A Seed

Who can express their own feelings about love, death, hope, despair, all the big questions? Can a man imagine the deepest feelings of a woman? A young person those of an old person? These new poets from Mozambique are trying to do this, in a language which is not their mother tongue.
The official language of Mozambique is Portuguese, but many people have Xitswa, Changana, Gitonga, Cicopi, or another language as their first language at home. Maybe one day the rich oral literature of these languages will be written down, but to be heard on the world stage new African writers are more-or-less compelled to use English.
Here nine poets are discovering their own voice and their own style, with striking originality. They have chosen the title "A Seed," in the hope that it may one day grow into a flower, a tree, or even a whole forest!