Today we're exploring a form of poetry called a kwansaba with Glenis Redmond, Greenville, South Carolina's Poet Laureate.
Her poetry book, The Song of Everything, employs free verse, a sonnet, and kwansabas. In the back of the book, Glenis includes a special note about this particular form of poetry:
Kwansaba is a form created in 1995 in East St. Louis by Eugene B. Redmond (no relation). The kwansaba aligns with the Kwanzaa celebration’s Seven Principles.
A kwansaba is tribute poetry. It is comprised of seven lines, each with no more than seven words and letters. The kwansaba totals 49 words, symbolizing the Kwanzaa principles. The choice of the kwansaba form for this project serves as a tribute, providing an ideal lens through which to view South Carolina, particularly given the weighted history of our state.
It serves as a wonderful poetic form of revelation and celebration.
If this is a new concept for you, here's a helpful recap.
A kwansaba poem has:
· seven lines
· each line contains seven words
· each word is no longer than seven letters
· it’s a praise poem, and
· in total, each kwansaba contains 49 words
To learn more about other forms of poetry, be sure to check out Take Note, a special nature journal from Glenis that's full of writing prompts inspired by her State Parks Poetry series. You can purchase the journal separately or as part of a box set.
While Good Printed Things has never published a journal before, when you create books collaboratively with a teaching poet, beautiful projects like this one are born!
© Good Printed Things 2024