It is always a delight for us to have our poetry-infused days interspersed with tidings of feedback from enthused poets. One such message from Sandhya Mathura reads:
“I can’t thank you enough for the start you blessed me with by including my poems on the Badilisha site. Because of my feature on Badilisha Poetry I have been included in other African diasporic poetry foundations – one in Ghana and two in Kwa-Zulu Natal (South Africa)”
Sandhya was born on the North Coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal in 1987. She has a B.A. (Hons) degree in English Language and Literature Studies from the University of Cape Town. We uploaded her profile in February 2013, so the fact that she has managed to secure so many opportunities in such a short period of time is an incredible feat.
Batsirai Chigama [left] from Zimbabwe wrote:
“Today installations of two of my poems, Changamire & Poems in an Envelope are hanging at an exhibition in the town of St Andrews, Scotland, at the StAnza Poetry Festival. I feel honoured; many thanks to Sheila Templeton who inspired me to write ‘Changamire‘ and to Badilisha Poetry X-Change for the facilitation”.
Batsirai is a poet who has performed at several festivals, including Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA); Intwasa Arts Festival; Thubalethu; Nguva Yedu Youth Festival; Arts Alive (SA); Sadc Poetry Festival (Botswana); and Poetry Africa Tour. This lovely lady is also a hard-working Badilisha Scout.