12 May 2016

Boitshepo Goroma has leaned on poetry to keep him away from anti-social behaviour. 

Born and bred in Thamaga, the 32-year-old’s love for poetry started at primary school when he was doing standard seven.

“I used to read poetry books and some old Setswana poems and fell in love with the creativity that was used. 

My mentor and then primary school teacher, Moneedi Mokgachane who is also a poet, groomed me into being a great poet that I am today,” he said.

He said Mokgachane encouraged him to work hard because he could see his potential and passion for poetry.

“Mokgachane motivated me to work hard. He always gave me a chance at school to perform during ceremonies. This helped me gain exposure and confidence,” Goroma stated. 

He stated that after finishing at Moshupa Senior Secondary School, he continued with his poetry and even took it more seriously as a way of earning a living and a pro-social guidance. 

“Poetry got me engaged most of the time as I performed at many events around the village and got paid. 

This popularity gave me more exposure to perform at various places like the kgotla to get more appreciated,” he said. 

Goroma stated that poetry supplemented his job and put food on the table for him and he was able to help his parents financially. 

Having performed at various events like road safety shows, Month of Youth Against AIDS, kgotla meetings  and constituency competitions, Goroma stated that the exposure opened more doors for him as he was frequently called for events.

He emphasised that having competed with last year’s winner of President’s Day competitions, Mr Tito Kopanang gave him more insight on how to be creative in his art. 

“These arts competitions are very important because they give us the platform to showcase our talents and take it to Batswana and the rest of the world. 

That is the time we mingle with other poets and learn from them,” he said.  

He believed his ability to play with Setswana words and use proverbs and riddles makes his art different from others. 

He said a poet was someone who was able to deliver a rich message to the audience and also be able to entertain them at the same time. 

Furthermore, he said some people get into poetry without passion and these are the people who distort the whole art because they only do it for money. 

Goroma said he was working on an album for his poems and said his biggest goal is to have an academy where he can be able to groom upcoming poets because he has realised that poetry is a career as one can earn a living through it.

He expressed gratitude on the efforts by government to help performing artist in the country, and pleaded with private  companies to also help promote performing arts through sponsorships of activities such as arts competitions and awards ceremonies as that can help grow the arts. ENDS