24-YEAR-OLD Roger Manzi is a young multi-talented poet who has found solace in doing both Kinyarwanda and English poems. Manzi who recently graduated in Translation and Interpretation at the University of Rwanda, says that he started writing short poems in 2007 when he was 10, performing casually in his neighborhood and at weddings. ‘‘Poetry is a lot to me, I use it to record moments, to explore the beauty of my surroundings, and to tell stories. I personally also consider poetry raw and can be used in plays, scripts, songs and all other works that can provide more money than mere poetry,’’ he highlighted. Talking about his specialty, he says that he focuses on showing the beauty of the world and Rwandan history which he says needs to be told as it preserves many histories to be told to Rwandans and the whole world. ‘‘In my poems, I like to explore the beauty of the world and depicting the bright side of the world instead of the gloomy one,’’ he says. Manzi who writes mostly historical fiction in form of plays said that in 2014 . ‘‘My first poem was in Kinyarwanda, I dubbed it ‘Akari Ku Mutima’ and as you can tell by the name, the speaker was describing the beauty of a girl and expressing his love for her. It was written in one of Rwandan poetry metered rhythm,’’ he says. When it comes to writing, Manzi doesnt limit himself. He is also a songwriter and a singer who does RnB and Afrobeat style. He revealed how he fell in love with music. ‘‘When we were young, many kids in our neighborhood had some hip hop lines, and I used to share mine too. Some of my friends appreciated my lines and that encouraged me to keep on writing, it was around 2007,’’ he said. The poet added that he has only one song out, but he is working on other projects in the studio which he hopes to release in few months. The poet also writes books. He launched “Akagezi ka Rushoga in August 2020 which was published digitally by ImagineWe publishers. He said the book was in a form of a play written in poetry . Asked about the challenges he has encountered so far in his career, the poet said that there is a shortage of platforms that they can use to promote their poems but currently his poems can be found at Writers Space Africa (WSA) a platform that fosters Rwandan writers and artists who are determined to enhance their skills, network and collaborate with them. Currently, the poet has corrected over 20 poems including Commemoration of the Genocide against Tusti in 1994’ which was used in 2020 on Rwandas national television, Umusizi’, and lockdown which is his latest English poem in which he said he expressed the challenges caused by the pandemic.
