11 Jan 2024

Poetry enthusiasts and aspiring poets were treated to a night of splendour at DJ Delicacy restaurant situated at Zambezi Towers on Wednesday when poet Tawanda Mulalu recited his poetry pieces from his book, Please Make Me Pretty, I Don’t Want to Die.

Sharing insights about his book in an interview with BOPA, the US-based poet explained that the book encompassed a multitude of themes.

“It’s split into four seasons of the year. The seasons in America are much more dramatic, so I was more attuned to those weather changes,” he said.

He revealed that he was particularly inspired by the weather of the state he was currently living in.

“It’s sunny most of the year. I’m going to a place where it could get extremely dark, especially in winter, and it really messed with my mood, so I think the book is about that,” he explained.

Mulalu further noted that his book catalogues the changes of a speaker’s feelings across the span of a year, although the poems were not written chronologically.

He said that the book discusses the experiences of being a black diasporic African in America, particularly during the summer of 2020 when the Black Lives Matter protests were taking place.

The inspiration for his poetry also stemmed from the context of the coronavirus pandemic, during which he found himself unable to return home due to the lockdown.

“At that time, I wrote a lot about a breakup I was going through. The process of writing also led me to explore themes of homesickness, reflecting on my family, and the kids I used to teach,” he added.

He explained that he had always been fond of reading since childhood and often spent a lot of time reading on his own. “In Standard Seven, my parents moved, and I found myself spending a lot of time at home after school, just reading. Poetry, specifically, became a passion because my older sister wrote it,” he explained.

He recalled that at the age of 13, he attempted to write his first poem after being inspired by his sister.

“It was around that time that I began to take poetry more seriously. I started researching who the best poets of all time were - those whose works I could read in English. That’s when I started delving into the works of poets like T.S. Eliot and Sylvia Plath. Additionally, my interest in poetry was also nurtured through my love for rap music and high school drama,” he explained.

He disclosed that he was also driven by local events, such as the annual Verbal Emancipation Show at Maru-a-Pula School, where he was a learner.

He recalled an event called Poet’s Passport, which took place at the end of every month where people would perform spoken word poetry.

“I would say my passion for poetry really deepened during my college years. I did my undergraduate studies at Harvard, and around my first and second year, I went through a period of deep depression. Writing poems became a way for me to feel like a real person even when I was struggling,” he explained.

He credits the poems with helping him to stay alive during that difficult time.

Mulalu is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Texas. He resides in the same city where he attends a writing centre known as the Michener Center for Writers. The programme he is enrolled is three years, during which he is focusing on poetry and screenwriting. Mulalu said he had already published a book prior to his application and acceptance into the writing school.

He aspires to pursue a PhD and then return home. His ultimate goal is to contribute significantly to the literary scene in Botswana. Ends