Oldrin Masowa
In a race all the runners run, but only the best ones end up on the podium. This is exactly where North-West University (NWU) student and young poet, Lesego Motlhankane, found himself recently. Last year he was crowned the winner of the third AVBOB Poetry competition. Fast forward to 2022, and Lesego finds himself in the winners’ circle yet again.
This time his volume of poems, Pitsana Ya Poko, secured him a second place at the recent PanSALB Multilingualism Awards ceremony held in Sandton, where he received a Certificate of Achievement and prize money to the value of R10 000.
Lesego, a fourth-year BEd student on the NWU’s Potchefstroom Campus, was born and raised in the small village Ganalaagte in North West. He is counted among the youngest poets to have written a Setswana poetry book.
His love for poetry writing started years ago while he was in Grade 11 and working for the creative writing organisation, Penebotshelo Foundation. Since then he has gone from strength to strength, eventually partnering with well-known writer and award winning author Kabelo Duncan Kgatea to publish his first poetry book.
Lesego says when he writes poetry, he pictures the scenes as they develop and experiences the highs and lows emotionally. “Instead of portraying large, overarching storylines, I portray the detail coming from specific instances.”
Lesego says he is inspired by the works of numerous excellent writers. “However, life itself is my greatest source of literary inspiration. I enjoy doing research about culture and daily life activities to craft a creative interpretation of each authentic instance,” he adds.
Lesego is grateful to his various mentors – Dr Dolly Dlavane, Kaka Mokakale and Karabo Mangwekea from the NWU, Kebafilwe Molobye, a principal language practitioner at the Department of Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation, as well as Kabelo Kgatea and other members from the Penebotshelo Writers Foundation.
Anyone who is interested to read Lesego’s book Pitsana Ya Poko can find it at Van Schaiks’ or can send an email to Lesegomotlhankane12@gmail.com.
