The University of KwaZulu-Natal College of Humanities is hosting the prestigious 6-day Poetry Africa Festival. The 23rd annual event aims to raise awareness of new voices in international poetry, with particular emphasis, continuing on the path of last year's festival, on female writers. The programme features various debates on gender, shows, poetry readings and presentations of new literary works.
Guillem Gavaldà, the Catalan poet invited to this year's festival, will participate in several activities on the programme, including visits to schools in the city to give readings and speak about poetry. The festival firmly believes in these school visits, as they are key to fostering reading and writing among young people. The sessions, often informal and lasting 45 minutes, speak about poetry by getting the students involved, who have previously studied each poet's work. Plus, the festival will also feature various forums, seminars and workshops at other institutions, where the guests will participate in poetry sharing sessions, performances, book launches and shows. The festival isn't only about raising awareness of the poets' work, but also promotes cultural exchanges among the participants in the programme.
The festival kicks off on Monday night, 7 October, with the 16 international poets and a concert at Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre by Mbuso Khoza & UKZN Amahubo Ensemble. On Saturday afternoon, 12 October, there will be a final reading featuring all the guest poets and a musical performance by Nicky Shange to bring the festival to a close.
This is the third year that Institut Ramon Llull has collaborated with this festival. In 2017, at the 21st festival, the guest poet was Eduard Escoffet and in 2018, at the 22nd festival, Míriam Cano.
Gavaldà, a young voice with great projection
Originally from Cerdanyola del Vallès, Guillem Gavaldà (1997) is one of the most international voices of this new wave of Catalan poetry. He teaches Greek, Latin and Art History while studying a degree at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
In 2016, he won the first ever Francesc Garriga award with his collection of poems Fam bruta. The award, organised by LaBreu edicions, Adia Edicions and Cafè Central, aims to raise awareness of young, unpublished poets. In 2017, he published his second work of poetry, Brànquies, which won the Miquel Bauçà de Felanitx Poetry Award.
