A total number of 40 Poets gathered at the Germiston Lapa on Saturday 19 March 2022 for the finale of the Ekurhuleni Slam poetry in celebration of The South African Library Week.
The city of Ekurhuleni hosted the poetry competition and the top 40 contestants were nominated during the Slam poetry auditions gathered at the event to perform and take the prize.
The event was hosted before the end of library week. The South African Library Week runs from the 14th till the 20th of March as the first library was established on the 20th of March 1818. To celebrate this day, libraries all over South Africa have events such as Poetry events, creative writing, and debates.
This year the City of Ekurhuleni celebrated the Library week with Slam poetry and had contestants from four areas in Ekurhuleni namely Thokoza, Kwa-Thema, Daveyton, and Thembisa. Contestants won under the three categories namely; Narrative Poetry, Dramatic poetry as well as Lyrical poetry.
Under the Narrative Poem category are; Project Kaofela, Ashley Moyo, and the grand prize winner is Xabiso Vili.
The winners for the Dramatic Poem category are Collaboration of T’s, Sabelo Madonsela, and the grand prize winner is Sanibonani Creatives.
The winners for the Lyrical poem category are; Kenneth Fana, Nkosiyazi Mtshali, and the grand prize winner is Sonnyboy Mahlangu.
The third and second place winners received Ekurhuleni bags and the grand prize winners received trophies with condenser microphones, Shock mount, headphones, and smartwatches. The poets were encouraged to join creative writing groups in Ekurhuleni and work together with the City of Ekurhuleni team in making these events a success.
By Tshepiso Makhalemele
