One of the country’s acclaimed poets, Qabaniso ‘Q’ Malewezi, has finally published his highly anticipated poetry anthology titled ‘The Road Taken’.

‘The Road Taken’ is a collection of Malewezi’s poems reflecting on the artistic journey and experiences encountered following his decision to pursue his passion for spoken word poetry.

Son to the country’s former Vice President Justin Malewezi, the spoken word poet was best known in the music circles as producer during the days of disbanded hip-hop crew ‘Real Elements’.

“It is about the series of little moments experienced throughout my life with and in art through theatre, music, writing and performing, as well as the support that my loved ones have rendered to me.” he explains.

Malewezi says he was further motivated to explore the ins and outs of publishing and give voice to his written pieces in 2010 after reading Kenyan poet Ngwatilo Mawiyo’s anthology ‘Blue Mother Tongue’.

Professionally edited by Linguistics Professor Kishindo from the Chancellor College and offering a true depiction of Malewezi’s artistic finesse of fusing various forms of art, the compilation merges the written word with inspiring photographic images from the poet himself, Justin Malewezi Jnr and graphic designer Fred Coelho.

As a result, it portrays the artist’s more reflective poetry pieces in contrast to his usual theatrical performance pieces.

“My hope is that ‘The Road Taken’ will not only be enjoyed by poetry enthusiasts, but that it will also help create a platform for the form of expressive arts to be taken seriously and encouraged more especially amongst the youth,” he adds.

‘The Road Taken’ is to be officially launched this Saturday, June 25, at Crossroads Hotel in the capital city Lilongwe where published copies will be sold at K3,500.

Supported by the U.S. Embassy Cultural Affairs section, the launch is expected to start at 7:30pm and apart from unveiling the anthology, a youth poetry competition by the US Embassy will be introduced.

The competition is aimed at promoting the art of poetry among the youth in Malawi through a published poetry anthology.—(Reporting by Kimpho Loka, Nyasa Times)