Dr. Cool shines at Macufe Poetree show!

On the 11th of October 2012 Macufe poetree took place at PACOFS Ofm Downstage.
Among the 20 poets who where featured that evening there were likes of Napo Mashiane, Lesego Rampolokeng, Ice Bound, Jah-Rose, Hector Kunene, Afurakan Mohare.

Also strutting his stuff was the poet who many say was on fire that evening and he mesmerized that stage with the unforgettable perfomance. Who can it be none other than Seiso 'Dr. Cool' Mpete, a poet from Bloemfontein who never disappoints with his performances anywhere in the country.

This is what he had to say about the Macufe poetree night:

“Thanks to Macufe and Jah-Rose productions for giving us SA poets a night to always remember.”

When we asked him of how does he manage to keep his performances accelerating positively he said “I once told myself that I'll forever stay hungry, as much as I'm honored for my achievements and my fans..
every time when I perform, I perform like a beginner who is doing his best to be recognized because all what God was to give me a Talent and now it's up to me if I'm gonna keep it alive or let it die.”

“My highlights of that night would be Napo Masheane performance, and my friend's performance Lesego Rampolokeng, Marvelous performances if I may say.” as he continued “I will like to thank all our fans
and supporters who came across the Country to support us, we are who we arebecause of your support.

"To my fellow Artists... I cote myself hahahaha... If you want to stay the best in what you do 'NEVER ALOW YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS TO LEGENDERELIZE YOUR MIND OR IT WILL ALL BE OVER.' close cote hahahah...”

Congratulations to Jah-Rose productions and Big ups to the Doctor of words Dr. Cool!!!!!

Omoseye Bolaji: A voyage around his literary work

Interview with Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga, the author of the book, Omoseye Bolaji: a voyage around his literary work...

Congratulations on your new book, Mr Soqaga. What inspired you to write it?

Thanks, whoever may meet with Mr Omoseye Bolaji knows very well that he/she will be somewhat motivated to write or get interested in literature. Fundamentally I drew my inspiration from Omoseye Bolaji years ago, and I never looked back

I understand it took you five years to write this book. What type of research did you do?

To make research about a prolific writer like Omeseye Bolaji is not an easy task because often he produces new literary materials. However I was able to gather information about him from libraries and on the internet and slowly and steadily the book took shape.

How did you got involved in what critic Lechesa calls "quintessential literature"; knowing so much about books and African writers.

I appreciate reading so much and the more I read books, the more I need to read another one. Moreover Africa is my birth place and I am absolutely boastful about its heritage and values!

Will you agree that African writers are not recognised enough?

Definitely, our African societies are not familiar with African writers. For instance, you can go to our schools and ask the pupils about our local black African writers, you will see that most of the pupils are not popular with our writers.

What did you learn during the process of writing the book?

To write a book, especially about an author who has successfully written over 25 books like Omoseye Bolaji is not a simple thing; but however I was able to apprehend that details are very important. The research was illuminating and quite fantastic although I was frustrated when I lost the original more comprehensive manuscript ...to be honest I still lament this.

How do you feel seeing so many positive reviews of your book by fine critics?

Honestly this is my first book to be published, and I do know critics and reviewers will be interested in it. For now I am totally motivated and inspired by those reviewers they; also open my eyes to the errors I might have committed.

                                                                Ishmael Soqaga (above)

Some reviewers say you over-praised protagonist, Bolaji in the book. Do you agree?

Why not? When someone is doing a great and wonderful job in Africa we celebrate and rejoice with him/her. Why can’t we admire and praise our heroes and heroines when history books tell us about them?

What is the importance of literature; and do you plan to write another book?

Literature is the well of life for any society, it can be taught from the childhood at home and it contains profound moral lessons of life. Our past African oral literature has now been converted to formal written language; therefore it is important to retain that precious treasure. When further ideas develop in my mind I don’t think I have to hesitate to write them down.

INTERVIEWS WITH EFFERVESCENT WRITERS

A new book, Interviews with effervescent writers has just been published. Although a national, international work, the book has a remarkable Free State presence. The Mpumalanga based editor of the work, Christine Mautjana, here talks about how the book came into fruition... What inspired you to produce this work, Interview with effervescent writers? Christine: To be frank with you, I have always wanted to put together a book of interviews with cross section of writers. I co-operated with other enthusiastic writers all over the place in making the dream come true. I understand there was a "weeding-out" process – that many writers who should have featured in the book were not used in the end. Christine: Yes, in the beginning we had about twenty five writers. I have studied other books of this ilk and wanted this one to be rather different. The focus was on the quality. I did not want repetition...or banality. Some of the authors’ answers did not contribute much to literature, and regretfully they had to be excluded. To what extent were you inspired by the works: African writers talking and Talking with African writers? Christine: Yes I was inspired by them. Those were, and still are, classics of African Literature. What I did in this now work was de-emphasize the role of the interviewer so that there would be no confusion and there would be a cohesive flow. I also noted that you singled out individuals’ quotes from each a writer as a sort of preclude to their interviews. Why did you do this? Christine: (Smiling) You know, A work like this is also a learning process for the editor. Every writer, and their perspective is different For example in the book, writer Teboho states facetiously that Sesotho readers are as scarce as finding a sober man in a bar! This made me laugh my head off! How much of a learning process was this book for you? Christine: I discovered that there are so many writers out there. Writers are inspired by a number of disparate factors. As a woman, I was very much impressed how widely a woman like NMM Duman has read and has a very fertile imagination. Yet she has a low profile, unlike so many limited writers always running around for publicity. I can see you have included a few white writers in this work. Did you find them much different from their black counterparts? Christine: No, the impression I got is that writers are more or less the same irrespective of their colour. They love to see their ideas in print, they all wish that much more people will read in general... and they also wish to purify their society – Maxwell Kanenyama is a good example of this, as he is always preaching in his books..in his short stories

"MY GLEE OVER MY NEW BOOK" - Pule Lechesa

By Nthabiseng Lisele

PULE LECHESA, hailed by many literary pundits as a literary giant of note in the Free State and abroad has succeeded against all odds to carve a niche for himself as a fecund writer of substance. He has done so by churning out impressive literary essays, a book of poetry, short stories and so forth. In this latest remarkable book, Essays on Free State Black literature, Lechesa outlines the breath-taking literary revolution that has taken place in the Free State province – which has happened on a rare scale unlike any other community in Black Africa. He also focuses on the contribution of the Free State writers at the grassroots level to mainstream poetry.

Here Nthabiseng Lisele fired a few questions at the excited author….

This is your fifth book, how do you feel about your latest release?

I’m very excited because it’s been long working on this book and finally it’s out! I’m more relieved that it’s been released and focuses on quintessential literature.

What is special about this book as distinct from other books you’ve written before?

This book celebrates the good work of the previous writers so you can say inter alia I’m honouring many of them on my book – and adding to the corpus of literature in Africa.

How long did it take you to write and complete this book?

It took me 5 years to complete it. For the past 5 years I’ve been compiling essays and reviewing other authors which brought the completion of this book.

What do you think is the importance of Literature in the society?

There is an odious saying that: “if you want to hide important news from a Black man, hide it in the book!”. So I believe that if our society can indulge more into reading, and it can be any book, they can get knowledge. And Literature is playing that role of informing, educating, feeding the mind of the society with brilliant ideas and broad knowledge.

You are known worldwide as a tough, ruthless, literary critic. Are you not afraid of writers hating you?

No, ma’am (laughing)… Their hatred won’t stop me from writing but instead will help me correct errors I might have committed obliviously. Writers love to massage their egos and in civilized societies it is the norm that if writers are wrong they should be corrected. For an example, if there’s a certain chapter I stated that it is winter season but only to find out that I said one of the story’s characters was wearing a sleeveless shirt, I’m confusing my readers and I deserve to be corrected.

Do you think you are playing an important role in the advancement of Literature?

Yes, I know so; because knowledge is power and people need to be empowered. And history of Literature should be run throughout this present generation until another generation takes over.

Briefly, who are the major writers that you have featured in your latest book?

Hector Kunene, Jafta JahRose, NMM Duman, Sipho Mnyakeni, Omoseye Bolaji – I have many essays and interviews with him in the book; Deon-Simphiwe Skade, Flaxman Qoopane, Ntate Kgang Motheane. Most writers are at least mentioned; including young Teboho Masakala...there are many literary allusions worldwide in the book.

How will you describe the current state of writing in the Free State?

I think we are on the right track. For example, recently, celebrated international critics like Achal Prabhala have noted the impressive literary trends here and continue to put us on the map. The world, Universities, internet etc continue to highlight the great things happening here in the Free State.

Congratulations again
.
* Published in Free State News

CHARLES MATORERA ON THE WORLD OF WRITING

He has apparently just burst onto the literary scene with a string of profound short stories. But Charles Matorera, a Free State based Zimbabwean has always relished the world of reading and writing, as he explains briefly here...

JERRY: You are making your mark as a writer. Going down memory lane how did it start; from your youth perhaps?

CHARLES MATORERA: I think I inherited the story telling talents of my grandpa who was a WW2 hero; he could tell you a story a dozen times and you could still be interested to hear it again. Most of my stories I could tell people and they would ask "why can't you write a book?"

Also at school they encouraged us to read anything, even lost newspapers. At home it wasn't easy as they were subsistence farmers... they always had a job for you, so any reading would have to be only at night.

Who are your favourite writers?

Charles Mungoshi, Chenjerai Hove, Shima Chinodya, Ngugi wa Thiong, Chinue Achebe, Mahommed Takur Gabar, Mtutuzeli Matshoba, Wilbur Smith, Robert Ludlum hey the list is endless...

Zimbabwe has a strong vibrant literary tradition. You must be proud of this as a Zimbabwean?

Zimbabwe is literarily rich; the British Council, Zimbabwe Publishing House helped a lot - but nowadays politics has intervened into literature and things have largely fallen apart. Yes we have got great talents like Marechera and Dangarembga and a lot in local languages but the economy essentially killed the market.

We hear everytime about daunting challenges facing African writing. What is your take on this?

African writing needs a face lift, there are no publishing houses who go deep in talent search and try to develop new writers. The governments are also not helping, so we do people who take writing as a career. But surely, we do have talent; so much so in the Free State here!

Some give in to despair and cynicism over this. What will you say is the importance of literature anyway?

The importance of literature to me is:

a)the footprints of our lives to the future generations like the bible, rock paintings and hieroglyphics tells us about the past.
b) entertainment - we mostly read to enjoy
c)education, it's hard to con a literate person

What are your next literary plans, dreams?

I would like to go into novels when in the future. I would like to promote literature in Africa, helping the hidden talents to get exposure. The final dream is to one day help convert the great African stories into motion pictures. Thank You

SOQAGA ON SOUTH AFRICAN SPORTS

Mzwandile Ishmael Soqaga is a well known Mangaung-based essayist, author and activist. He is renowned for his Pan-Africanist vision. But he is also a sports enthusiast. Here he ventilates his feelings on SA Sports…

What is your overview of the sports scenario so far?

South Africa is a very diverse and heterogeneous country that is always striving to work for unity through diversity. Everybody, beginning from the government, business people and the people at the grassroots level are mostly and habitually affectionate in the event of their country and they often exhibit such sentiments so blatantly. South Africa is a country that grows in gargantuan fashion despite its social setbacks and challenges. It is gratifying that the legacy of 2010 soccer World Cup left behind us beautiful stadiums.

Although South Africa is a dramatic country that is bountiful to the tourists and to the foreign investors, however it still needs to accelerate and bolster its effort to be a winning nation. In fact, South Africans are people who are not apathetic to sports but the crisis is that the people are always disappointed when their national team performs badly. Usually, I don’t think there will be a nation that will like its team to lose so many times!

You have a soft spot for the Springboks, don’t you?

Among popular sports in South Africa I can see that the Springboks (national Rugby squad) is one of the teams that is keenly determined to satisfy its nation. The nation and the world have seen how they played in the rugby world cup recently and in actual fact they are used to hoisting world cup trophies as champions. They were champions in 1995 when they defeated New Zealand All Blacks, and in 2007 they also made the world mark by beating England in the finals. First and foremost, the team was aware that the whole nation was behind them and they never played to bring sadness on the people’s hearts, the springboks played with great zest and with full of energy to ensure that even if feasible they could lose and everybody will accept the outcome with satisfaction.
What I really like to compliment is that during, and before the Rugby World Cup which New Zealand won, the rugby team was utterly aware that they have the support of the nation. Much credit must be given to the Minister of sports, Fikile Mbalula who was in the forefront as a sterling paradigm and advocate of sports as the minister. Through his contributions, the nation responded positively to the Springbok action. The Minister ensured that when the World Cup started, all South African became green and gold. South Africans bought the boks’ merchants to show support for their rugby national team and meanwhile the market was booming. Moreover, what was pleasing mostly was to witness how people in general showed attention in watching the game on television, talking about the boks matches on the street, radios, in the press, working places and elsewhere. It was wonderful and fabulous indeed.
Certainly, if the Boks’ were playing on the soil of South Africa, definitely they were going to defend their championship status successfully, and ultimately they were actually going to produce the appropriate results to make their nation proud and satisfied. I am very content by the enthusiasm and seriousness of the springboks when they played. Their commitment showed that the team understood what it means to play for their country.

These days Bafana Bafana (national soccer squad) seem to be in the doldrums?

Ah! Unlike Bafana Bafana, it is apparent that our national soccer team is the draw players even in their own backyard. They don’t demonstrate any authentic play to the nation. Their loss in Zimbabwe this week was a poignant illustration. It becomes so excruciating to watch Bafana nowadays; sometimes one can sadly recall the momentous and brilliant yesteryear of Doctor Khumalo, Mark Fish and Philemon Masinga etc. Bafana of 1996 were very committed and competent, but currently we witness disappointments and the dwindling standard of football in our national team especially in international matches and African championship. No one can forget that great moment unless someone is ignorant and envious. The magic boots of legs of “Thunder” Jerry Skhosana did a spectacular work for Orlando Pirates in Abidjan Cote D’Voire on 16 December 1995 when ORlando Pirates were crowned champions of Africa after recording an entirely unexpected 1-0 win away to the might of ASEC Mimosa.
Similar with Bafana Bafana’s triumph in 1996, almost the South African people celebrated with gusto with Orlando Pirates. During those days South African celebrated as if it was the New Year. Last year, South Africa hosted soccer World Cup, one of the most lavish and exciting tournaments for the first time on African soil, and Bafana’s performance was not convincing. When we won the bid, Africa and the world celebrated with us; much infrastructural development took place. It was sizzling, and the people’s anticipation was so high, people were expecting a lot.
Overall what transpired ultimately was a great grief and disillusionment. Bafana was knocked out in the first round and it became the first team to fail to qualify for the second round as the host in the history of soccer World Cup. Furthermore, despite the exploits of Ghana Africa did not pull up so many trees at the tournament which saw Spain crowned the champions in the soil of Africa. Verily, as South Africans we must appreciate the fact that losing games is not the fault of the coach. It will be naïve to make noises about the apparent inefficiency of the coach; the current national coach Pitso Mosimane tried to propel the country to quallfy for the Nations Cup finals. Unfortunately it all ended in heartbreak though.

Yet you believe our footballers essentially play exciting football…

No doubt Bafana play very good football. They know how to play and pass the ball, their ball control and defence is impressive but their problem is scoring goals. Scoring goals is part of winning the matches. Playing quality football must concur with scoring goals. In their last qualifying game for African Cup of Nations with Sierra Leone, they were supposed to win that game. They were supposed to confirm that they can make us proud by being a winning nation, but what they did was to preserve a draw and simultaneously they misunderstood the CAF rules and subsequently they failed to qualify for AFCON.
Yet fundamentally Bafana play a rather thrilling brand of football, but they need to learn and adopt the habit to win on their own soil. Their friendly match with Ivory Coast last week again exposed their vulnerability, and a similar situation happened and they secured a draw again. Essentially they were playing good football but fell short of scoring the winning goals, even after they had created clear and plenty chances to win the game. Bafana Bafana needs motivation and the fighting spirit to defend the image of football in this country.


So the victorious 1996 Bafana remain a benchmark

Now current Bafana Bafana players and enthusiasts need to learn soccer lessons from their old heroes who lifted the African Cup of Nations with pride in 1996 in the presence of the revered old man, Nelson Mandela and the late sports minister Steve Tshwete. Surely the boys need to acknowledge and apprehend that once we used to be African champions through the effort of yesteryear soccer legends like Neil Tovey, Lucas Radebe, Mark Fish, Mark Williams and Philemon Masinga etc. They must be inspired and should be filled with confidence to win their games in their own backyard!

Deon Simphiwe Skade's "A SERIES OF UNDESIRABLE EVENTS"