing to preserve his spirit after death.

Kwanele Khumalo aka Mntungwa kaMbulazi, an author and poet, says his written literature will live on after his death.

“I write so that when I die, one could pick up my book and start reading, only because of that, the legacy lives on. I do not write for competition and popularity as that kills creativity in poetry. If a writer writes chasing after popularity, he writes what people want and by doing so, he deviates from following his calling as a writer. “Competition also kills creativity in the sense that writers and poets end up copying each other and that kills originality. No poet and writer should write like any other. True writing should be unique!

“By writing something as it is from the head, you know if you bring Charles Mungoshi, Chinua Achebe’s or Stanley Mushava’s work, one can tell this is Stanley and this is Mthulisi because writing at its first phase is original then after putting it down on paper, some people change it to look like someone else’s. And also, to make your work unique, write about things that people think are useless, for example silence.

I personally have never written any poem about Covid-19 because I find it boring because everyone is writing about it and I don’t write about what’s popular,” he said.

The Pathisa Nyathi fanatic gave accounts of some of his poems that he said are unique.
“My poem Praise about the beerhall for example. Most people don’t see anything good that may come from a beerhall. The beerhall culture is assumed as one of the bad cultures and many people do not want their children to be associated with it.

Thus, if one then writes praising a beerhall, his poem might be viewed as outdated or lacking today’s style.

“Why then should one write about beerhalls instead of nightclubs and popular bars maybe? But then beerhalls are not for sharing beer only, that is where our grandfathers used to learn how to run their homes, how to treat wives,” said Khumalo describing beerhalls as the centre of news and other critical discussions. – @SeehYvonne.