Passion lands Mmasekgethu into poetry, writing
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Sunday June 11, 2023 06:00
Boefelo, who is also an author, prides himself with a number of awards but aims to do more by packaging his poetry for sale. The Moshaneng-born poet describes himself as an award-winning culture promoter and radio teacher. The 39-year-old shared his story as a poet with Arts & Culture recently. He explained that his inspiration to do poetry started during his senior school days. He developed the passion during Setswana literature classes. Boefelo, who is also famed as Mmasekgethu, said he does both English and Setswana poetry.
He said in 2019 he scooped the Best Youth Promoting Culture and Heritage during the Botswana Youth Awards. This was after he had also won the Best Poet in constituency competitions in 2017 for the Gabane-Mmankgodi constituency. He said internationally he looks up to Maya Angelou and Mzwakhe Mbuli while locally he was greatly inspired by the late Sekokotla Kaboyamodimo and Ponatshego Mokane. He added that he also likes the writing skills of Moroka Moreri. “I do traditional poetry and contemporary sometimes. Because I grew up in a cultural homestead, doing something cultural was much easier. I immediately started writing poems after finishing my BGCSE. However, I only started performing years later in 2009 and went professional in 2015,” he said. Boefelo explained that he has received satisfactory feedback from the public. He says his verses are relatable and often her people used them to greet him when they meet in public such that they even coined a nickname which has since become his stage name. 'The name Mmasekgethu was given to me by my followers because of the poetry piece titled Mmasekgethu. I therefore embraced it because it was the name I acquired through my work,' he added.
Furthermore, he said he had a lot of memorable performances like the President's dinner with members of Ntlo ya Dikgosi at the State House, HIV Champions Conference in Gaborone, Debswana General Manager's Welcome Event in Jwaneng, Dirobaroba cultural event in Gabane and LICAF Festival in Zambia. Despite his progress as a poet, Boefelo said he still faced some challenges. This he said, include limited performance platforms. He also said traditional poetry is still struggling for recognition as a profession but was treated as a part-time entertainment hence less recognition for professional poets which contributes to less rewards. He also lamented the influx of inexperienced and unknowledgeable poets who have in the process attracted bad publicity to the profession. He added that lack of proper advocacy for poetry and lack of unity among poets was also a challenge. Additionally, he stated that his aim is to have his poetry packaged and sold.
He said he also yearned to get collaborations with other spoken word artists and take his craft international. He indicated that he aspires to groom future poets. “I have some anthologies to be published but financial constraints are a challenge. I have not yet published a poetry book but I have my poems featuring in some international publications. I am an author; I write books. I have a book titled, 'Legaleng' written in Setswana and had it translated to English as well. The English one is called 'At The Fireplace'. I co-wrote it with two other intellects such as Dr Nanki Ramabule and Edwin Moroka but I was the main author. I have more books to come,” he said.