Poetry Africa is an annual international poetry festival organized by the Center for Creative Arts at KZN University.
In soccer, it is often said that a ball hits the post twice before scoring. This practice of encouraging people not to give up is also useful in real life.
Olive Olusegun, the recent Poetry Africa Slam champion, seems to have the tenacity of a striker to go from 1st and 5th place to runner-up and then to the championship this year.
“Right after the competition I was pretty disappointed, especially since it was so close,” Olusegun said. The Citizen.
The 25-year-old poet took top honors at the 28th Poetry Africa Festival held at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Creative Arts Center over the weekend.
Olusegun finished fifth in 2022 and second at the Slam Jam finals in 2023, but this year he has improved even further and will represent South Africa at the 2025 World Poetry Slam Championships in Mexico.
Poetry Africa is an international poetry festival organized by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Creative Arts Center in Durban and held every October.
The festival features performances by spoken word and published poets, and dynamic activities such as panel discussions, campus and school visits, poetry exchanges, book launches, open mic sessions, and a slam jam contest.
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try again
The champion didn't think she would come back and compete after last year's result, but she remembers someone telling her that previous winners also took multiple tries to win. are.
“It made me realize that winning at Slams requires continued determination and resilience, and that you should never give up. This is my third year competing in Slams. The first year I competed in Slams. I was in the top five, the second year I was in the top two and this year I was in first place,” Olusegun asserted.
“Every year has been worth it and I have grown so much as a writer and a performer. If I had not failed and tried harder each year, I don’t think I would have been as good as I am now, so this platform of Poetry Africa has helped me a lot. I'm very grateful to be able to take on this challenge. I encourage everyone, especially young poets, to keep dreaming and never give up.”
Olusegun, who has competed in the Poetry Africa Slam Championships for three years, says the year she won was her most challenging.
“This year's top 10 are all very talented writers and some of the most experienced slam poets in the country,” she said.
But she says this year's battle was more psychological.
“But leading up to the contest, it was psychologically scary to be honest. So to compete with this year's group, I definitely needed to grow my mental strength, face and overcome my insecurities, and create a whole new I had to improve myself to that level.”
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innovative poetry
The contest expected poets from all over the country to submit videos to be selected as the top 10.
Instead of recording herself, she decided to transform her poems into video animations drawn from scratch. She also narrated the video in her own voice.
“Overall, this video uses poetry, music, animation, and world-building to immerse viewers in the poetic narrative and bring the story and characters to life in new ways,” Olusegun said. Ta.
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Preparing for Mexico
Through her experience in the poetry field, Olusegun realized how important rest is. “The brain takes time to absorb poetry and memorize it,” she said as she prepares for the 2025 Mexico Games.
“Aside from getting more familiar with World Slam performance, we're going to take advantage of all the great resources we have here to help us prepare. The poetry community in South Carolina has been very welcoming and helpful.”
She said she has received support from fellow South African poets and will rely on their support to further prepare for the global competition.
“To help me prepare, I rehearse and get advice on writing and performance from my fellow poets here.”
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professional poet
Olusegun, who is also a part-time lecturer in architecture at the University of Pretoria, describes himself as a professional poet.
“I'm a freelancer, so I have the flexibility to work on multiple projects at once. This gives me more flexibility with my travels and performances,” she said.
“As a professional poet who is sometimes invited to perform from abroad, I take my poetry very seriously and always prioritize performances.”
Olusegun is also a freelance architect and graphic designer candidate.
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