aqumada

Tagel Seyfu is one of my favorite Ethiopian poets (along with Yoftahe Negussie and Kebede Michael). The first time Tagel's talent made an impression on me was when he was a regular on the radio's Sunday morning  program ("ye ehud program") in the 1980's.  Tagel was no more than a high school age then…Even then, his poems had this unique power to transcend age and sex. Not only younger kids such as myself were mesmerized by them but I remember adults admiring his unique talent.

Tagel's poems have gone through a major transformation since then. While his humor has become more subtle, the messages and technique of his writing have immensely matured. The way Tagel manages to assemble simple words to describe his ideas reminds me of  the famous poet Kebede Michael. What makes Tagel unique from most other Ethiopian writers is his ability to relate to a wider audience (be it poetry fans or others) through his humor and simplicity.

Tagel has recently started producing "poetry videos". This, in a sense, enables him to reach an even larger pool of fans who would not have read his poems otherwise. A piece entitled "Japanawi Hamer" is the only piece I actually had a chance to watch and I thought this piece was extremely creative and funny. Other than poetry, Tagel is also a very good writer of short stories. I have read a couple of these in the "efeta" (compilation of writings by famous writers) series of books and I thought they were fantastic.

There have not been many good writers coming out of lately. I hope the works of Tagel Seifu and other talented writers will encourage others to follow Tagel's path.