Diwani Ya Tuzo Ya Ushairi Ya Ebrahim Hussein

Diwani hii ni ya Tatu katika mfululizo wa Diwani za Tuzo ya Ushairi ya Ebrahim Hussein. Tuzo hiyo ilianzishwa mwaka 2014 na familia ya Hayati Gerald Belkin kutoka Kanada ili kumuenzi mwandishi mashuhuri wa Kiswahili, Prof. Ebrahim Hussein, na kukuza utunzi wa mashairi ya Kiswahili. Diwani ya kwanza ilichapishwa mwaka 2016; Diwani ya Pili ilichapishwa mwaka 2017. Diwani hii na ya Tatu katika mfululizo huo; imekusanya mashairi yali- yoteuliwa kutokana na tungo zilizowasilishwa kati ya mwaka 2014 na 2020.

Katika Diwani hii kuna mashairi mchanganyiko – ya kijadi, ya mtiririko, ya Bongofleva, n.k. Watunzi nao ni mchanganyiko – vijana, watu wa makamo, wanawake, wanaume na hata wazee; wafanyakazi za kuajiriwa, wakulima, watu wenye kujiajiri wenyewe, wasomi na hata wafanyabiashara. Kwa hakika mashairi haya yanawakilisha na kuwasilisha mawazo, maoni, mitazamo, matamanio na mawanio ya makundi haya ya Watanzania, wengi wao wakiwa ni vijana. Aidha, yamesheheni mitindo na mbinu anuai za utunzi.

Diwani hii inafaa kusomwa na kila mtu mwenye hamu na nia ya kufuatilia maendeleo ya sanaa ya ushairi nchini Tanzania katika kipindi hiki. Inafaa pia kusomwa katika shule na vyuo kote Afrika Mashariki, maana sanaa yake haichushi na mawazo yake yanafikirisha.

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This is the third volume in the Ebrahim Hussein Poetry Prize series. The Prize was established in 2014 by the family of the Canadian film maker, Gerald Belkin, in honour of the renowned Tanzanian writer, Professor Ebrahim Hussein; it aimed at promoting Kiswahili poetry and poets. This volume contains selected poems, including winning poems, from the six competitions that were conducted under the Prize. The poems represent the major prosodic forms and trends in Kiswahili poetry, and express the genuine thoughts, fears and aspirations of the Tanzanian and African ordinary people at this point in time. The poems were written in Kiswahili, but have been translated into English to make them accessible to a wider international audience.