AVBOB celebrates Family Day with poetic tribute to creative legacy
This Family Day, AVBOB invites poets to reflect on their own family stories and share poems offering personal advice.
AS South Africans prepare to celebrate Family Day on April 21, the AVBOB Poetry Project shines a spotlight on the intimate connection between creativity and kinship with a heartwarming story inspired by the life and work of poet and copywriter Beatrice Willoughby.
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In a world where poets are often misunderstood until long after their passing, Willoughby’s story is a refreshing counter-narrative — one of deep familial support, creative mentorship, and emotional honesty. Her debut poetry collection, So, published by Karavan Press in 2023, is dedicated to her parents: the late writer and performer Guy Willoughby, and acclaimed poet, novelist and teacher, Finuala Dowling.
“My mother has been my most significant teacher and creative influence,” says Willoughby. “Between homemade lasagnas, drying my tears, and rewriting my essays, I’ve witnessed her excel at her craft with unwavering dedication.”
This legacy of loving mentorship is echoed in her poem ‘I Will Be Your Mother’, which tenderly promises to carry forward that tradition of care, creativity, and support:
When I am your mother,
I promise to be my mother,
and cut up apples
and read you stories
and write your essays
The AVBOB Poetry Project celebrates voices like Willoughby’s — vulnerable, conversational, and relatable. Poems such as ‘Feeling is Power’ underline her belief that emotional honesty is not only brave but essential:
Better hurt than hardened.
Better agonised than apathetic.
Better seething than shrugging.
Better overwhelmed than over it.
As she reflects on her earlier work, Willoughby shares, “Poets are always out of sync, discussing past poems while greeting new ones at the door. But I’m proud of the bravery and brevity in So.”
This Family Day, AVBOB invites South Africans to reflect on their own family stories — the mentors who guided them, the losses that shaped them, and the words they’d pass on. In the spirit of this celebration, AVBOB encourages everyone to write a four-line poem offering themselves urgently needed advice — however heartfelt, humorous or humble it may be.
The annual AVBOB Poetry Competition opens for submissions on August 1. For more information and to familiarise yourself with the competition rules, visit www.avbobpoetry.co.za.
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