Zimbabwean poet, Takudzwa Chikepe, uses Bible and African language to inspire poetry

Chapel Hill is getting a taste of Zimbabwe on Friday at The Oasis in Car Mill Mall. This coffee shop by day, entertainment venue for cultural events by night is hosting the poetry exhibition “Shona Poetry From Zimbabwe,” an event celebrating African poetry art, music and culture. 

Staff writer Macy Meyer talked to VaChikepe: The Poet, real name Takudzwa Chikepe, a popular poet and publisher from Zimbabwe about his involvement with the event and his relationship with poetry. 

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The Daily Tar Heel: How long have you been writing poetry?

Takudzwa Chikepe: So, I started writing poetry at the age of 19. And I was in Zimbabwe at a boarding school, that was like the last year before going to university. So, from that time, that was 2006, I started writing poetry until today, 2018. So my life has been writing poetry.  I’ve been writing poetry for a long time.

DTH: How did you begin your career in poetry?

TC:  At age 19, I could not read Shona, but I could read English, so because of that I said to myself 'I am going to teach myself how to read Shona.' So I started waking up early in the mornings, at like 4 a.m. and would go to the classrooms to read Shona aloud, and I think I read all of the Shona books until there was not a single Shona book to read. But then there was not anything interesting to read, so I then said to myself since I don’t have anything else to read in this boarding school, why can’t I start to write things that I can enjoy reading? So I started writing 

DTH: What inspires your poetry?

TC:  Over the years, I have written total, up to date, maybe more than 500 Shona poems.  I’m inspired by Shona culture. I’m inspired by Shona traditions. I’m inspired by Shona people because that is where I come from, that is what I know. What sets me aside from other poets, I am thinking in Shona but writing in English. The way that I write poetry, it’s so deep sometimes; it’s really spiritual, so the moment that I read the Bible, I get so saturated with amazing information, and it establishes my spirituality, so it gives me so many ideas. The third thing that inspires me is an instrument called mbira, it’s played in Zimbabwe. Sometimes, I use that instrument to relax from poetry.

DTH: What advice can you give to other poets, or what advice do you give to other poets in Zimbabwe?

TC: I grew up in a very peaceful environment, and there’s a peace of mind. So that is what I also encourage other artists to do when I work with other artists from Zimbabwe. One way of reaching yourself is to try to create a peaceful environment and spiritual communication with your gifts.

DTH: What is VaChikepe?

TC:  In Zimbabwe, I created the WhatsApp group that has got 150 people plus, and that is called VaChikepe. Why I created this WhatsApp group? I realized that one of my concepts is that if you can read, you can write.  What I did, I looked for people who really love my works, and then I put them in this group. Then I also looked for people, other artists in Zimbabwe that I admire their works, and I put them in this group. So now what I’m doing in this group, nearly everyone is becoming an artist in this group, and I am teaching them to write poetry. We have published our first book called “Don’t Give Up Africa,” and there’s about 10 artists that contributed to it.

DTH: What does poetry mean to you?

TC: There’s something about poetry. In my life, in a way, it has created things. It has created opportunities for me to meet different people and even job opportunities. I’m in love with poetry.

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