From poetrysociety.org.uk

On Monday 4 December the Portland Japanese Garden is hosting a Peace Symposium in Johannesburg, following Symposiums in New York, London and Tokyo. More details of the event and registration to attend in Johannesburg are available here.

There will be four poetry readings during the event. The first is by Siphokazi Jonas, a poet commissioned by The Poetry Society and Portland Japanese Garden to write a poem for the event, ‘Inosculation or to be Bare at the Point of Connection‘. This follows previous commissions for the Symposiums by Yumi Fuzuki, Victoria Adukwei Bulley and Nomi Stone. Siphokazi is a multi-award-winning poet, playwright, actor, and producer based in Cape Town, South Africa. She holds an MA in English Literature and an undergraduate degree in Drama and English.

Her awards include a South African Film and Television Award for Best Short Film, Most Innovative Young Artist Western Cape Cultural Affairs Award, and 100 Sunday World Unsung Heroes. Her most recent stage production, #WeAreDyingHere, was adapted into an award-winning poetry short film screened at numerous international film festivals. Siphokazi has attended poetry sessions and festivals worldwide, including conferences and festivals in Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, and Nigeria. Her work is freely available in numerous anthologies and journals. She was the 2016 runner-up for the national Sol Plaatje European Union Award and headlined as the first Featured Poet at Poetry Africa Festival in 2021.

Reading alongside Siphokazi will be three winners of our Young Poets Network challenge on Peace and Quiet from South Africa: Deity Ajna will read ‘Not Sonnet 23‘; Sonelise Jonginamba will read ‘Before the Noisy Morning‘; and Thato Tshukudu will read ‘Unwelcome Guest‘.

Judith Palmer, Director of The Poetry Society, says:

The Poetry Society is always looking for ways to bring people together through poetry. We’ve been thrilled to work in partnership with the Portland Japanese Garden and extend its message of peace. The project gives us the opportunity to ask poets on every continent, including young poets, what peace means to them, bringing to light new and varied perspectives. It’s been a true pleasure getting to know fantastic poets from Japan, USA and South Africa, as well as from here at home in the UK, who have explored the subject via such different approaches. In the year ahead, we’ll also look forward to working with poets from Australia and Brazil.

Read more about the event on 4th December here.