There Was More To Creative Writing

THE US Embassy was delighted to see the excellent article on American poet Camille Dungy [An Encounter with a Wordsmith, The Namibian 28 March 2013].

Dungy was brought to Namibia by the Embassy’s American Cultural Centre as part of our Women’s History Month programme. The article did a wonderful job of exploring Dungy’s imaginative engagement with language, art and social issues, but we would like to mention how her visit reached many Namibians from all walks of life.
Dungy gave presentations to faculty and students at Unam and the Polytechnic on African-American women poets, with a focus on how those poets had engaged the tradition of “nature writing.” She also conducted a poetry writing workshop with [Spoken Word] poets, followed up by a fabulous and moving public reading at the American Cultural Center on March 20.
The reading was all the more successful, because we were fortunate to have three [Spoken Word] poets read with Dungy: Playshis, Oshosheni Hiveluah, and Nunu Namises. Dungy also met a group of aspiring teenage writers and their parents to discuss education and creative writing, as well as giving a reading at the Greenwell Matongo Library in Katutura. Finally, she gave a three-hour seminar to university lecturers and teachers, some travelling from as far away as Rundu to attend, on “How to Teach Creative Writing, and Why.”
The US Embassy is grateful to everyone who helped bring to life this literary arts programme that focused on the tremendous accomplishments of women and stressed the importance of education for young people. We are especially pleased that Dungy agreed to work with the American Cultural Centre and to make herself available for this initiative.

Anthony Deaton, Public Affairs Officer
US Embassy, Namibia

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