By Benevolence Mazhinji
Zongezile Matshoba, manager of education and public programmes at the Amazwi SA Museum of Literature, has claimed a top national honour by winning the isiXhosa category of the Avbob Poetry Project Competition.
The competition, which initially had four categories — Birth, Death, Love and Hope — added a fifth category — New Beginnings — in 2024. “I have made submissions in all the categories since 2017,” said Matshoba.
Central to Matshoba’s poetic output is his unwavering celebration of his mother tongue. He said that of the 34 poems that he has proudly and gladly contributed to the competition, 26 are in isiXhosa. For him, indigenous languages are living vessels of thought, emotion, and ancestral connection. He explained that we think, dream, and even express anger most truthfully in our mother tongue and, when our ancestors visit us, they speak to us in our African languages. This award is therefore a reward for his commitment to preserving indigenous languages and to keep making space for them in the national archives of literature.
Authors must die empty
Matshoba described his writing process as a form of self-emptying and a necessary surrender to the flow of words. “As authors, we have to die empty, and the most interesting thing about writing is that when you write, you don’t think; it comes, and it flows until you are empty,” he said. Matshoba is an attentive and vigilant writer, and part of this means that he always has a pen and a piece of paper in his pocket. “I write anytime, everywhere, be it at a supermarket whilst queuing to pay, in a funeral during speeches and preaching or even in a taxi around the township.” He explained that setting aside specific times to write does not work for him. Instead, his inspiration arises spontaneously from everyday moments and encounters.
He admits that winning is always exciting, but Matshoba sees this achievement as an encouragement to keep writing and a reminder that “the pen must never dry or die”. This victory is an affirmation that, as writers, “we must continue to be the eyes, the ears, and the mouthpiece of our communities and society”.
