Local poet Stevenson debuts ‘Ancestors and Other Visitors’

There is little about life that you won’t find in ‘Ancestors and Other Visitors’. Don Stevenson’s debut poetry anthology, recently launched at the Warehouse Theatre’s The Loft in a sparkle of spoken wordsmiths, musicians and muses.

Running 74 poems strong and mining the length and breadth of love, life, faith, poetic work, “death and other illusions”, the anthology, published by University of Namibia Press, is lyrical in its concern with the metaphysical and the epiphanies behind seemingly mundane scenes all witnessed and organised into taut haiku, capacious free verse or loquacious lines describing death as but “a door between us, a flimsy thing of wood and air”.

Enlightening, often consoling and beautifully written, ‘Ancestors and Other Visitors” title speaks of various local muses. The regal Ovahimba as seen in the documentary ‘The Himbas are Shooting’, the true story of Ovaherero survivor Joree Tjiharuka and even the spirits, ancestors and shades informing First Rain Dance Theatre’s ‘The Journey’.

“I am somewhat in thrall to the ideas of Carl Gustav Jung, specifically to what he has written about the ‘collective unconscious’,” says Stevenson. “There is so much more to us than our day-to-day lives, to our beliefs and aspirations. I believe mankind is a single amazing whole. I ask the question, how long can we afford to ignore our heritage and traditions, or belittle them as superstitious?”

Artfully navigating the polarity of being at once a young and old soul, Stevenson publishes his first collection of poetry at the age of 71 after being inspired by a Spoken Word Namibia workshop in June of 2012.

A Spoken Word regular best known for his esoteric offerings performed solemnly on the monthly stage, Stevenson, who was born in New York and taught at Unam for 19 years, presents this new chapter at a time when many believe their legacy is behind them.

“He not busy being born, is busy dying,” says Stevenson quoting Bob Dylan. “Creativity is life, the image of God in each of us. As long as a mind is active, its purpose should be to celebrate life and praise God for the gift of life.”

Having recently appeared in a television advert, made his stage debut in Tanya Terblanche’s adaptation of ‘District 6’ and his feature film inauguration in Andre Costa’s ‘The Unlikely Encounter’ (2017), Stevenson, who is of the Bahá’í faith, publishes ‘Ancestors and Other Visitors’ in awe of what is possible at any stage of life.

“I am exceedingly grateful for everything God and life has bestowed on me. I think anything is possible if you believe it!” he says, adding that he is ecstatic and his niece is already urging him to publish a second book, perhaps about the “science of Doodleometry”.

Stevenson’s highly detailed doodles are interspersed between the poems. Mosaic, metaphorical pieces as challenging as the poet’s written word.

Featuring eight of his own, one collaborative piece and one painting by Tuli Mekondjo – an artist the poet says he has been waiting 37 years to appear – the book offers a series of vital visual surprises selected for their diversity and “spontaneity of purpose”.

A consummate and stimulating debut that demands the reader’s time, humanity and exploration of self, ‘Ancestors and Other Visitors’ is Stevenson’s invitation to intimacy inspired by e.e.cummings, WB Yeats, Robert Hayden and love.

“Writing poetry is a celebration in itself,” says Stevenson who is appreciative of poetry’s condensed form and the rewards of its spontaneity.

“I love the English language, and poetry seems to challenge its use more than any other form of writing I have put my hand to. It demands that I immerse myself in the awareness that love is the source of all existence. I know that sounds crazy, but I can’t put it any other way. Every poem I write comes from love. I can’t imagine writing poetry from any other point of reference.”

Offering exposition as well as desperate, imagined and curious conversations, ‘Ancestors and Other Visitors’ is a welcome and unprecedented addition to the Namibian poetry landscape asking the simple yet no less colossal questions of who we are, where we come from and where we’re going.

‘Ancestors and Other Visitors’ (2018) is distributed by Namibia Book Market. For more information, visit namibia.books.com.

– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com

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