By Feni Hiveluah
The Moonlighters returned to the Goethe-Institute on Thursday celebrating community and the power of poetry in bringing people together.
In an interview with Confidente this week, one of three poets behind the movement, Bienvenue Goabab, said poets, especially in Namibia, are a small diverse group of people and seeing people grow within the space has been one of the biggest milestones The Moonlighters have celebrated.
“And it is not due to the fact that the crowd plays a role in the poetry industry in Namibia but the community-like experience that is shared. People always feel welcomed at our events and that is the most rewarding thing,” Goabab said.
He urged attendees to show up and hear what he says is really happening in society.
He added that poetry as a whole is art that speaks to the present and questions the status quo and defines it thereafter.
The event is being held under the theme “Words of Redemption for Salvation” and Goabab stated that it highlights how the spoken word can heal and restore the failures or pain an individual has experienced.
“People perform poems about anything. And that is a puzzle piece to the bigger picture. You want to know what is really happening in society. Go to a poetry event and listen to the poets. They will tell you everything you need to know about society at present,” he said.
Goabab added that the aim is to extract the true healing journey from pain that had or has no bounds, and to showcase the beauty and the diversity of Namibian creatives as a collective.
According to Goabab, The Moonlighters monthly open mics started in 2025 after they saw a huge demand for regular open mics but had to put a halt to operations until well into 2026 due to the relocation of the Goethe-Institute.
“We had no other space to host the open mics because other venues have expensive rates. That meant we would need to charge artists and spectators and that was not an option for us.
Goethe- Institut, since our inception, willingly, for years, provided a safe venue for the creative industry in Namibia and they have shown that with our collaboration.”
Goabab expressed that because the space is free and open to all, there is more access to the platform.
He further urged new and upcoming artists to allow the nerves of a first-time performance push them to find themselves in the moment.
“The stage is a frightening platform for everyone… Oftentimes, one of the Moonlighters will start off the event by sharing their own work just to give the audience some sense of welcoming and comfortability. But I would also say the majority of the time the artist starts feeling comfortable half way into the event and it is always a beautiful moment to see the artist come out of their shell.”
He highlighted that The Moonlighters want to be drivers of spoken word and literary art as a whole and as artists dare to dream big.
“We want to be a space where people look for literary artists or spoken word artists. To help inspire and mold the generations to come on the true beauty of the spoken word.”
