Young, Black, and Gifted
She is perhaps the youngest poet to hit Lesotho’s mainstream in as far as poetry is concerned, and making a grand entrance when she claimed her position among Lesotho’s top twenty poets, alongside some of Lesotho’s top names such as Teboho Rantsoabe, Ma-Lord Mefane, Mpho Sefali, you name them! Today Poets’ Blog brings you the story of this young lady, `Makuena Ivy Mohola, a young talent we are all proud of…
Q: Who is Ivy? And how does she relate to poetry?
A: Ivy is a 17 year old girl who tries as hard as she can to reach her goals, at her standard, and at her pace! In poetry, I am still crawling! …I’m still learning!
Q: When did you start writing your poetry? Could you say it’s an inborn thing or you grew into it?
A: Yah, you could say I grew up with it, because I have always kept a diary but basically, I was introduced to poetry in 2005. At that time I was not sure of myself, hence I came out in 2007.
Q: How many poems do you have so far?
A: I have quite a handful, but I am confident of only nine, so let me say nine!
Q: You were recently nominated as one of Lesotho’s top twenty poets, how did you feel about it?
A: It was humbling! It was humbling indeed, because I was among older people and me being the youngest showed that poetry is not just for the old and matured!
Q: Who do you look up to in the field of poetry and who would you like to collaborate with at some point in time?
A: Well, I used to look up to a lot of poets from a distance, but now I’ve had a pleasure of meeting some of them like Lyrical Bacteria and admired them, so I’d love to collaborate with him, and the likes of Lineo Kolobe, and Black Diamond. On the other hand, I’d like to see myself working with musical producers, and so far, I’ve worked with Nutz.
Q: But who are you top three local poets?
A: I must say, I was actually introduced to poetry by Thato Chobokoane… Otherwise my top three local poets in order of preference would be, Nuch, Thato Chobokoane, and since I’m new in this poetry thing, the last one would be ME…!! (she laughs)
Q: What is your definition of poetry?
A: Poetry is self-discovering. It’s classification at certain levels because at some point you put pen to paper and don’t know what to write but after writing, you discover something new…
Q: Relationship status…??
A: Hm… I have two brothers, so I choose to protect some people…!
Q: Ok. So where do you see yourself two years from now?
A: Within two years I’ll have inspired people , I’ll have definitely performed live, and since I’m not that much into writing a poetry book, in two years, I’ll still be reciting my poetry for live audiences!
Q: What do you think of the standard of poetry in the country and what do you think can be done to improve it?
A: It’s growing, and to improve it, I think people’s attitude towards poetry should change, so that they can attend poetry sessions where only poetry is shared, excluding other forms of entertainment.
Q: Your final words…
A: I’d like to shout out to all my friends – thank you for the support! And to all the poets that came before me as well, thank you, I came out because of you!
ADAPTED FROM POETRY FARM'S POETS BLOG IN THE WEEKLY MAIL NEWSPAPER, VOL. 02 ISSUE 35
She is perhaps the youngest poet to hit Lesotho’s mainstream in as far as poetry is concerned, and making a grand entrance when she claimed her position among Lesotho’s top twenty poets, alongside some of Lesotho’s top names such as Teboho Rantsoabe, Ma-Lord Mefane, Mpho Sefali, you name them! Today Poets’ Blog brings you the story of this young lady, `Makuena Ivy Mohola, a young talent we are all proud of…
Q: Who is Ivy? And how does she relate to poetry?
A: Ivy is a 17 year old girl who tries as hard as she can to reach her goals, at her standard, and at her pace! In poetry, I am still crawling! …I’m still learning!
Q: When did you start writing your poetry? Could you say it’s an inborn thing or you grew into it?
A: Yah, you could say I grew up with it, because I have always kept a diary but basically, I was introduced to poetry in 2005. At that time I was not sure of myself, hence I came out in 2007.
Q: How many poems do you have so far?
A: I have quite a handful, but I am confident of only nine, so let me say nine!
Q: You were recently nominated as one of Lesotho’s top twenty poets, how did you feel about it?
A: It was humbling! It was humbling indeed, because I was among older people and me being the youngest showed that poetry is not just for the old and matured!
Q: Who do you look up to in the field of poetry and who would you like to collaborate with at some point in time?
A: Well, I used to look up to a lot of poets from a distance, but now I’ve had a pleasure of meeting some of them like Lyrical Bacteria and admired them, so I’d love to collaborate with him, and the likes of Lineo Kolobe, and Black Diamond. On the other hand, I’d like to see myself working with musical producers, and so far, I’ve worked with Nutz.
Q: But who are you top three local poets?
A: I must say, I was actually introduced to poetry by Thato Chobokoane… Otherwise my top three local poets in order of preference would be, Nuch, Thato Chobokoane, and since I’m new in this poetry thing, the last one would be ME…!! (she laughs)
Q: What is your definition of poetry?
A: Poetry is self-discovering. It’s classification at certain levels because at some point you put pen to paper and don’t know what to write but after writing, you discover something new…
Q: Relationship status…??
A: Hm… I have two brothers, so I choose to protect some people…!
Q: Ok. So where do you see yourself two years from now?
A: Within two years I’ll have inspired people , I’ll have definitely performed live, and since I’m not that much into writing a poetry book, in two years, I’ll still be reciting my poetry for live audiences!
Q: What do you think of the standard of poetry in the country and what do you think can be done to improve it?
A: It’s growing, and to improve it, I think people’s attitude towards poetry should change, so that they can attend poetry sessions where only poetry is shared, excluding other forms of entertainment.
Q: Your final words…
A: I’d like to shout out to all my friends – thank you for the support! And to all the poets that came before me as well, thank you, I came out because of you!
ADAPTED FROM POETRY FARM'S POETS BLOG IN THE WEEKLY MAIL NEWSPAPER, VOL. 02 ISSUE 35
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