The Lantern Meet of Poets, a literary society based in Kampala, has released its second poetry anthology titled What Shall We Name This Child? The anthology attempts to address matters like lack of a national identity, poor parenting and the moral decay in the country.  

The collection, which contains 30 poems by 15 contributors, was released at the 11th Lantern Meet of Poets poetry performance held at the National Theatre in Kampala from January 23 – 24. 

The production had 30 poems presented in three movements. Each movement had a protagonist and an antagonist.

The first movement was led by “The Cynic,” the second by “The Doubter” and the third by “The Dancer.”  

According to the president of the Lantern Meet of Poets, Peter Kagayi, the show’s theme centred around the question of identity.

“It took us two years to conceptualise it. We went through our poetry archives and realised that most poets had written about their society in relation to themselves,” said Kagayi. “We centred on the idea of identity being tied to a person’s name,” he added.  

Kagayi said the naming of a child is a special occasion that has to do with the legacy of a family. “Thus What Shall We Name This Child? is a challenge to the family of the child to name carefully. The child in the anthology refers to our motherland and its rebirth. It is a statement that we are not bound by the past, that we can determine our destiny. ‘The Dreamer’ presents poetry about renewed hope, a celebration, and belief that we can secure a safe place for ‘our child’,” Kagayi said. 

“The stage is for us a rite of passage. It is an opportunity for us, as individuals, and as a group, to give back to society with that which matters most to us — our voice,” said the show’s executive producer, Wobusobozi Amooti Kangere.

The production’s guest artist was Kacey Moore, a Ghanaian poet and award-winning songwriter based in South Africa. The MC was Ugandan stand-up comedian Daniel Omara.  

The contributors to this anthology mostly employ free-verse, metaphor and symbolism in their poetry.  

Formed in 2007, the Lantern Meet of Poets is a platform for poetry lovers to meet and share experiences by writing, performing and reciting poetry. They published their first anthology, Broken Voices of the Revolution, in 2012.