15 Jan 2017

The notion that the whole art of poetry is to say what cannot be ordinarily said accurately describes 32-years-old Shoshong based poignant Setswana poet, Boitumelo Tshireletso’s art.

In an interview with BOPA, Tshireletso said Setswana poetry is the medium he has cultivated to communicate about everything and anything.

He also said the poems he writes and recites are virtually about everything ranging from love, celebrating royalty to community building.

Affectionately known as Namane ya Phala in poetry circles, Tshireletso said he sought refuge in poetry as far back as his primary school days at Kgamane Memorial School, feeding his curious mind and eyes with the poetry works of celebrated author Moabi S. Kitchen, who he says is his greatest ever inspiration and muse locally.

“My interest in poetry was born largely by my interest in reading various books from primary school with M. S Kitchen’s poetry books ultimately heightening my adoration for poetry.

From there I was hooked into poetry, although I only wrote in English then,” said Tshireletso.

However, the astute poet added that although he took a break from writing and reciting poems sometimes at Shoshong Senior Secondary School, he got back to the art when he joined a local choir as a songwriter and in the process the choir inducted various mediums under its fold. That is when he recited Setswana poems fused with the rhythm of setinkane.

He later broke away from the choir and focused solely on producing his own poems, this time in his native language, Setswana.

The former carpentry student at Serowe Technical College also said his pen and paper are ‘always mating’ regardless of the time of the day and whatever little verses are on his mind and even at times where writers’ block is on its course.

Asked  what he thinks are the makings of a great poet, he said that having a deep, rich vocabulary, lexicon and comprehension of the Setswana language and also having the ability to entwine words into great rhythmic form qualifies one to be a great reciter of poems.

He also said he is grateful that poetry is held in very high regards in Shoshong and as such poets are always invited for prestigious events in the village.

With the not so satisfactory number of youth keen on poetry, he said he thinks the incorporation of new words that excite the youth into poetry can help as most of them are more into mRAP (Rhythm And Poetry).

Namane ya Phala also said he has entered the Constituency Arts competitions several times and was dreadfully subjected to defeat in his first two entries, but soared to the top positions as time went on, thanks to the constructive criticism from the judges.

He also mentioned that the competitions have helped as a launch pad to the public as he is now a renowned poet and even gets invited to perform at private functions.

He said he plans to publish an anthology as he has many poems and short stories he has penned and he wishes to see his works being celebrated and read across the country.

He also said he is, with another youth in the village, working on some motswako (a fusion of Tswana and English RAP) and also plans to record a Jazz album with a lot of Setswana poetry in it. BOPA