If you are interested in words – written or spoken, then don't miss the series of poetry performances taking place this week at the Eastern Star Museum.
If you are interested in words – written or spoken, then don't miss the series of poetry performances taking place this week at the Eastern Star Museum.
"An Arc to the Future – A Festival of South African Spoken Word" is presented by the Rhodes English Department and The National English Literary Museum and features performances by some of South Africa's best-known and most talented and exciting poets.
The event is supported by the British Academy as part of a Newton Advanced Fellowship recently awarded to English Department Senior Lecturer, Deborah Seddon.
The focus of the award is to develop a digital archive of South African oral and performance poetry, which will be called WordArc.
Deborah will be working in collaboration with Dr Andrew van der Vlies of Queen Mary University in London. The aim is to "collect and adequately contextualize the seminal works of South African orature from the colonial to the post-apartheid periods".
This event is the first step towards the creation of the archive which, it's hoped, will become a resource not only for local and international scholars but teachers, local community groups, schools, and university students.
Everyone is welcome and refreshments will be served.
In 2008, he was honoured with the National Order of Ikhamanga for his outstanding contribution to the field of literature.
Kgositsile’s poetry situates South African poetic expression within a larger understanding of the African diaspora, and the shared experiences of racial oppression, displacement, and exile.
He is well known for his work in enriching the practice of African-American oral poetics while in exile in the United States from 1962 until 1975. An important feature of Kgositsile’s poetry is his recognition and celebration of the power of Afro-diasporic music, particularly blues and jazz.
Lesego Rampolokeng is a poet, novelist and playwright whose unique, forthright writing draws on a range of influences including dub and early forms of rap. In 2014, Rampolokeng conceived and presented the documentary film Word Down The Line: a poetic reflection on South Africa’s socio-political environment 20 years into democracy, told through the voices of some of the country’s most iconic poets.
This year, Rampolokeng launched his most recent collection of poetry, A Half Century Thing, in celebration of his fiftieth birthday. Adrian “Diff” Van Wyk a.k.a. “Different,” is a regular performer and headliner at poetry festivals and platforms in Cape Town and across South Africa, bridging the gap between all genres of poetical performance. In 2011, he helped to establish The InZync Poetry Sessions in Stellenbosch, a monthly platform seeking to integrate all forms of live literature.
Now in its fourth year of existence, the InZync Poetry Sessions have become one of South Africa’s foremost performance platforms having hosted an array of local and international performers.
Pieter Odendaal is a poet and project manager of the InZync Poetry Sessions, monthly multilingual poetry nights organised in Stellenbosch.
He is currently doing his Masters in Sustainable Development, focusing on the potential of poetry to contribute to socio-cultural transformation. He also facilitates poetry workshops in high schools in and around Cape Town. He has performed across South Africa and a personal highlight was participating in the Talking Doorsteps project in London in 2015.
Some of his poems have been published in NuweStemme 5 (Tafelberg – 2014). Mak Manaka is the son of poet, playwright and Black Consciousness activist, the late Matsemela Manaka, and Nomsa Kupi Manaka, a pioneer in South African dance and choreography.
Naturally gifted, with a strong artistic heritage, Mak was destined to be a poet. His career began at the age of 15, in 1998, where he appeared in Lugano, Switzerland, at a tribute to his father. He has since performed all over South Africa and internationally. In 2002 he published his debut collection, If Only, followed by a second collection, In Time, in 2009.
In 2008, Mak realized a long-held desire to release a CD of his work. Word, Sound, Power!! is a fusion of Black Consciousness lyrics and quality music. He is a sought after poet for various festivals and events in South Africa, including the annual international Urban Voices Poetry Festival where he has shared the stage with many internationally and locally acclaimed poets.
Mhlobo Jadezweni is a poet, author and an academic. Since 2012, he has been a member of the Rhodes University School of Languages, where he specialises in teaching poetry in isiXhosa. He has taught isiXhosa language and literature for several years in both South Africa and Germany.
In addition to various books in translation, Jadezweni has published a poetry anthology, Umdiliya wesihobe (2008) and a bilingual children’s book, UTshepo Mde /Tall Enough (2006) which won the Exclusive Books award in 2007 and has since been translated into IsiZulu, Afrikaans, Swedish and Portuguese.
Jadezweni has been involved in IsiXhosa Language Boards since1983 and is the recipient of awards for the promotion of isiXhosa language and literature. Iain “Ewok” Robinson, a.k.a Creamy Ewok Baggends, Hused Whut? and Dr E, is a spoken word flavoured hip-hop and graffiti artist based in Durban, South Africa.
His poetry has been praised for his verbal dexterity, humour and sharp critical insight. Ewok has performed all over South Africa and overseas, and is the author of two books of poetry, Customised Hype (2007) and Pimp My Poetry (2010). He has also written and performed two one-man stage pieces during the Grahamstown National Arts Festival.
The autobiographical Seriously? (2011) uses a mixture of animation, puppetry and video art to examine how a white kid from Empangeni developed a love for hip-hop culture and became the revolutionary rhymer he is today. Y.O.B.O – You’re Only Born Once (2015), examines the deficiencies, denials and self-delusions of white South African culture.
Thabiso “Afurakan” Mohare is the crown prince of Johannesburg’s slam poetry scene and is one of the founding members of the Word N Sound Live Literature Company. Created in 2010, Word N Sound, with a multi-focal approach to literature and spoken word development, produces various poetry events, festivals and collaborative projects and has one of the largest digital footprints and profiles on the African continent.
Afurakan has played a vital role in the growth of the spoken word movement in Johannesburg and indeed South Africa; and he’s a regular at schools and community centres, performing for the purpose of spreading the word. He is best known for his stage improvisations on hip-hop tunes.
He has a long history of activity within Jozi’s poetry movement which can be traced back to the “So where to” poetry events, and his work with the poetry collective Soul 2 Mouth, among others. He helped create Word N Sound as a platform for the expression of spoken word, not so much a commercial venture but as an attempt to make a positive impact on youth.
Using slam poetry as a vehicle for development Word N Sound seeks to draw young people into writing and reading in order to show them the opportunities available in a literary career.
Word N Sound believes that spoken word can encourages curiosity, freedom of expression, and high standards of verbal creativity.
