  Poetry
This week: Kwansabas Edited by: eyestar~*  
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 Hail readers! I am happy to be back as an editor!
As I was touring Equatorial Guinea in our "Invalid Item" I was inspired by Azrael Tseng who wrote "Invalid Entry" , a poem in the Kwansaba form! So I had to check it out and share. 
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 The Kwansaba is an African American poetic form of praise created in 1995 by the amazing Eugene B.Redmond. It was developed to honour the celebration of Kwanzaa, a 7 day celebration of African American family,culture and heritage. Kwanzaa began in 1966 in the midst of the civil rights movement.
Redmond, born in 1937, was the 1976 Poet Laureate of East St. Louis, and professor of English Literature at Illinois University, and in 1999 was inducted into the National Hall of Fame as a writer of African descent.
Active in the literary world and activist for his culture since his young years, and even at 80, he is author/editor of 25 works of poetry and other collections. One famous one is Drumvoices, the Mission of Afro-American poetry. This work was influenced by the civil rights movement of the 60's and he became well versed in the various African cultures in order to teach "blackness" so he would be a good teacher and design classes and writings. He became an influencial author and speaker.
 The form adopts the number seven form the 7 principles of Kwanzaa and the roots of South Africans. The principles honoured are:
unity,
self-determination,
collective work and responsibility,
co-operative economics,
purpose,
creativity and
faith.
Each of the 7 days of Kwanzaa stand for one of these.
He came up with the bright idea at a pre Kwanzaa writing night as a way to express each principle in a short but formal way. Each student would write about a select principle according to this format.
 In swahili the word Kwan means "first fruit" and Eugene came up with the idea of adding "saba" to the name, which means "principle" . The notion of "first principle" gives the form a purpose of praising, or celebrating something one is willing to llive by. The vibe of the poem is to uplift thoughts, ideas, places, people and can have commemorative function. (as for a birthday, celebration, anniversary, an occasion).
 The kwansaba is a praise poem about family, culture, celebration
and consists of 7 lines
measured in 7 words per line
with no words being more than 7 letters. (except for Proper nouns)
You can read a selection of Redmond's Kwansaba here:
http://ishmaelreedpub.com/kwansabas-by-eugene-b.-redmond
Three Kwansabas recited by him in 2007:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJU47MTpmVo
Sources:
http://eugenebredmond.com/home/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd_rYvbJw3g
http://popularpoetryforms.blogspot.ca/2013/02/kwansaba.html
http://www.riehlife.com/2008/06/18/kwansaba-birth-of-a-poetry-form/
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Enjoy my picks for the week:
"Invalid Entry"
"What I Know ~ Kwansaba"
|  | Whose Truth? (E)
fibbonaci poetry 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 8,5,3,2,1,1,
#2129284 by Fyn-dragon  |
Contests:
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#2055579 by Not Available. |
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
Thanks my friends for your responses to "Poetry Newsletter (September 20, 2017)" .
From textual
"Excellent newsletter, the haiku story is awesome."
from Citizen Journalist: 8/25/25 
This is awesome! I was just getting reacquainted with haiku when this Newsletter came along. Thanks for all the useful resources."
You might also like "Poetry Newsletter (January 11, 2017)" ! 
from Tinker 
"birth and death
of a moment
haiku"
~ ~ jvg
"Cool! "
from papadoc1
"HEY eyestar!! Great newsy Newsletter! I always loved Asian-influenced writing, and recently am studying in depth poetry of the Ci Form from the Song and Tang Dynasties!! That said, overall, there is a lot of great reference material here that anyone could find mighty handy, and I thank you for that too!
Keep on keepin' on, eyestar!! 
Dr J"
I will have to look into that as I am not familiar with it.
And a lovely Fib poem from Fyn-dragon in response to "Poetry Newsletter (July 26, 2017)" !
Loved the newsy and it was fun trying a new form and, typically, I do not write forms!"
| | Whose Truth? (E)
fibbonaci poetry 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 8,5,3,2,1,1,
#2129284 by Fyn-dragon |
Thanks fyn! Fun is the name of the game. 
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Poetry: October 18, 2017 Issue [#8551]
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