Record intern is a poet in motion
A Record intern's unusual talent for performing poetry was discovered.
Originally from Pefferville in the Eastern Cape, Record intern Apiwe Mjambane is a poet in motion, as was discovered on Wednesday 21 August.
Record journalist Mathilde Myburgh was surprised to learn just how “artsy” Apiwe really is. What is usually referred to as slam poetry or spoken word poetry is Apiwe’s forté, and the Record was graced with two live performances during August.
“I have visions and they count for something,” Apiwe wrote when asked to describe what makes her a poet.
“Poetry is yet to be proclaimed as the evolution of language in the future.”
Apiwe explained to the Record that her love of talking inspires her live performances.
“It all started in 2005 when I was completing Grade 9 at the East London Science College in the Eastern Cape. I didn’t know much about urban poetry at the time but I wanted to deliver an assigned oral task in a new, more exciting way. I had just discovered that I can communicate differently. I can speak poetry and it was my secret at the time but I knew that I would pursue it later in life.”
In 2010, with her move to Sandton, Johannesburg, Apiwe began attending and performing at open mic nights and poetry bars in the city. Studying journalism at the Boston Media House in Sandton opened doors for her and Apiwe ended up co-hosting a poetry session called the Word Movement Club.
“The audience is always appreciative and we try to bring out the big guns when we perform,” Apiwe said, referring to her “crew” of urban poets called the Mid-Ocean Trenches. Apiwe is currently part of a spoken word organisation called the Wordnsound Live Poetry and Music Series which takes place at the Market Theatre Lab in Newtown every first Saturday of the month. Her crew also performs at the Cuddle Sessions at the Nikki’s Oasis Jazz Club in Newtown on the last Saturday of every month.
“There is a difference between a slam and an open mic session – slams are more competitive with each poet trying to top the one that performed before him, while open mic grants you the opportunity to address any topic of interest.”
Although Apiwe writes out, plans and practices some poems beforehand, others might be delivered as a response to another performance, on the spot.
“If you try to read my poetry, it would make much less sense than when I speak it – in written form it lacks proper punctuation and the enjambment messes with the pace at which you read it,” says Apiwe, who always jam-packs her poems with figures of speech and literary and cultural references.
“Even butterflies started feeling humans in their abdomens,” she quotes from one of her poems.
“Someone had to say something for another to know.”
