In The Words of Yemurai Chaza, Poet
'Storytelling, poetry, music and art are part of my culture, heritage and identity'
The words of a poet can build a world of dreams encapsulated in the imagination that detonates as pen hits paper. Stories of hopeless love, the power of a touch, sensuality of skin on skin envelops the reader between the sentences of a careful hand. The same hand, however, can also tear you apart ripping down wall after wall until a helpless heart lies still on a page hanging somewhere above a page number. The true art of a poet is the power in which they can convey this emotion. Can they make you feel the utter pain of a soul in love or lost? From the haunting words of the late Maya Angelou ‘Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise, That I dance like I’ve got diamonds, At the meeting of my thighs?’ To the fresh face of Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey “I am a museum full of art but you had your eyes shut”, the landscape for poets is ever changing and evolving making room for new words to form. New words in the shape of Yemurai Chaza.
Yemurai Chaza, emmerging young poet
'Creativity, writing, music and
the
‘arts’
were greatly
appreciated and strongly
​
encouraged
from an early
age. I guess
it’s a natural
form
of
expression.’
A scientist, a singer, a poet. Yemurai Chaza, currently living in Edinburgh, is a powerhouse of intelligence and expression. The young woman is currently breaking her way into the poetry scene in Scotland creative capital. After spending a considerable amount of her youth in Zimbabwe the Shona lady has grown from her African heritage. ‘I’m Shona, born and raised. Storytelling, poetry, music and art are part of my culture, heritage and identity.’ Yemurai was born into creative energy being brought up to harness that power from a young age. ‘My mother is an artist and teacher. Creativity, writing, music and the ‘arts’ were greatly appreciated and strongly encouraged from an early age. I guess it’s a natural form of expression.’.
​
Inspired by ‘almost everything in life’, Yemurai enters the world of poetry as it is seeing a gradual resurgence. Poetry sales in the UK nearly doubled from 2012 to 2018 as the rise of the ‘instapoet’ occurred. The so-called instapoet suddenly made accessible what, perhaps, was not before. Poetry was now available, well, everywhere. You could sit on the sofa, on the train, in a bar or walking the dog and consume the words once dedicated to the binding of a book. The art form is no longer restricted by geography, instead being lifted onto a new social sharing landscape. For Yemurai, ‘The digital space or climate that we are in is very exciting’, as she says that, ‘It’s always great to see people sharing their art on different platforms and controlling their narrative.’. The young poet, however, is yet to define herself in the field wishing to grow naturally in the virtual and actual world. ‘In context to myself, I do not have a fixed definition. I am exploring everything right now. This is something that is constantly evolving and will mature on its own, online and offline.'
Yemurai, says that the process of writing a poem, for her, is fluid and without restrictions preferring to let the words find her after spilling them out onto a page. She believes that editing should only come after every thought has been produced and all emotions are processed. ‘Everyone has a different process. I usually write freely without removing errors and let my brain output all the words and emotions. Leave the words alone. Then EDIT until words fully come together. I let the words, poems, stories find me and unravel accordingly.’ The organic process adopted by Yemurai has helped her produce complex and thoughtful work through key considerations. The poem ‘It’s more…”she”’ by the poet shows a real, natural understanding of ‘She’ as Yemurai develops the power behind the character as she explores who ‘she’ is and what she can and will stand for. ‘This is a dedication to ‘She. Her - the evolving woman overcoming the internal and external struggles and becoming all that SHE is’
A natural performer, Yemurai’s favourite part of her poetry is when she gets to share it with her audience but also watching others share their work, ‘I love hearing and watching people perform and express themselves. Open mics and festivals are always fun. Highlights from recent years, 2018 and 2019, include being a Scottish Book Trust Emerging Programmer, 2019, being a panellist, hosting, doing a ‘Response from the Lassies’ at a Burns Supper and working, teaching, young people and children.’ For Yemurai, ‘These have been positive moments’, but the bigger picture is so much more than the personal joy she has from performing, ‘The main thing for me is doing and saying things that have a positive impact on the people that I encounter and the communities that I hold dear to my heart.’. As Yemurai continues to write, she further reveals herself to her audience with her strong sense of culture, heritage and feminism, ‘My intention to continue to share layers of who I am – my culture, my identity, my people and experiences through my art.’
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'I let the
words,
poems,
stories
find me
and unravel
accordingly.’
Yemurai's Top Tips
​
Do it!
Trust yourself.
Express yourself.
Be open to learning more about EVERYTHING (including different techniques etc).
WRITE! And Keep WRITING! And when you are ready SHARE!