Right To Speak - South African Poets Catalogue

In line with Goethe-Institutʼs global commitment to international cultural cooperation, we believe that building connections between Europe and SA through spoken word poetryoffers a powerful and life-changing platform for young poets to speak, learn and grow together and also to support and build capacity for local organisations for sustained impact.

As proud partners of the Right to Speak project, we are encouraged by the projectʼs objectives of connecting poets and poetry organisations on the ground, fostering a spirit of dialogue and co-creation while building relationshipsthat allow for future collaborations.

The Right To Speak project opens up avenues for poets & organisations looking to broaden their knowledge and skills in order to find/create decent work & economic growth. We believe that the future of cultural relations and cooperation relies on building strong relationships aimed at sustaining connected, safe, & inclusive physical & digital communities while ensuring the fair representation of women & women-led organisations.

RIGHT TO SPEAK FOREWORD

PARTNERCONTRIBUTIONS

“The Spoken Word Poetry movement in South Africa is a dynamic force that gives a voice and momentum to various social justice causes. Spoken Word artists provides a commentary of events of the day and the artform has given a voice to the oppressed and it holds agency in the #BlackLivesMatter, LGBTQ+, Gender and Decolonisation and other social movements. Young poets and poets of diverse backgrounds position their voices as a democratizing force and they draw upon racial, economic, and gender injustices as well as the zeitgeist of the nation for subject matter. At the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal the Poetry Africa festival has been able to engage with youth and social movements over the last 25 years.

As partners of the Right To Speak project developed and presented in association with the Capitalise NGO and supported by the Goethe Institut, French Institute of South Africa, Wallonie Brussels and Representation of Flanders we are proud to be associated with this catalogue which features an array of the countryʼs spoken word poets whose subject matter is as diverse as their performing styles. Most of the poets are of a post-1994 generation but many have inherited from their families the scars of an apartheid past. Whilst they burn new flames of hope their poems still stand as a powerful reminder that social justice is more than a once-every-five year cross on a voting ballot form. The quest for social justice and the defence of human rights is also a universal struggle; and this catalogue amplifies why the poems of this sample of 25 South African poets will resonate with nations across the globe that cherish a vision for a better and more just world.”

“Poetry is one of the fastest growing genres in the South African cultural sector breaking traditional boundaries and experimenting in constantly evolving new ways to monetise itself in both live and online markets locally and abroad. Ms Nina Simone reminds us that an artist's duty is to reflect the times. The rich stories and diverse cultural landscape of our rainbow nation -- deserving of global attention -- is not shy in its approach to confront and reflect on contemporary South African and international issues. This catalogue maps an amazing range of South African poets who courageously take on Nina Simoneʼs challenge; and whilst finding their feet and profits in the global market share also boldly offer new hope, vision and direction to a world that is fraught with the challenges of our century”.

- Hear My Voice NPO

POETS

CHRISTIE PARTNERCONTRIBUTIONS

DLAMINI

Africa Dlamini is a Spoken Word/Slam poet, and author, from Howick, a town in the Midlands, Pietermaritzburg. He holds a Bachelorʼs degree in Sociology and Education & Development, and a Postgraduate certificate in Education from University of KwaZulu Natal.

Inspired primarily by his fatherʼs storytelling, Africaʼs writings are a reflection of personal struggles, frustrations and discontents, and the confusions associated with the path of growth, and ultimately finding a way to make amends (with self and those around). His exploration of the nature of man, of history, of the ever looming social ills and all that time mocks us is evident in the social commentary prevalent in his writings.

Africa has published a poetry chapbook titled Shedding, and is currently working on his memoir, A Boychildʼs Cradle. He has shared his work on prominent platforms around South Africa such as 19th and 25th Poetry Africa Festival, Current State of Poetryʼs One on One National slam, Poet in A suit, Cup ʻO Thought, and Tree of Poetryʼs Music and Poetry shows.

He writes about love and emotional contrasts. Africa believes that every poem is an episode that gives to the bigger story of his emotional experiences and journey, in his words “thereʼs so much that society has constrained men to express and be willing to feel vulnerable…but we are all emotional creatures at some point and through poetry I find my venting corner.”

WORKS

He writes about love and emotional contrasts. Africa believes that every poem is an episode that gives to the bigger story of his emotional experiences and journey

TAUYASWALAARTIST PROFILE

africa_dlamini

Africa Dlamini | Africa Dlamini | Centre For Creative Arts

MAHLANGU

Busisiwe Mahlangu (born 1996) is a poet, performer and a dreamer from Mamelodi, Pretoria. She studied Business Management at the University of South Africa. Busisiwe is the founder of Lwazilubanzi, a community project that aims to use literature as a tool of learning, resistance and healing; working with public schools around Pretoria. Busisiwe is dedicated to inspiring and making a change in the communities around her. She explains her work as a space of healing and growth for herself. Her poetry is mostly described as hard-hitting and raw, she uses her work to hold space for conversations around poverty, mental health, education, healing, domestic violence and being and staying alive.

Her work was longlisted for the Sol Plaatje European Poetry Award in 2017 and 2018. She is published in Kalahari Review (2017), Ja magazine (2017), Best ʻNewʼ African poets (2018) and forthcoming in Atlanta Review and Through the single Galʼs looking glass. Her short stories are published on Naane Le Moya as part of her writing residency under the Tuesday Shorts Segments.

She was awarded the inaugural National Poetry Prize (2020) for her poem “I wear motherʼs bones” and won the Tshwane Speak Out Loud 2016/2017. She hosts a poetry podcast, PoetsHubSA which is powered by the National Poet Laureate Hub. Mahlangu is currently running her business, Busi Creates, and completing her poetry Manuscript, A body Makes Fire.

Her TedxTalk highlights how poetry can transform lives as it did hers.

She is the author of Surviving Loss, a poetry collection which was later adapted for theater at the South African State Theater Incubator Program. Surviving Loss was named a bestseller by African Books Collective and Bridge Books in 2019.

EXPERIENCE ACCOLADES WORKS

Her poetry is mostly described as hard-hitting and raw, she uses her work to hold space for conversations around poverty, mental health, education, healing, domestic violence and being and staying alive

Poetry is building a dream world | Busisiwe

CHRISTIENETHSIVHAMBEARTIST PROFILE

Christie van Zyl, is a poet, multi-media artist, social & creative entrepreneur, and indigenous wellness practitioner. Her works speak to the human condition: inclusivity, diversity, and transformation, as well as intersectional & plural identities. Christie is an alumnus of the South African Arts and Culture Trustʼs Building Blocks Program, as well as the Raymond Ackerman Academy of Entrepreneurial Development. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Healing Science at the Mhlabuhlangene School of African Medicine.

Christieʼs most prominent works over the span of her 10-year career include publication in ʻWalking the Tightrope: An African LGBTI Anthologyʼ published by Lethe Press, publication in the ʻZanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lionessʼ photo book published by Aperture; as well as a feature in a fashion video orchestrated by Vogue Ukraine.

Christieʼs poetry has featured in several exhibitions including Rory Emmetʼs ʻThe Devil Loves when We Loathe Ourselvesʼ at the 99 Loop Gallery, Buhlebezwe Siwaniʼs ʻQabʼImbolaʼ at the WhatIfTheWorld Gallery, Meghna Singhʼs ʻWOMAN. OBJECT. CORPSEʼ at the UCT CAS Gallery, Kunstplassʼs contribution to the ʻDe Ta Fabula Narraturʼ exhibition at the Oslo Historical Museum; as well as Inkanyiso Media and Kunstplass [10]ʼs ʻ21/21/2015ʼ exhibition at the Kunstplass Gallery, as a product of the Visual Activism and Cultural Exchange Program Residency.

Latest projects include contributions to ʻWhose Heritage Mattersʼ by Greatmore Studios and the UCT Centre for African Cities, ʻBodies Under Siegeʼ poetry and jazz production by the Hear My Voice poetry organization and the Gothenburg Book Fair; as well as ʻPoetry in the Marketplaceʼ for the Artfluence Festival by the UKZN Centre for Creative Arts and Umgeni Tourism.

JONATHAN

EXPERIENCE ACCOLADES WORKS

She has travelled to perform at the LOOK3 Festival of the Photo in Charlottesville, USA, the Ba Re Ne E Ne Re Literary Festival in Lesotho. As well as attended a cultural exchange residency titled #VACEP (Visual and Cultural Exchange Program) with Inkanyiso Media and Kunstplaas [10] Gallery in Oslo, Norway

Her poem ‘Ode to the Young Black Lesbian’ was a best seller during the exhibition, selling ten visual representations of the poem printed onto a scroll paper. Her work as an artivist has seen her write in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity expression, as well as broader topics covering intersectional & plural identities.

LEFENYA ARTIST PROFILE

BODIES UNDER SIEGE |Christie van Zyl| Globala Torget

ChristieVZ@live.com

FRANS

FRANS TAUYATSWALA

Frans Tauyatswala is a writer, poet and performer well dressed in the old school type of writing.

Born in the capital of jazz, Mamelodi, on the outskirts of the capital of South Africa, he is inspired by the hardships people of color go through to find their identity in the economy, society and religion. He writes to document time, to speak for those who can't speak up.

WORKS

Mostly inspired by the hardships people of color go through to find their identity in the economy, society and religion, he writes to document time, to speak for those who can't speak up.

Hope Netshivhambe is an international storyteller and voiceover artist who grew up in Venda. She has a Marketing Diploma from Vaal University of Technology and a National Certificate in Radio and TV presenting from Oakfields College. She has shared her work nationally and internationally and has performed at some of South Africa's at festivals and on radio and television.

She is a co-creator and cast of the award-winning short film #WeAreDyingHere, nominated for best short narrative for the 2021 Pan African Film Festival. The film was also the 2021 official selection for the 11th Charlotte Black film festival in Charlotte, North Carolina. Netshivhambe is an Alumni of the “Black Girl Live fellows” under the mentorship of Koleka Putuma. Hope is also the creator, writer and performer of the mind gripping theater piece “Things without names”.

Netshivhambeʼs work has been published on digital platforms such as Poetry Portion, Odd Magazine, the “Poetic Egalitarianism” anthology, the “Not a single story” arts exhibition and the Avbob Poetry competition.

Netshivhambe was a grand finalist in the 2016/2017 Tshwane Speak Out Loud youth competition slam. In 2019 she braved to participate again and took 3rd place. She believes strongly in the power of words and is convinced that the world as we know it revolves around words. Hope lives by herself and coined the mantra “Do what you came for” which speaks of purpose.

ACCOLADES WORKS

Co-creator & cast of #WeAreDyingHere, nominated for Pan African Film Festival(PAFF) in Los Angeles & selected for the 2021 Charlotte Black Film Festival. Netshivhambe was a grand finalist in the 2016/2017 Tshwane Speak Out Loud youth competition slam and in 2019 took 3rd place in the same competition.

Creator & performer of theatre piece "Things without names". Published on digital platforms such as Poetry Portion, Oddmmagazine ,Poetic egalitarianism anthology, and the Avbob poetry competition.

Marketing Diploma, Vaal University of Technology, Certificate Radio & TV Presenting, Oakfields College

EXPERIENCE

FIELD Performed locally & internationally. Alumni of Koleka Putuma's Black Girl Live Fellows.

LETHOKUHLEMSIMANGARTIST PROFILE

Long night of the Poets |Hope Netshivhambe| Current State of Poetry

JONATHAN LEFENYA

Jonathan Lefenya is a Soweto based spoken word artist. His work flings open the narrow window of language through which we are accustomed to describing reality. In so doing, the poet compels both himself and the audience to reflect on the plight of the human condition.

Growing up he had neither a sense of the world nor his place in it, so the poet uses writing as a metaphor for control. His work as a performance poet presents remarkable pliability and nuance. On the slam poetry stage, Jonathanʼs art is known for its pathos and piercing nature, which appeals to the delicate senses of the audience.

In the past two years, the poet has shared the stage with the likes of Mpho Khosi, Mpho Mofokeng, Puleng Zealots and Belita Andre. He received several titles, some of which includes three-time Word N Sound King of the mic, Winner of the Youth Art competition at the Roodepoort theater (2019), World of Words slam Top 5 finalist (2019) and winner of the College Poetry Competition, 2 years running (2017-2018), both regional and provincial.

He has recently debuted his one hander at the Tx Theatre "Leru la Mahlomola'' and showcased a duo poetry consultation "Uthando Ngumuthi '' Co-written and Co-directed by Thuthukani Myeza. Two of his poems are published In the poetic blues anthology featuring some of South Africa's leading poets.

EXPERIENCEACCOLADES

He received several titles, some of which includes; three-time WordNSound King of the mic, Winner of the Youth Art competition at the Roodepoort theater (2019), World of Words slam Top 5 finalist (2019)and winner of the College Poetry Competition, 2 years running (2017-2018), both regional and provincial.

WORKS

Growing up he had neither a sense of the world nor his place in it, so the poet uses writing as a metaphor for control. As a performance poet, his work presents remarkable pliability and nuance. On the slam poetry stage, Jonathan’s art is known for its pathos and piercing nature, which appeals to the delicate senses of the audience

MAKANDAARTIST

On the slam poetry stage, Jonathan’s art is known for its pathos and piercing nature, which appeals to the delicate senses of the audience. In the past two years, the poet has shared the stage with the ikes of Mpho Khosi, Mpho Mofokeng, Puleng Zealots and Belita Andre.

Lefenya|

Youth day festival ( DiscovrTV)

Born in Polokwane and bred in Mokopane Limpopo, Kwena Peu is a poet/spoken word artist, musician and theater practitioner based in Bloemfontein South Africa.

An experimentalist, he explores this quality with the unconventional performance of his poetry productions. His earliest encounter with this approach was in his theater performance debut through Kamara, a dance and puppetry production which played at the Andre Huguenot Theater of The Performing Arts Center of the Free State (PACOFS) in 2017.

Kwena was seen at the Albert Wessels Auditorium of the University of the Free State in 2016 and again in 2017 for the magic-filled Preformed Footsteps and Ordered Randomness Poetry Showcase. Kwena Peu also had poetry showcases at the international MACUFE Festival for the years 2014 and 2015. He also collaborated with fashion house Dolz, for a show where fashion models were an extension of his work, hosted by OddZ Creatives at the Central University of Technology.

Infinite Possibilities is a recent production featuring the legendary poet, musician and scholar, Kgafela Oa Magogodi. In December 2020 he hosted another successful installation of his annual musical poetry productions called Bound Lesser and Lesser at the Andre Huguenot Theatre alongside his band.

He successfully curated another of his annual productions with We Are Here in October 2021 which features works from Andile Bhala (photographer), Nkosinathi Quwe (painter), Anda Dawg (digital visual and motion graphic artist), Nandie Jantjies (painter and digital visual artist), Moses ʻʼMoseArtʼʼ Modiba (digital visual artist) and Nthabiseng Mokhali (dancer).

He was selected for a poetry retreat hosted by Hear My Voice and The Nirox Foundation at the Nirox Sculpture Park, an initiative which saw him and other selected poets collaborating with acclaimed musicians such as Madala Kunene, Aus Tebza, Tubatsi Moloi, Zolani Mahola, Tidal Waves, and Kitchen Mess.

ACCOLADES WORKS

His earliest encounters with this approach was in his theater performance debut through Kamara, a dance and puppetry production which played at the Andre Huguenot Theater of The Performing Arts Center of the Free State (PACOFS) in 2017. Here, he played a villain with a poetic twist. The production was selected in 2018 to partake in the Trade Fair Arts Festival at the Market Theater in Johannesburg, where it won its first award.

An experimentalist, he explores this quality with the unconventional performance of his poetry productions.

MHLANZIARTIST PROFILE

The Witness (Live at the Andre Huguenet Theatre)

Peu|

Lethokuhle Msimang is a South African poet and memoirist, born in Durban KwaZulu-Natal. Graduated with a B.A. in Literary Studies and Creative Arts at the American University of Paris, and a Masters in Creative Writing at Rhodes University. Her poems have appeared in New Coin Poetry, Grocotts Mail, Hanging Loose, The Paris/Atlantic, etc. In 2019 she self published a book of poetry entitled Hubris. She has since completed her novella - The Frightened, (Forthcoming Imphepo press). See more on: www.lethumsimang.com

Her poems have appeared in New Coin Poetry, Grocotts Mail, Hanging Loose, The Paris/Atlantic, etc.

EXPERIENCE WORKS

She is currently developing a South African Oral History Project, presently focused on the documentation of the Delville Wood Memorial and the role of South African Native Labour Corps. Her most recent efforts are towards completing a book of linked short stories Tales of the Orange Time of Day.

MALIMELAARTIST

FIELD

Graduated with a B.A. in Literary Studies and Creative Arts at the American University of Paris, and a Masters in Creative Writing at Rhodes University.

Linathi Makanda is a multidisciplinary artist based in South Africa. As an emerging artist born in the small town of Mthatha, Eastern Cape, a large part of Linathiʼs creative story explores the intersections of impossibility, passion, and the making of everything possible out of nothing. Her specialties include Portraiture, Still Life, and Fine Art photography.

She is the author of the poetry collections When No One Is Watching and I Say These Things To Myself and has been featured in Mental Realness Magazine, Poetry Potion, Lolwe and 20.35 Africa, where she was a part of their New Poet Series. New Plains Review, an online publication of the College of Liberal Arts of the University of Central Oklahoma, featured her visual, Seasons, which combine elements of art direction, poetry, and videography. Additionally, this body of work was selected to screen at the Lift-Off Online Film Festival in the United Kingdom under the Short Film category.

Among the platforms she has appeared on are Hear My Voice, Drum Magazine, Salamander Ink Mag, and Busboys and Poets. Makanda is also the Senior Editorial Writer at California-based publication ColorBloc Magazine, where she has worked with artists such as Kah-Lo, Muzi, Nikiwe Dlova, and others.

Makanda's work also embodies a strong sense of vulnerability, and through each story she tells, she strives to find ways to make others feel and reflect. Makanda is a member of the global Black Women Photographers community started by Polly Irungu, and her photographic works have been internationally recognized by publications such as Vogue Italia.

Her specialties include Portraiture, Still Life, and Fine Art photography. Makanda's work also embodies a strong sense of vulnerability, and through each story she tells, she strives to find ways to make others feel and reflect. Makanda is a member of the global Black Women Photographers community started by Polly Irungu.

EXPERIENCE ACCOLADES

Her photographic works have been internationally recognized by publications such as Vogue Italia.

WORKS

a large part of Linathi’s creative story explores the intersections of impossibility, passion, and the making of everything possible out of nothing.

LULEKAARTIST PROFILE

SEKGOTHE

NOMAKHWEZI

Luleka Mhlanzi is a South African published and performing poet, actress, creative writer and youth facilitator who hails from Pietermaritzburg. She studied Business Administration at Richfield Graduate Institute of Technology and participated in the Activate Youth Leadership programme.

She is an agent for change and her footprint is spotted in various African youth change programmes such as Gold Peer Education, Enke Youth Forum, PACSA, and Activate Change Drivers.She is currently a youth programmes facilitator at Heartnet where she also curates poetry sessions, volunteers monthly at the Institute of Afrikology as a youth facilitator and co-hosts Bambolunye Poetry Spell at the Mazisi Kunene Museum.

She has been appointed as one of Mail & Guardianʼs Top 200 Young people in 2021and has done commission work on a global campaign: A Letter to Nature for C40 Climate Leadership Group. Mhlanzi has recently been nominated internationally for a Women of Inspiration Award 2022 by Universal Womenʼs Network.

As a poet, she has written, read and performed for national and international festivals like Poetry Africa, Artfluence, JazzIfact, Poets You Should Know (Kenya), SA Womenʼs Arts Festival, 7th African Women Writersʼ Symposium, Umzimkhulu Tourism Festival, Poet in A Suit, No-Oneʼs Enemy, No-Ones Victim, Maritzburg Film and Arts Festival, Ramsgate Book and Arts Festival, Burton Naidoo in Concert, Songs and Poems of Love and more. She is the author of Confiscated Identity.

Her poems; Make Me Forget, Living Black, Fearful Gods, Much Better, Behind The Apron and Dancing The Pandemic Away have been published by Austin International Poetry Anthology (USA), Papertrail Literary Journal(SA) Sunday Independent newspaper(SA) and by Poetry Potion (SA)

As an actress, Luleka starred on an international and award-winning short film; The Beast, directed by Samantha Nell (SA) and Michael Wahrmann(Brasil) and on a music video; Thando Uyini Na by Nomangungu(SA) directed by Nontobeko Nazo.

EXPERIENCEACCOLADES

She has been appointed as one of Mail & Guardian’s Top 200 Young people in 2021 and has done commission work on a global campaign; A Letter To Nature for C40 Climate Leadership Group. Mhlanzi has recently been nominated internationally for a Women Of Inspiration Award 2022 by Universal Women’s Network.

PROFILE

She is an agent for change and her footprint is spotted in various African youth change programs such as Gold Peer Education, Enke Youth Forum, PACSA, and Activate Change Drivers. She is currently a youth programmes facilitator at Heartnet where she also curates poetry sessions, volunteers monthly at the Institute of Afrikology as a youth facilitator and co-hosts Bambolunye Poetry Spell at the Mazisi Kunene Museum.

MBALI MALIMELA ARTIST

Mbali Malimela is an Isizulu writer and performing poet. As a founder of a poetry brand called Bantu Origin, she has a strong passion for restoring the love and use of language through poetry.

Mbali has been a part of numerous poetry platforms including the 22nd and 25th Poetry Africa Festival, 25th Time of The Writer Festival and the Artfluence Human Rights Festival. She has had her writings published in the most loved journals including the Sol Plaatje European Union Anthology and Fundza Literacy. Her visualized projects on her YouTube channel have been screened at The Durban Business Fair 2021, 1KZN TV and she hopes to soon make them reachable internationally.

EXPERIENCE ACCOLADES

As a founder of a poetry brand called Bantu Origin, she has a strong passion for restoring the love and use of language through poetry.

Mbali has been a part of numerous poetry platforms including Poetry Africa (2018) and the first Artfluence Festival. She has had her writings published in the most loved journals including the Sol Plaatje European Union Anthology and Fundza literacy.

Modise Sekgothe is a performance poet, actor, playwright, vocalist, and instrumentalist. Each title is representative of a world that he has created through the mastering of his pen. The foundation of Modise's worlds is writing, which is seemingly a need.

In 2014, Modiseʼs poem To Die Before You Die, won the Perfect Poem at the Word n Sound Awards. Alongside multimedia projects like Metropolar and Mirror Me, he has also combined his poetry into a musical live context as Children of the Wind, with kindred musical creative.

Most recently as Modise journeys towards an album, he created an EP, DIPOKO tsa DIPOKO. The title of the EP hauntingly uses the words ʻpoemsʼ and ʻghostʼ as these chilling musical compositions and soul-stirring vocals bring life the ghosts of poems / poems of ghosts / poems of poems / ghosts of ghosts.

In 2014, Modise’s poem To Die Before You Die, won the Perfect Poem at the Word n Sound Awards.

ACCOLADES WORKS

Alongside multimedia projects like Metropolar and Mirror Me, he has also combined his poetry into a musical live context as Children of the Wind, with kindred musical creative. Most recently as Modise journeys towards an album, he created an EP, DIPOKO tsa DIPOKO. The title of the EP hauntingly uses the words ‘poems’ and ‘ghost’ as these chilling musical compositions and soul-stirring vocals bring life the ghosts of poems / poems of ghosts / poems of poems / ghosts of ghosts.

RAMATSWAIARTIST PROFILE

The Dark Knight Of The Soul |Modise Sekgothe| Modise Sekgothe

modisesekgothe

modisesekgothe@gmail.com

BECKER

Khwezi Becker was born in Johannesburg, to an artistic South African–German couple. She is fluent in English, German and Zulu. Her ability to use language was nurtured from an early age. Becker first acted in a childrenʼs television show called Creature Club in about 2006 on National television at the age of 10.

She continued to participate in drama performances throughout her high school career in Durban. In 2015 Becker decided to study Drama and Performance Studies at the University of KwaZulu Natal. She acquired her Bachelor of Arts in 2017 and her Honours in Drama and Performance Studies in 2018. Becker began professionally acting in stage productions in 2015 and was directed by the likes of Themi Venturas and Chuma Mapoma.

She would also go on to become master of ceremonies of events such as the ACCORD Peace Awards 2015 and the Poetry Africa opening night in 2019. Whilst in America, in 2020, she also had the privilege of translating a Langston Hughes poem into her mother and father tongues in honour of the great poet Laureate inRhode Island.

Becker has written and later adapted the play she wrote When Coasts Meet as a collaborative piece alongside Nomcebisi Moyikwa, which subsequently won an ovation award at the National Arts Festival in 2019. This play explores Beckerʼs experience as a mixed-race woman navigating a binary world that does not acknowledge those occupying and claiming the in-between space; it serves to assert her many selves.

She has since acted the lead in a short film, Emzansi in Orania, which earned her a nomination for Best Newcomer Actress Award at the Simon Mabhunu Sabela Awards in 2020. She currently lives in Durban and continues to write and perform her poetry, in plays and the film and television space.

ACCOLADES WORKS

Becker first acted in a children’s television show called Creature Club in about 2006 on National television at the age of 10. She continued to participate in drama performances throughout her high school career in Durban.Becker began professionally acting in stage productions in 2015 and was directed by the likes of Themi Venturas and Chuma Mapoma.

FIELD

In 2015 Becker decided to study Drama and Performance Studies at the University of KwaZulu Natal. She acquired her Bachelor of Arts in 2017 and her Honours in Drama and Performance Studies in 2018.

EXPERIENCE

Born in Johannesburg, RSA, to an artistic South African – German couple. She is fluent in English, German and Zulu. Her ability to use language was nurtured from an early age.

She would also go on to become master of ceremonies of events such as the ACCORD Peace Awards 2015 and the Poetry Africa opening night in 2019. Whilst in America, in 2020, she also had the privilege of translating a Langston Hughes poem into her mother and father tongues in honour of the great poet Laureate in Rhode Island. Becker has written and later adapted the play she wrote When Coasts Meet as a collaborative piece alongside Nomcebisi Moyikwa, which subsequently won an ovation award at the National Arts Festival in 2019. This play explores Becker’s experience as a mixed-race woman navigating identity in a world that is drawn to binaries and does not acknowledge those occupying and claiming the in-between space; it serves to assert her many selves. She has since acted the lead in a short film, Emzansi in Orania, which earned her a nomination for Best Newcomer Actress Award at the Simon Mabhunu Sabela Awards in 2020. She currently lives in Durban and continues to write and perform her poetry, in plays and the film and television space.

The Day Gogo Went To Vote|Khwezi Becker|Puku Channel

THANDO SOLLYARTIST PROFILE

Sabelo Soko is a Joʼburg based writer, performer and musician from eMkhondo, in Mpumalanga. His writings have been published by Geko Publishing, Reunited Siblings and a recently self-published poetry chapbook which accompanies his latest musical offering, Umkhondo. A creative self-starter - with 19 years multimedia experience - Soko's catalogue boasts short films, live performance productions, studio records, curriculum development and advertising campaigns.

Soko is a former contributor for Hype Magazine (print). His debut spoken word studio project, an EP titled 2380, was nominated for a 2015 SATMA (South African Traditional Music Award), in the Best Poet category. He has collaborated with Kiri Pink Knob Productions, as a performer on Poetry Overload, Sketching Hard and Vernac Ke Mao stage productions. He recently released a poetry and music album “Spin Venek” 2022.

Soko structured and facilitated the Hip Hop Meets Literature workshop for the Jozi Book Fair for two successive years. He also facilitated at the 2016/17 Exco Strategic Meeting for the Joʼburg Market. He is the founder of WordUP Wednesday; co-founder of Mpumalanga Made Me; and co-founder of the Mpumalanga Poetry Slam League.

His eccentric approach to storytelling has seen him work with brands like the King James Group, Sibikwa Arts Center, Sanlam, Tyme Bank as well as Nando's. Soko curated the first Basha Uhuru Poetry Showcase which has grown to become a flagship for the Constitution Hill based annual festival.

TTOROGA

His debut spoken word studio project, an EP titled 2380, was nominated for a 2015 SATMA(South African Traditional Music Award), in the Best Poet category. He has collaborated with Kiri Pink Knob Productions, as a performer on Poetry Overload, Sketching Hard and Vernac Ke Mao stage productions. He recently release a poetry and music album “Spin Venek” 2022

DENVER ARTIST PROFILE

EXPERIENCEACCOLADES WORKS

Soko structured and facilitated the Hip Hop Meets Literature workshop for the Jozi Book Fair for two successive years. He also facilitated at the 2016/17 Exco Strategic Meeting for the Jo’burg Market. He is the founder of WordUP Wednesday; co founder of Mpumalanga Made Me; and co-founder of the Mpumalanga Poetry Slam League.

His writing has been published by Geko Publishing, Reunited Siblings and a recently self published poetry chapbook which accompanies his latest musical offering, Umkhondo. Soko is a former contributor for Hype Magazine (print).

Eziko LamaPhuPho Official Video |Sabelo Soko| Sabelo Soko

SOLLY RAMATSWI

TORSTEN

Malapile Solly Ramatswi, or Soetry, is a writer and poet born and bred in the small village of Pollen, Limpopo. Ramatswi studied Civil Engineering at Tshwane South TVET College. He is fascinated and inspired by the stories he lived and the images he grew up around. His writing is a reflection on the growth of a young village boy in the city, inspired by the stories of his grandmother.

Soetry Solly is part of three plays combining music dance and poetry: PATA, with Choreographer Kenneth Mphahlele Sight, side, site with Kenneth Mphahlele, Muzi Shili, and Dictated Democracy, with Smangaliso Ngwenya and David April.

EXPERIENCE WORKS

His writing is a reflection on the growth of a young village boy in the city, inspired by the stories of his grandmother.

FIELD

Studied Civil Engineering, Tshwane South TVET College

TORSTENRYBKAARTIST PROFILE

Soetry Solly is part of three plays combining music dance and poetry: -PATA, with Choreographer Kenneth Mphahlele Sight, side, site with Kenneth Mphahlele, Muzi Shili... and Dictated Democracy, with Smangaliso Ngwenya amd David April

soetry_sa mrsoetry@gmail.com

Fuze was published in an anthology titled "Home Is Where The Mic Is" alongside 23 other phenomenal poets from South Africa & United Kingdom and nominated Best Female Performance Poet for the Original Material Awards in 2012/13. She was commissioned by the Department of Arts and Culture to write a poem in memoriam of the late Novelist, Essayist, Teacher and activist Lauretta Ngcobo.

She has performed at Quay Words (UK), Poetas DʼAlma (Mozambique), Word Travels (Australia), Poetry Africa (South Africa, KZN), Essence Festival: Articulate Africa (South Africa, KZN), Polokwane Literary Fair (South Africa, FS), Playhouse Women's Festival (South Africa, KZN), PACSA Film and Arts Festival (South Africa, KZN) and Naked Word Festival (South Africa, CT).

EXPERIENCE WORKS

Founder & director of Fuze Arts, a literary arts and performance company prioritizing works by female artists.

Her work explores topics around identity & individualism, sexuality & gender (in)equality and politics and themes of love.

ARTIST PROFILE

|Thando Fuze|isupportdoyou

thando_fuze

TTOROGA

TOROGA

XhuiQgaeb or Cape town-based Khoikhoi First nations Cultural and linguistic rights activist, kuru-ao-i or artist, kares-kuru-ao-i or poet. They uses writing as a tool for activism and healing and to challenge the KAKAPUSA or erasure of their people’s languages and stories.

ACCOLADES

Released the 1st South African Khoi-Khoi Poetry collection “KAKAPUSA” as part of the Hear My Voice International Writers Fellowship in 2020.

WORKS

The themes included in their work speaks to reclamation, restoration and the consequences of 368 years of continued spiritual, cultural and linguistic displacement.

KHAIMA

South Africa

|Toroga Denver|

CLEAR RYBKA TORSTEN CLEAR RYBKA

Torstem Clear Rybka is an award-winning Poet who has been writing and performing for the past 17 years, in South Africa and abroad.

He has been performed for 17 years in Limpopo, Cape Town, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Qwaqwa, Washington DC and Sweden. In 2016 he produced a poetry production staged at the South African State Theater and in 2017 the production formed part of the trade fair festival at the Market Theater and won an award. Rybka has released a couple of singles and an EP. He has performed at the naked word festival (Cape Town) and at the Poetry Africa festival (Durban).

In 2018, he became Poet of the Year at Word n Sound Poetry League.

EXPERIENCE ACCOLADES

He has been performed for 17 years in Limpopo, Cape Town, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Qwaqwa, Washington DC and Sweden. In 2016 he produced a poetry production staged at the South African State Theater and in 2017 the production formed part of the trade fair festival at the Market Theater and won an award. Rybka has released a couple of singles and an EP. He has performed at the naked word festival (Cape Town) and at the Poetry Africa festival (Durban).

In 2018 he became Poet of the year at Word n Sound poetry league.

FESTIVALS

This Is Too Much Now |Torsten Clear Rybka|

TheWordNSound

clear_as_fire socleart@gmail.com

XABISOARTIST PROFILE

Xabiso Vili is an award-winning author, performer, TEDx speaker, New Media Artist and social activist. He is the champion of multiple slams and poet of the year for 2014 and 2015. Xabiso has been published in various anthologies and online. He has performed all over the SADC region, in Scotland, England, the U.S, India and Paris. He is currently involved in researching and creating methodology for how the process of writing can be used as a tool for therapy and healing.

He is the Pretoria Spoken Sessions Slam League Champion of 2015/16, the Speak Out Loud Youth Poetry Competition Champion of 2015, the Word N Sound Poet of the Year 2014, 2015 and 2020, the Word N Sound King of the Mic for 2020 and a Hadithi Ya Afrika top 30 Storyteller 2020.

He has represented the Eastern Cape in the Lover + Another Regional Poetry Slam of 2011 and, in 2013, he won the Gauteng Regional Slam coming in 3rd at the National Slam. He came third in the 2017 National league after standing head and shoulders above the other Gauteng competitors and came 2nd in the first Current State of Poetry One on One league slam of 2016.

His debut album, “Eating My Skin “, was released in 2016, followed by his one-man show “Black Boi Be”, and his first poetry collection “Laughing in My Fatherʼs Voice”, released in 2018. In 2019, he was awarded a Digital Lab Africa Prize and created the Augmented Reality exhibition “Re/Member Your Descendants” which examines how young South Africans relate to their ancestors and descendants. This premiered in Paris at the NewImages Festival at Forum Des Images alongside his first Projection Mapping installation called Chosi Chosi which was projected onto the façade of the Saint-Eusatche Church. He is a recipient of the Future Africa Grant and is creating his first 360° Virtual Reality Poetic theatre film.

ACCOLADES

He is the Pretoria Spoken Sessions Slam League Champion of 2015/16, the Speak Out Loud Youth Poetry Competition Champion of 2015, the Word N Sound Poet of the Year 2014, 2015 and 2020, the Word N Sound King of the Mic for 2020 and a Hadithi Ya Afrika top 30 Storyteller 2020. He has represented the Eastern Cape in the Lover + Another Regional Poetry Slam of 2011 and, in 2013, he won the Gauteng Regional Slam coming in 3rd at the National Slam. He came third in the 2017 National league after standing head and shoulders above the other Gauteng competitors and came 2nd in the first Current State of Poetry One on One league slam of 2016.

ARTIST PROFILE

POETRYFESTIVALS

- Spoken Word Poetry

Vili| Xabiso Vili

ZIZIPHO BAM

Zizipho Bam is an award-winning South African poet, copywriter and visual storyteller currently based in Cape Town. She creates work that seeks to heal oneself from mental illness, love, loss, identity, physical and childhood trauma through written and performance poetry.

Navigating through the world as a young black womxn, Bam aims to investigate self and reveal how we relate with one another and the world. Using the body and its experience as inspiration, she reimagines pain to rewrite her story into a work of art.

Her work lives in various art forms. She has collaborated with musician Zito Mowa on his 2020 project, The Kolour of Water. In the same year, she wrote the short film God Body, which was released and screened at the Gauteng Film Commission Online Womenʼs Film Festival and Behind Her Lens Visuals Online Film Festival. She has performed on stages across the country, like The South African Book Fair and the live morning show Expresso Show on SABC 3. She has won slam competitions at Poetry Africa Slam Jam 2020 Virtual Edition where she was placed in the top 3 and Word n' Sound where she was also awarded Best Newcomer in 2016. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has graced online audiences in the USA, Sweden and Kenya.

Her poetry has been published in collections like the December and June 2020 New Coin Poetry Journal by ISEA at Rhodes University in which she also created the cover art for the June collection. She also appears in Yesterdays and Imagining Realities: An Anthology for South African Poetry by Impepho Press, a collection of 30 poems from South African poets under 30. Some of her latest poems appear in the 2021 released anthology of women and queer poets from around the globe, Woven with Brown Thread edited by Upile Chisala.

WORKS

ARTIST PROFILE

POETRYFESTIVALS

She writes about people and our relationship with love and pain. This 25-year-old award-winning poet creates work that heals and reimagines pain to rewrite our experiences into a work of art. She manages to capture this in her performances through her nostalgic storytelling, layered metaphors, and calming tone.

FESTIVALS

FESTIVALS

EUROPE

Berlin International Literature Festival

The Berlin International Literature Festival is an annual event based in Berlin. Every September, the festival presents contemporary poetry, prose, nonfiction, graphic novels and international children's and young adult literature. This year it runs from 7-17 September.

Cheltenham Literature Festival

Cheltenham Literature Festival is the worldʼs first literature Festival, leading the way in celebrating the written and spoken word, presenting the best new voices in fiction and poetry alongside literary greats and high-profile speakers. This year it takes placefrom 7-17 October.

Asmara-Addis Literary Festival (In Exile) 2022:

Founded by Eritrean-Ethiopian author Sulaiman Addonia, the Asmara-Addis Literary Festival (In Exile) is a new pan-African literary event with feminist principles at its heart. This festival aims to be a home for ideas that migrate freely and boldly in borderless literary landscapes. This year's Asmara-Addis Literary Festival (In Exile) was hosted in Brussels, Belgium from May 29-31, 2022.

The Edinburgh International Book Festival

The Edinburgh International Book Festival is a book festival that takes place in the last three weeks of August every year in CharlotteSquare in the centre of Scotlandʼs capital city, Edinburgh. This year it takes place 13–29 August.

Gothenburg (Gotëburg) Book Fair

The Göteborg Book Fair is the most important event in Scandinavia for people in the book business.t is also a manifestation of arts and culture, a four day long literar festival, a tribute to freedom of expression and a place for readers and writers to meet and celebrate the power of stories. It runs from 22-25 September 2022.

Annikki Poetry Festival

POETRYFESTIVALS

PARTNERS

Annikki is one of Finlandʼs most distinguished poetry festivals. In the recent years, the festival has expanded to also include prose, music, and the visual arts. The Annikki Poetry Festival has gathered around it a three-day off-tier event cycle called Annikki OFF.It was held 11-14 June 2022.

World Poetry Slam Championship

Our first inclusive World Poetry Slam Championship will take place in Brussels from the 27th to the 29th of September 2022. There is satellite program of diverse activities, collaborating with Brussel´s based artists and organizations, to make this anunforgettable experience for all.

PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature

The PEN World Voices Literary Festival is the premier celebration of international literature in the United States, a landmark event on New York Cityʼs, and now Los Angelesʼs, cultural calendar from May 11–14, 2022.

Afrolution Festival

The Afrolution Festival 2022 happened in Berlin, Germany from June 23-26, 2022. Afrolution is a festival with literature as its core, organised by Each One, Teach One, that has hosted many of Africaʼs and Afro German leading writers in Berlin, Germany since 2018.

The European Poetry Festival

It celebrates, in the UK and beyond, the grand resurgence in avant-garde and literary poetry. It aims to not only innovate what a live poetry experience might be, but to inculcate community and engagement between poets across the continent, as well asbetween new audiences and complex poetries. The fifth festival takes place from June 15th to July 9th 2022.

Offline Istanbul Poetry Festival

Offline Istanbul Poetry Festival is an independent festival with the main aim of introducing world poetry to Turkish readers and promoting Turkish poetry abroad. It takes placefrom 3-5 November 2022.

International Festival for Young Poets, @ the First Step

The festival based in Nicosia, Cyprus aims to host young poets 15-30 years old and a number of high calibre poets from abroad. The festival is organised since 2014 every 2 years in early November by Ideogramma. Itʼs next run will be 1-3 November 2024.

PROJECTPARTNERS

POETRYFESTIVALS

Poesiefestival, Berlin

Every summer, usually in June, Berlin is transformed for seven days into a hub of poetry. 100 to 200 poets and artists from around the world join the poesiefestival berlin to showcase current trends in contemporary poetry. It ran from 17-23 June 2022.

Genoa International Poetry Festival

The Genoa International Poetry Festival has been founded by the poet Claudio Pozzani and organized by CVT in 1995 and it is considered the most important event in Italy concerning poetry. Every year the Festival provides 120 free events in more than 30 locations in Genoa and in other towns of the Riviera, for an average of 30.000 spectators. It ran from 9-19 June this year.

African Book Festival

The African Book Festival gathers the most famous, most influential, award-winning writers and artists from the African continent and its diaspora for readings, discussions, interviews, concerts as well as theatre and spoken word performances in Berlin. It runs from 26-28 August 2022.

Gaborone Book Festival

AFRICA

The Gaborone Book Festival 2022 is a Botswanaʼs leading literary festival. The event runs from September 15-17, 2022.

Kakamega Book Festival

The Kakamega Book Festival is organized by The Kakamega Book Club. Its inaugural event was held on May 21, 2022.

Macondo Literary Festival

The Macondo Literary Festival 2022 will run at the Kenya National Theatre, Nairobi from September 30 – October 2, 2022.

Hargeysa International Book Fair

Ibom Art and Book Festival

FESTIVALS

The Hargeysa International Book Fair 2022 is a literary festival held in Somalia. The next literary event will be held in July, making it its 15th year since its inauguration.

The Ibom Art and Book Festival is organised by the Inspire Community Network. This year's event will hosted in Uyo, Nigeria from July.

PARTNERS

Doek Literary Festival

The Doek Literary Festival is a biennial celebration of Namibian and African literature that connects Namibian readers and literary artists with their counterparts in Africa and the African diaspora. In 2022, the Doek Literary Festivalʼs focus was fiction in the novel and short form.

Swahili Literary Festival

The Swahili Literary Festival 2022 was hosted in the Kenyan coastal cities of Kilifi and Mombasa from March 18-22, 2022. The Swahili Literary Festival hosted by the Hekaya Initiative has featured panels covering issues of interest to the literary and general art practitioners in the coastal part of Kenya since 2019.

Poetry Africa

Poetry Africa, the annual poetry bonanza presented by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa, 26th Poetry Africa will take place from 10 - 16 October 2022.

South African Book Fair

The national book fair. Takes place annually during National Book Week from 11 - 13 September.

Artfluence Human Rights Festival

The Artfluence Human Rights festival was presented by the Centre for Creative Arts in partnership with the Embassy of the Netherlands. The Festival marks the 25th anniversary of the Centre for Creative Arts as a vibrantly creative enabler and advocate for social justice and democracy, and took place from 3-5 May 2022.

KZN Poetry Festival

KZN Poetry Festival is an annual platform for KwaZulu-Natal poets to showcase their God given talent, groom and develop aspiring poets hosted by the the Playhouse Company, an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts & Culture. It took place on 18 June 2022.

Hadithi ya Africa

POETRYFESTIVALS

The aim of Africaʼs Ultimate Storyteller Contest is to unite Africans through the stories they share. To this end, the contest aspires to bridge barriers and create an understanding between Africans from different countries with different stories. Entrance to the 3rd Annual Africaʼs Ultimate Storyteller Contest close on the 1st May 2023. The next intake will open in early 2022.

Articulate Africa

Articulate Africa is South Africa's foremost Literature & Art Fair, hosted by the eThekwini Munipalityʼs Parks, Recreation and Culture unit. It ran from 3-5 June 2022.

Poetas d’Alma

For the fourth year in a row, Maputo has been recruiting multidisciplinary poets and artists for the International Poetry and Performing Arts Festival - Poetas DʼAlma. The event will be held on the motto "The Citizenship of the Future", in honor of the greatest poet of Mozambique, José Craveirinha. It runs from 27-30 October.

Mcgregor Poetry Festival

Poetry in McGregor is an annual event that celebrates poetry in a tiny little town on the edge of the Karoo. One of the highlights is the annual Poetry in McGregor Anthology. It consists of poems that were written and/or read at the festival of the previous year. The festival is held in August each year.

About the Goethe-Institut

The Goethe-Institut is the Federal Republic of Germanyʼs cultural institute, active worldwide. The Goethe-Institut promotes the study of German abroad and encourage international cultural exchange. The Goethe-Institut supports local South African projects, as well as regional exchange within Africa, and continues to facilitate engagement with Germany.

About Hear My Voice

Hear My Voice is a non-profit organization based in the City of Tshwane, South Africa. Their focus is developing spoken word artists as well as creating open and uncensored platforms for self-expression through spoken word poetry. They achieve this through organizing local and international exchange programs, workshops, live spoken wordshows, open mics and other literature programs for schools, private companies, government, libraries, festivals and other cultural institutions.

About the Centre for Creative Arts

PROJECTPARTNERS

The Centre for the Creative Arts (CCA) is an inter-disciplinary hub in the School of the Arts in the College of Humanities at the University of Kwazulu-Natal. The Centre plays host to four festivals which over many years have built a strong international profile for artistic excellence and for how the arts are engaged to advance social change and to strengthen South Africaʼs constitutional democracy.

The Spoken Word Poetry movement in South Africa is a dynamic force that gives a voice and momentum to various social justice causes. Spoken Word artists provides a commentary of events of the day and the artform has given a voice to the oppressed and it holds agency in the #BlackLivesMatter, LGBTQ+, Gender and Decolonisation and othersocial movements. Young poets and poets of diverse backgrounds position their voices as a democratizing force and they draw upon racial, economic, and gender injustices as well as the zeitgeist of the nation for subject matter. At the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal the Poetry Africa festival has been able to engage with youth and social movements over the last 25 years.

As partners of the Right to Speak project developed and presented in association with the Hear My Voice NGO and supported by the Goethe Institute, French Institute of South Africa, Wallonie Brussels and Representation of Flanders we are proud to be associated with this catalogue which features an array of the countryʼs spoken word poets whose subject matter is as diverse as their performing styles. Most of the poets are of a post -1994 generation but many have inherited from their families the scars of an apartheid past. Whilst they burn new flames of hope their poems still stand as a powerful reminder that social justice is more than a once every five-year cross on a voting ballot form. The quest for social justice and the defence of human rights is also a universal struggle; and this catalogue amplifies why the poems of this sample of 25 South African poets will resonate with nations across the globe that cherish a vision for a better and more just world.

PROJECT

About Diplomatic Representation of Flanders

The Diplomatic Representation of Flanders is responsible for all official contacts and issues with regards to the Government of Flanders (Belgium) and its competences in 7 countries in southern African region (Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini and South Africa). The competences of the Government of Flanders are very broad, and encompass amongst others: culture, development cooperation, education, science and technology, innovation,youth policy, economy and foreign trade. The Diplomatic Representation promotes Flanders through various initiatives and actions highlighting some of Flanders' main assets

About Wallonie-Bruxelles International

Wallonia-Brussels International (WBI) is the organization responsible for international relations of Wallonia-Brussels. It is the instrument of the international policy led by Wallonia, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and the French Community Commission of the Brussels-Capital Region. WBI promotes the components of Wallonia-Brussels as entities endowed with a capacity for international action and defends the values and interests of each of the parties, in a spirit of cooperation and mutual assistance.

About Institut Français Afrique du Sud

PROJECTPARTNERS

Dedicated to the celebration and growth of South African arts and culture, the French Instituteʼs strong relationships with various partners encourages cultural diversity andexchanges between South Africa, France and the rest of the African continent. Our projects range from visual arts to animation, poetry to gaming, and fashion to music. Notable projects in the audio-visual and creative industries have developed long-term partnerships between our respective cultural sectors to exchange knowledge, experienceand ideas.

The poets in this catalogue embody the vibrant and hopeful democracy of a new generation which has overcome a difficult legacy through their energy, confidence andwords.

Poets do not just tell us stories; they open a dialogue between the past and the present, between the imaginary and the real. Sometimes poets rebel, and hold up a mirror to our problems. But they also open conversations between people, communities, generations and between countries. This is why supporting poets through the Right to Speak project isimportant. To honour poets who use their voices to fight for equality.

This catalogue celebrates poets who enable people from different cultures and backgrounds to better understand one another – a vision shared by the French Instituteof South Africa.