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Thursday, 08 September 2011 02:00

Bulawayo Correspondent SOUTH African poet Ntsiki "Street Queen" Mazwai is set to headline the poetry section of Intwasa Arts Festival in Bulawayo performing in a show titled Gathering of Poets. She will be the main act in the show that will also feature local artistes such as celebrated poet Albert Nyathi, Mgcini Nyoni, Mbizo "Black Poet" Chirasha, Nomakhosazana Ncube and Psyfo among others. The performance will be held on September 22 during the festival that will kick off on September 19 and end on the 25th. Ntsiki, young sister to prolific songstress Thandiswa Mazwai, is a multi-talented artiste, who is also a designer. She is an internationally acclaimed poet and has produced several albums to her name. Intwasa director Raisedon Baya confirmed the presence of Ntsiki at the festival and said they were excited about hosting her. "We introduced poetry last year as part of the Spoken Word section, but this year we feel it has to stand own its own and we are giving it prominence by bringing a big name like Ntsiki to the festival. "Poetry lovers will certainly be in for a treat as we also have top local poets such as Albert Nyathi and Mbizo Chirasha among others that will grace the festival," he said. Although she has been eclipsed by the success of her bigger sister Thandiswa, Ntsiki has managed to make a name for herself. Besides being a poet, she is a designer and recently relaunched her range, The House of Mobu, which officially first came on the scene in 2002. She is currently collaborating with house music disc jockey Nipro, in a project called The Word of House. According to the website, rage.co.za: "This DJ and poet duo is gaining fast popularity, in a concept where they fuse Ntsiki's soulful poetry with DJ Nipro's skilful dance mixes. "This unlikely combination can best be described as ghetto soulful and is bringing literature to the dance floor." The Street Queen, as Mazwai is known, has also courted controversy with her carefree attitude after appearing naked in a campaign against rape in 2008. She appeared naked, alongside 22 other South African celebrities, in the Marie Claire March 2008 edition in the "Each One Reach One" campaign, to raise awareness about the high incidence of rape. Intwasa will be running for its seventh year and the organisers have decided to make it seven days instead of the usual five days. The festival is this year themed "Art without Boundaries".'