Seth Musinga - Biography

Seth Yuhi Musinga

Seth Yuhi Musinga (21 December 1963 –) is a Namibia poet. Musinga's magnum opus is generally considered to be My Life Story, a semiautobiographical poem of his early years that he revised and expanded a number of times.

Musinga is taken by his Aunt and encourage him in his reading, and in particular set him to commit to memory large portions of verse, including works by C. J. Langenhoven, C. Louis Leipoldt, Antjie Krog, Honore de Balzac, N. P. van Wyk Louw , D. F. Malherbe ,Barbara Cartland ,Shakespeare and Charlotte Bronte. Musinga was taught to read by his aunt and attended, first, a Roman Catholic at St Michael, where he was taught by Adolf Martin, who insisted on instilling in his students traditions that included pursuing both scholarly and local activities, especially the festivals around Easter, May Day and Shrove Tuesday. Musinga was taught both the Bible and the Spectator, but little else.

Musinga’s Aunt sent him to St. Joseph's RC High School Dobra in Windhoek, Khomas. He began attending North-West University (NWU), South Africa. He received his Further Diploma: Educational Management in 1990. He returned to Outjo for the first two summers of his time at St Michael.

By the late nineteenth Century, Musinga had begun to write poems. His novels are a reflection of his outlook on life. He spent most of his life insulated from certain sections of society. Most novels were also based on the idyll of rural country that Musinga was so fond of. The strength of Musinga’s novels is his ability to gain penetrating insights into the character and nature of human relationships, from even a fairly limited range of environments and characters.

Although I wrote successfully in all literary genres, I am first of all a poet. Among my 250 and odd volumes of poetry are My Life Story (1937), My Visit to Hell (1939) and War Veterans (1952), Lover (1937), My Love for you (1939) and Oh, So Sweet (1952), a letter to her (1937), Nelson Mandela (1939) and Kuku Vivi Kandongo (1952).

Most of my poems are published on www.poetrysoup.com, http://www.poetryvibe.com and a comprehensive poetry websites.

Presently working and living in Windhoek, Namibia.