Arts

Tep Ra

Poetry, storytelling and spoken word: CCAF’s programme for educating through artistry.

Not yet available in isiXhosa. Showing the English original.

To express · to utter

Educating through artistry

Tep Ra is the foundation’s arts programme for poetry, storytelling and spoken word. Its name comes from an ancient Egyptian expression that CCAF renders as “to express” or “to utter”.

Each month Tep Ra set a theme, such as “Freedom of the Mind”, and invited original pieces. Accepted entries were published for a public vote, judges with experience in the literary arts confirmed the winner, and the winner received a cash prize. Tep Ra also held open-mic evenings for live performance.

Tep Ra competitions ran monthly in 2022 and 2023; no new edition has been announced since October 2023. When a new season opens, the call for entries and the voting will be announced here.

Read the published entriesAsk about the next season

Literature, languages and the arts in the library →

How the competition worked

  1. Write an original piece on the month’s theme. Plagiarism is not accepted.
  2. Send it by the 13th of the month, with the verses spaced as you want them read. One entry per person per month.
  3. Accepted entries are published together, usually on the 15th, and the voting opens.
  4. The entry with the most votes wins, once the judges have confirmed the result.
  5. The prize is sent to the winner by bank transfer.

Anyone may take part; there are no restrictions on who can enter.