Author Bantu Lerotholi displaying some of the poems he has worked on
Mohalenyane Phakela
AUTHOR, Bantu Lerotholi, has called on local poets to produce poetry cards to make it easier for their work to be distributed.
In an interview with the Weekender this week, Lerotholi said poetry cards containing a single poem could enable bards to reach out to wider audiences and make money in the process, since they are cheaper than printing a book.
“When I was working on my first novel, From Highlands to Riches, the challenges that came with compiling a book became apparent. It led me to come up with this idea of cards,” he said.
“I also realised that when customers buy our anthologies, they may like just a few poems. With this idea of poetry cards, we will give them the freedom to choose the ones they like.”
Lerotholi said many local writers were unable to afford the cost of publishing a whole book.
“Lesotho has many creative poets who have enough material to publish a book but lack the means to do it. Poetry cards can be a solution to that problem since the writers won’t need to wait to compile,” he said.
“Since I became a writer in 2007, my goal has always been to uplift creative writing in the country. My pilot project was the Basotho Book Fair held last October. It was very successful as it provided many local writers with the platform to showcase their work. The second edition will take place in two months’ time in which I will shed more light on the printing of poems on cards.”
Lerotholi has so far published 20 poems, including We Walked, Goodbye and Born I Was.
