Some of the country’s top isiXhosa writers, actors and artists will be celebrating the tradition of Xhosa story-telling at the annual Puku Story Festival, which will be hosted for the third year in Grahamstown from Thursday, February 19 to Saturday, February 21.
Some of the country’s top isiXhosa writers, actors and artists will be celebrating the tradition of Xhosa story-telling at the annual Puku Story Festival, which will be hosted for the third year in Grahamstown from Thursday, February 19 to Saturday, February 21.
The festival is aimed at promoting education and literacy in isiXhosa through both the written word and the oral tradition. It was established in 2013 by the Puku Children’s Literature Foundation.
Puku aims to bridge both the literacy and the digital divide that confronts the vast majority of Southern African children by developing dynamic and innovative programmes and projects to improve the quality of children’s books, educational and recreational materials in all Southern African languages, says founder and director Elinor Sisulu. Built around the theme of environmental awareness, the 2015 Puku Story Festival consists of a number of book launches, workshops, readings and a theatre production. It is sponsored by Redisa (Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa).
“There is a need for more mother tongue environmental education. Children find it easier to understand the need to preserve and conserve our environment when they learn about it in their home language,” says Redisa chief executive officer Hermann Erdmann. “Story-telling is one of the best ways of teaching youngsters. We need to harness our indigenous storytelling traditions to promote literacy and knowledge of major concerns in modern society, such as the environment,” says Sisulu.
During the Puku festival storytellers, artists and poets will host story-telling and games sessions for school children from Grahamstown and surrounds. Other festival highlights will include readings from isiXhosa classic books such as Elundindin Lothukela by J.J.R. Jolobe; Ingqumbo Yeminyanya by AC Jordan; and Buzani Kubawo by WK Tamsanqa.
All generations will be represented. Exciting young writer Sonwabiso Ngcowa will talk about his work and grandmother Connie Ngcaba will talk about publishing her biography at the age of 80. Publishers and authors will be joining forces in a workshop aimed at encouraging and promoting the next generation of great isiXhosa writers.
Another workshop is aimed at creating synergies between organisations engaged in the promotion of reading and increasing access to books. Imbongi (traditional story-tellers and educators) will be discussing what role they should play in the 21st Century. “They will be asking themselves questions such as what their role is in the creation of educational content in the modern classroom, and what is their role in environmental literacy,” says Sisulu.
It will not be all hard work, she adds. Master story-teller Gcina Mhlope, musicologist, dramatist and poet Hleze Kunju and poet Cebo Solombela are among the celebrities who will be at the Puku Story Festival.
The festival will also host the first production of Uyabona Ke (See What I Mean), a project of the Makana Arts Academy in partnership with Creative Cities Grahamstown, EU, National Arts Festival Grahamstown, and Rhodes Drama Department. The satirical work is a fictionalised examination of Grahamstown’s water crisis and the resultant human dramas.
Click on the link below to download a copy of the Puku Festival programme for 2015 in isiXhosa and English: ~~http://www.grocotts.co.za/files/PukuProgramme2015.pdf
