Friday, August 14, 2009

NAHA NTSUKUNYANE


NAHA NTSUKUNYANE
It is beyond the shadow of doubt that Naha Ntsukunyane is one of the local male poets who can best exhale their conscious and patriotic poetry in the wonderful Sesotho language. Careful to choose the words that build his poems Naha definitely adds a mellow jazzy laid back flavor to the poetry the Mountain Kingdom has to offer. Poets Blog braved the chilly weather to bring you the profile of this mature patriotic poet.

Q: Who is Naha Ntsukunyane?
A: well Naha Ntsukunyane is basically a Mosotho man form Linakaneng har’a Letsoai in the Thaba-Tseka district. I met poetry in 1996 inspired by my brother who was at that time into hip hop.
Q: how do you describe your poetry?
A: my poetry is nothing but my spirit, body and soul. For me to pass it on to other people it then has to be in written form.
Q: having been a decade ever since you started writing poetry do you think there are areas that still need improvement in your work?
A: Definitely. I guess what I still need to work on is ensuring that my Sesotho language is still on point. I believe that I can perfectly attain that by finding out from the elders which areas of our modern language need correction and improvement.
Q: why do you always prefer to write your poetry in your mother tongue?
A: well as I have already mentioned, I am from a place in the Thaba Tseka district where most of the people have never even set their feet in this modern schools and hence they would not comprehend poetry in English. So I write in Sesotho for them to fully comprehend my message. Lastly I prefer Sesotho because it is more interesting for me to present my poetry to tourists in the mother tongue rather than having to do it in the language they already know and master.
Q: Have you ever performed live?
A: definitely yes. First time I performed live it was at Sekekete Hotel in…..in 1999 and recently I performed at Times café at the Five Minutes To Friday show hosted by Miss P. hopefully I will be doing many more performances.
Q: who are your three favorite local poets and three international poets?
A: locally I like Pitso Ramakhula, Rumo la Koebe and the unified poet represented by all Poetry Farm members.
Q:in your opinion has poetry grown in the country?
A: it has definitely grown. Looking way back in 1996 when I started there were no shows, whether it be radio shows or live performances done for poetry as it is today. So safely one can say a great degree of growth has been recorded when it comes to poetry.
Q:do you think collaborations are necessary in poetry?
A:in Sesotho we say let’soele le beta poho and hence if through collaboration we could attain the unity which could help us improve our work, then I find them necessary.
Q:your last words?
A: I always say this gift of writing has been given to us by God, let us utilize it for our benefit



It is beyond the shadow of doubt that Naha Ntsukunyane is one of the local male poets who can best exhale their conscious and patriotic poetry in the wonderful Sesotho language. Careful to choose the words that build his poems Naha definitely adds a mellow jazzy laid back flavor to the poetry the Mountain Kingdom has to offer. Poets Blog braved the chilly weather to bring you the profile of this mature patriotic poet.

Q: Who is Naha Ntsukunyane?
A: well Naha Ntsukunyane is basically a Mosotho man form Linakaneng har’a Letsoai in the Thaba-Tseka district. I met poetry in 1996 inspired by my brother who was at that time into hip hop.
Q: how do you describe your poetry?
A: my poetry is nothing but my spirit, body and soul. For me to pass it on to other people it then has to be in written form.
Q: having been a decade ever since you started writing poetry do you think there are areas that still need improvement in your work?
A: Definitely. I guess what I still need to work on is ensuring that my Sesotho language is still on point. I believe that I can perfectly attain that by finding out from the elders which areas of our modern language need correction and improvement.
Q: why do you always prefer to write your poetry in your mother tongue?
A: well as I have already mentioned, I am from a place in the Thaba Tseka district where most of the people have never even set their feet in this modern schools and hence they would not comprehend poetry in English. So I write in Sesotho for them to fully comprehend my message. Lastly I prefer Sesotho because it is more interesting for me to present my poetry to tourists in the mother tongue rather than having to do it in the language they already know and master.
Q: Have you ever performed live?
A: definitely yes. First time I performed live it was at Sekekete Hotel in…..in 1999 and recently I performed at Times café at the Five Minutes To Friday show hosted by Miss P. hopefully I will be doing many more performances.
Q: who are your three favorite local poets and three international poets?
A: locally I like Pitso Ramakhula, Rumo la Koebe and the unified poet represented by all Poetry Farm members.
Q:in your opinion has poetry grown in the country?
A: it has definitely grown. Looking way back in 1996 when I started there were no shows, whether it be radio shows or live performances done for poetry as it is today. So safely one can say a great degree of growth has been recorded when it comes to poetry.
Q:do you think collaborations are necessary in poetry?
A:in Sesotho we say let’soele le beta poho and hence if through collaboration we could attain the unity which could help us improve our work, then I find them necessary.
Q:your last words?
A: I always say this gift of writing has been given to us by God, let us utilize it for our benefit


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