POETS who speak official languages in the country will compete in the competition2027 Avbob Poetry Competition from August 1 to November 30, this year.
The promoters of this competition encourage poets to write poems that convey words of love, hope, words of consolation and a new beginning. The winners will follow in the footsteps of the Nkandla poet, Nomkelemane Langa and the late Khozi FM reporter, Bongani Mavuso. Nomkelemane broke into the field of Zulu poetry, with a poem called The Day the Sun Setsngo-2022.
These young men are part of the poets who have competed in this competition. According to the promoters, the best poem in each language will be published in the Avbob Poetry Library, whose author will pay R300.
The poet who wins the top spot in each language will be awarded R12 500 (R10 000, a R2 500 voucher to buy a book and a trophy labeled Avbob Poetry). Avbob’s CEO,Adriaan Bester, we said they are always impressed by the depth of the entries they receive every year.
“Currently, the Avbob Poetry Library contains nearly 30,000 poems and entering new poems has become a common practice for poets across the country. When this competition was first launched, we did not know that it would end up having an impact on various languages.”
He said that poetry plays a big role when it comes to happiness or death because people always don’t know what to say.
“That’s when we take refuge in poetry for courage, comfort and clarity.”
Adriaan said that the main purpose of this competition is to open a platform where the people of this country can express their feelings.
Poets can submit 10 poems by logging into the dashboard at www.avbobpoetry.co.za. The top three in each language will be published in an anthology.
All finalists will be translated into English.