With her bags packed for France and Togo, where she will represent Mozambique in the Poetry Slam World Cup and the African Poetry Championship, Mozambican poet Neide Sigaúque, winner of the 5th edition of the Moz Slam, gave us an interview to talk about her career and the process of preparing for the upcoming championships.
Mozavibe (M): Neide, first of all, tell us a little about how poetry appeared in your life and what it means to you today.
Neide Sigaúque (NS): Poetry appeared in my life 3 years ago, I mean, I started writing in mid-2020, but before that, I was already reading poetry books, writing gospel song lyrics and social intervention texts. My first poem was the result of a self-challenge that consisted of transforming one of my social intervention texts into poetry that ended up giving life to the poem entitled: Discrepancies. Today poetry is the bed where I find peace, where I can describe my pains and those of others, where I can cry and also try to be happy. An instrument that I use to carry out activism, to give a voice to the voiceless (as an author whose name I don't know would say), to denounce violence, to demotivate corruption, to shout against terrorism, to call for reflection and call for change.
M: What was the preparation process like for the 5th edition of Moz Slam?
NS: The preparation process was wonderful, sometimes painful and challenging. I started writing after being qualified for the semi-final, in the round in which I was selected I realized that my texts were good, but if I wanted to win I should reinvent myself and I took the TPC which from now on I assigned myself. I wrote new texts, memorized them, rehearsed with friends and this preparation process took me a few nights. I prayed a lot. In everything we propose to do, we must kneel down and ask God to be at the forefront of everything. God is faithful and was with me from the moment of preparation, in the semi-final and in the grand final.
M: You managed to win over a jury, beating several other competitors. What was the secret?
NS: The secret is preparation, self-confidence, well-crafted content and charisma. I am a very anxious and nervous person, but curiously, on the day of the semi-final and grand final I was very calm, I believe it was really because of the preparation that I had already started a long time ago, the awareness that I had control of the texts, confidence in my abilities and in God's faithfulness. My texts were about social intervention and portrayed everyday situations, I think this made them feel identified with the texts.
M: Now, you have the responsibility of representing the country in the poetry world cup that will take place in France and in the African poetry championship that will take place in Togo…
NS: To the championships I will take our culture, our experiences, our pain, our joy, our identity and some global reflections, all of which are described in the poems and in the performance. I don't know if we will be able to win, but I am sure that I will represent Mozambique in the best way possible, I am dedicating myself to this, the world will know what we are capable of, our competence and potential, in such a way that it will never forget the weight of a Mozambican's pen.
M: What work are you doing to represent our country at the highest level?
NS: I'm still in the process of resting after the big battle in the semifinals, I need to rest to produce better in the next few days. But the expectation is to reinvent myself taking into account that it is a World Cup.
M: What is your main dream as a poet?
NS: My dream as a poet is to launch a book, and thank God Gala-Gala decided to help launch it. I dream of the book being published and translated into several languages so that it can be read in various parts of the world.
By Cláudia Sainda
