Gwanda poet 'Nqindi' finally records poems

Popular Gwanda poet, Lerato "Nqindi" Ndlovu (pictured) says his debut project of recorded poems is doing well, as evidenced by great demand for the CD that contains recorded poems, which include a house track.

Nqindi said he was delighted that people from Gwanda were supporting the project.

"I am happy that the CD will go far, to places that I can't reach and it has been spread to a lot of places. I hear in Botswana the CD is on demand. So we are planning to take it there," he said.

"The CD costs $3 so that I raise R4 000 to pay the recording studio that produced it. I want to send 1 000 copies to Bulawayo and other places, so that more people get to know of my works."

His manager, Dickens Mathe confirmed that the eight-track album titled Izibongo Zenduna Part 1 was out and the people in Gwanda appreciated the poet's work.

"The CD has been distributed in Zimbabwe, starting from Beitbridge to Bulawayo. I have copies in Beitbridge, Nqindi has copies in Gwanda and other copies are in South Africa with our consultancy Usungulo Arts," said Mathe.

"So far, Gwanda has appreciated the CD and it's selling like hot cakes."

Mathe said fans now wanted a DVD album.

"They cannot wait for the DVD album. Educational centres are delighted too and we are working on the DVD. We haven't been given the greenlight by education authorities to visit schools, but we are engaging them,"he said.

Mathe said the aim of school visits was to marry literature and performance poetry as most of the literature is in closet form, which makes it difficult for students to understand.

South Africa-based Usungulo Arts founder Future Moyo, said the next step was to set up the Nqindi Poetry Foundation to help salvage oral literature through performances.

"The foundation is meant to honour Nqindi and it will sponsor poetry competitions in the Matabeleland region. Our wish is for Nqindi to be a mentor or role model for upcoming poets," Moyo said.

"With the introduction of arts and culture as a subject in schools, students and teachers are in need of rich resources such as Nqindi."