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POET Samm Farai Monro, aka Comrade Fatso (pictured), last week reached the semi-finals of the Poetry Slam World Cup in Paris.
The cup features poets from all over the world. Initially, Monro seemed doomed, as he was placed in what the critics dubbed the "group of death". Many critics thought he did not stand a chance against Danny Sherrard, (US) IzreaL (Canada) and Dominik (Poland). The contest involved each of the poets perfoming three poems in a packed auditorium, leaving it to the judges to decide the best. Said Monro from Paris: "I performed my poems Identity, Ndeipi Gen’a, and my final poem House of Hunger which I announced to the crowd was dedicated to the memory of Zimbabwe’s brave warrior and a good comrade of mine, the late Tonderai Ndira." Ndira was an MDC activist whose body was recently found dumped in Goromonzi in what is believed to be a politically motivated killing. The poem Identity speaks of Monro’s identity issues as a white dreadlocked Zimbabwean activist while Ndeipi Gen’a is a satirical poem about what he calls "bottle store revolutionaries". According to the official website of the Poetry Slam World Cup, he won every single round, to proceed into the semi-finals. The World Cup, running for the second time, is the world’s largest and most prestigious live poetry competition. It is a week-long competition from 27-31 May. Fatso is currently riding high on the success of House Of Hunger, banned on state airwaves in Zimbabwe but receiving airplay on Kaya FM and SAFM (South Africa), France Inter (France) and BBC World Service, according to his CNN blog. His album has now received airplay in over 50 countries and he has signed a contract with a French record label, Xtrib, to be finalised in Paris. From Paris, Monro will go to the UK for performances and promotion of his album before he sets off for the Poetry International Festival in the Netherlands. As the world’s biggest poetry festival, Poetry International Holland showcases dozens of poets from all over the world. Fatso will be performing his popular poetry-bass duet with Zimbabwe’s bassist, Josh Meck, from 9-10 June. Monro will return for the Make Some Noise! tour concert to raise awareness and regional solidarity for Zimbabwe. The tour will start on 21 June, a week before the presidential election run-off. He will take his backing group Chabvondoka, with him. The tour, organised by the cultural activist network, Magamba, will mobilize South African students and Zimbabwean asylum seekers to put pressure on the SA government to have Zanu PF hold free and fair elections and to release the results on time. By John Mokwetsi
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