TheRelevantIssue2011.03

www.poetrpotion.com 2011|03

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relevant |’reləvənt| adj. having bearing on the matter in hand; per­tinent world english dictionary

contents editorial 10 featured poem

Elizabeth Wurz 12

In Response to the Blood relevant quotables 14 poetry seen

black sunday 28 q&a

word & sound 30 poetry 34

Masingita Masiya

it’s this walk‌ this war 35

Sinovuyo Nkonki

She Phoenix 36

Sihle Ntuli

Excuse me 38 Natural_Mystic

We Watched 39 danieluv poetry 40

Monique Barnard

My Weaknesses 41

Similo Gobingca

lullaby for Julia Malema 42 essay

qairo muso 44 poetry seen

quaz slamwell 46

word &sound 47

I’m lucky to not have a real job, to be able to express myself, be creative and be relevant.

Gwen Stefani

editorial

Relevance...

Something I’ve been contemplating for months now, maybe even years.

I’ve been concerned about the type of contribution i have been making to society as a writer, as a creative. I worry that my energies are not focussed in the right direction.

I worry that there are too many creatives out there working really hard but not at something they are proud of. There are too many of us working for a pay cheque.

Just for a pay cheque.

“To poison a nation, poison its stories. A demoralised nation tells demoralised stories to itself.

Beware of the storytellers who are not fully conscious of the importance of their gifts, and who are irresponsible in the application of their art: they” - Ben Okri

Because too many people work just for a pay cheque and not for something they truly believe in or are proud of there are too many disillusioned minds. Find that problematic. To take a twist on the Okri quote - disillusioned minds nurture disillusionment. So even as we are trying to inspire, teach, entertain we only end up reinforcing a darkness in the minds of our readers and audiences - if we are disillusioned.

I think that there are way to many things floating out there that do nothing but nurture a spirit of mediocrity. Someone out there in the far past, someone who’s name we don’t know, duped the entire world into believing that we didn’t have to be brilliant. That brilliance was just for a few people that if we didn’t achieve this brilliance by the time we were a certain age then we’d never make it. So often people that achieve their brilliance in their childhood, or teens or early twenties are held up for the rest of us to envy. And then we are left

feeling like we’ll never reach our own brilliance. That’s not true. It’s only a ploy to make you give up and remain in the rat race. Society has already raised you to be in the rat race and never have the capacity to pursue any other kind of living.

The question is how do we redirect our efforts away from mediocrity to something of relevance? Something nurturing and powerfully positive.

Creatives have a direct line to the heart of society. It is through creative work that society’s ideas, values, beliefs (good, bad or ugly) are explored discussed and subsequently reinforced and cemented. So if we creatives are working on the side of ill then we only reinforce and strengthen society’s ills. We do not heal the ills. And that’s what we could be doing as creatives.

Seth Godin says “do work that matters.”

So I’m on a bit of a mission this year. I’m refocusing all of my creative energy to something good. Something that matters. Not only to me but to the people that are touched by my work. While i personally want to do work i can be proud of, i also want to see all of us do work that makes us a better people not drones in a race where only a few ever benefit. We have the direct line to the heart of society. We all have an important role to play whether we play the role under the flashlights of paparazzi cameras or in the background remaining nameless.

As my new favourite creatives at ‘workisnotajob.’ say:

we are the shapers of cultures, the workers for change, the dreamers of dreams

~zamantungwa

remember:

25 May is afrika liberation day

featured poem

Elizabeth Wurz

In Response to the Blood

I When I was a child, I tended to the garden for what seemed like months.

From the farm, across the cattle guard, I walked down Highway 60 past the Church of Christ.

Its well out back was covered with a square board small enough for me to slide away from the opening.

I hadn’t bought the seeds yet. I dropped pieces of gravel instead to test the water’s depth.

Ripples extended from where they entered— to the red mud and tree roots around the edge.

My body changed. In response to the blood, I conjured a terror of uterine tissue forming a web— binding my wrists, ankles and waist— tightening until I could not move.

I could not visualize myself in the role of the woman I internalized.

The rituals I created tranquillize me.

II It would have been a felony for me to buy and thaw a vial of semen, inject it close to my own cervix.

At the fertility clinic, the ultrasound showed three Clomid-ripened ovum.

The doctor injected thirteen million thawed and washed sperm close to my tubes.

III I have the ultrasound picture of Olivia at eight weeks after conception.

She is shaped like a seahorse.

At sixteen weeks, she looks more human. She is as long as my little finger.

In the 4-D photo, there are her eyebrows, eyelashes, hands, lips— and the cord.

quotables

I asked some of my creative facebook friends to reflect on what makes their creative work relevant. As a sent out the ‘inboxes’ to use fb-speak i wondered how many of them would respond and what they would say.

As the responses rolled in i was amazed at their willingness to let me probe their minds. I’m grateful for their contribution.

The term ‘much respect’ has never been more truthful than now at this moment... za’

OutSpoken tha Humble Neophyte i actually question the relevance of my poetry because it is part of my journey into self introspection. how it affects others was never the primary objective, keeping my sanity was.

Outspoken is a spokenword/emcee, activist and musician as well as being a projects facilitator for Magamba,an organization that uses spoken-word and the arts as a tool for community upliftment in marginalized societies. www.twitter.com/outspokenAlphaI

Muriel MoAfrika Mokgathi

Muriel MoAfrika Mokgathi is a Mamelodi based saxophonist/Actress/singer and poetess, she writes in Sepedi and English. She add to her colourful hat a Radio presenter (Best Female Presenter 2010) @ UNISA RADIO. “MoAfrika” is not just a name its brand that promotes writing in African languages.

“My Sepedi pen and being a women Activist my work is mostly relevant to women,for I speak emotions /experiences/situations they went though.”

Similo Gobingca I write most of my poetry when in dire straits, as an instant therapeutic venture to the trauma that is reality. I never, however write about my personal feelings or stuff like that, i write about the general citizen’s experience, politically/economically and socially, this way whatever i say can be clearly understood whether agreed or disagreed with.

Similo Gobingca, 27, is a journalist/filmmaker from the Transkei. He is currently based in Durban where he is a renowned barfly.

Sabelo Dludla

Sabelo Dludla is a filmmaker, graphic artist and writer. Passionate about media, youth development and travelling, i find myself leaning more towards the use of media as a tool for social change. I am drawn to issues of race, growth and a creation of a better society.

my art is made relevant by its commitment to truth and my inner guiding voice. and this comes from my passion for harmony as a principle and my belief in individual rights as opposed to human rights.

What makes my poetry relevant is the platforms we have to express our truth and our experiences, not forgetting the times I’m existing in, they make it even more worthwhile to appreciate what God gave, to share that expressive talent/personality, in a form of music.

While the content of the art itself paints a clear beautiful picture accompanied by music that gives hope and speaks to the now generation and future generations...Creating that timeless Poetry for many to share when the artist herself is not longer, has passed on.

Keeping the fire burning and Leaving a legacy of potent life messages and tunes for the ones still to come visit this world.

Phumla Siyobi

Phumla Spush Siyobi: I’m a singer, song-writer and a full time member of L8 Antique, A fresh young band from Johannesburg. L8 antique is a five piece band and we have created our genre of music called Tribal specially for our specific type of sound. The music has a strong African foundation, background, back bone...

And we top it of with some of our favoured already existing genres like Jazz, Soul, Afro beat, Hip Hop and Dub just to name a few. reverbnation.com/l8antique facebook.com/l8antique myspace.com/l8antique

thee Original Cuff Sista I write so my poetry speaks to yo soul. So if half the audience is left speechless or angry my poetry has served its purpose.

Khethiwe Mtimkulu, thee ORIGINAL Cuff Sista. I’m all about breaking barriers of conformity

Poet Flo Words “The relevance of any writer’s work-or artist in general-stems from how they portray,reflect and enlighten others within the era they are most active. I write about my present so as to give new perspectives and edify,not just to my peers but those before and after”

Poet-Flo Words can be found on facebook and on her group page SWEET EVENTS(Spoken word events), and the websitewww.summerartsfair. yolasite.com

David wa Maahlamela

David wa Maahlamela is poet from Mankweng in the Limpopo province.

His work is widely published in major literary journals such as New Coin, Carapace, New Contrast, Timbila and Botsotso.

He is the recipient of the 2010/2011 PanSALB Multilingualism Award

“What makes my poetry relevant is that it has to; first and foremost; be relevant to me, and as the result, it will then be relevant to anyone else who shares the same sentiment. I don’t write to be relevant, I write to off load my emotions, and if I can achieve that with integrity, then the rest shall follow. Quality my greatest goal.” ~ David wa Maahlamela

Goodenough Mashigo ‘What makes my works, in this case my poetry, relevant is the fact that it goes out of its way to sanitize, rub in antiseptic ointment and apply a fresh sterilised dressing on wounds left septic by many years of neglect.

It often peels old scabs to reveal ghetto ugliness concealed to hide the severe shortcomings of our post’94 experiments’

Goodenough Mashego.

Mashego is an artist, blogger, editor, journalist, poet, publisher and short story (script) writer based in Bushbuckridge (Mpumalanga) He publishes KASIEKULTURE and ‘MSHINI WAM’. Journey With Me and Taste of My Vomit are his two solo poetry collection. He’s a literary adjudicator and cultural worker

true jOnes

Truepics.onsugar.com my photography DtoxSundaes.wordpress. com - my dream truejOnes fan page on Facebook and the radio show group #StereoDtox fb _ and Sundays 2-5pm on rhythm100radio.com

What makes me relevant? _ Took me a while _ but here goes-: I speak my mind unafraid to say it as it is - I exist in the present, among the wealthy and underprivileged -wield truth for its universal, say it now , the power is in the present - make sense? If not - dig this --�Existence is no more than the precarious attainment of relevance in an intensely mobile flux of past, present, and future.�

Susan Sontag

We live in times where much happens but very little makes sense. We are all visitors to this earth,our souls en route to a space of higher being. Every single person is blessed with a gift. How one uses it,is an individual choice. The aim is to be positive. Leave positive legacies through our deeds, words and thoughts. To synchronise energies and create a stamp that will not be easily eradicated.

My writing is relevant in that it captures reality and wrestles to find an element of positivity,for through the negative,in the end,there must be a better ending. We deserve the dignity of good health, respect, acknowledgement, happiness,human dignity,equality, opportunities that will allow us to thrive and the freedom to BE. We don’t need to forget the two main elements of existence. I try and bring ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ together to create a lyrical explosion of Truth. Truth is the only grasp of freedom we have left...

Truth.

Keletso Thobega Bio: I’m Keletso Malebogo Thobega. I was born in Botswana,live in SA yet a citizen of the earth.

My heart and soul know no home. The pains of the world have knocked me in all directions yet I thrive in joy. Writing is all I know. Literature and knowledge my food.

I’ve contributed to various publications like Mail and Guardian,City Press, www.consciousness. co.za,Soul magazine,True Love. A thought,an idea,an observation must be shared and writing is a genuine tool of doing that.

I attended the school of hard knocks and share my voice with any movement I believe is worthy of my attention. Legacy of the written world cannot be killed. Others believe in guns,I believe in word.

The idealistic souls shall live eternally for they do not exist within the confinements of self.

As one’s poetry is mostly inspired by socio-political issues, which are mostly viewed through an anthropological optic and which best describes how life should be commonly viewed.

Poetry is one revolutionary tool which breaks boundaries for one. Poetry is a means of expression which is relevant and which is still going to be relevant cross culturally in different epochs.

Poetry resembles that inner being which is most probably afraid of making a mark in the world in any sense possible.

One might assume that poetry has somewhat took a shift in the recent years from what it is (assumed) it is used to be and what it is in the current cultural epoch. However, in whatever optic in which poetry is viewed, poetry will forever remain relevant in every means possible.

For such reasons, poetry for one will thus become possible in every way.

Humus

Humus is a south african poet, black radical. and yeah anthropologist/ linguist

black poetry seen sunday this June, Black Sunday returns!

Black Sunday started as a freeentry, weekly social development event / programme held at community parks in and around the various townships of Gauteng Province.

From the young to the old, the event is a platform for local expressive arts with an entrepreneurial spirit to connect with their public/patriots

q&a

word & sound

for some months now, I’ve been bemoaning the fact that the soul of Newtown has been killed. With the loss of venues like Horror Café, Shivava, Kippies and Worker’s Library, poetry lost its space and the poetry session suffered a slow death. so to see an event like Word & Sound at the Bassline is quite surprising and refreshing. i sent some questions to Afurakan, poet extraordinaire who is the man behind it all to find out more about this event...

Tell me about why you created Word & Sound and why place it in Newtown at the Bassline?

Personally, Word & Sound came out of a belief that I owe it to my community to contribute towards positive change. It is not enough to demand and speak of change, one needs [to] participate in processes which bring about the desired change.

Newtown was instrumental in my development and journey as a writer and performer through platforms such Horror Café, the Baseline, Kippies, Shivava Café, The Market Lab and Couch and Coffee. [The] Pre-2010 Soccer World Cup development devoured the vibrant and organic system and left in its place a pseudo arts precinct characterised by tourist restaurants and a beer museum. Once Blatter and his bandits had left our shores, Newtown was left for dead. Word & Sound is thus a necessary attempt at resuscitating the Jo’burg arts and culture scene.

What is the philosophy of Word & Sound?

What is it all about?

The Word & Sound Bassline Series Showcase is a hand picked spectrum of word and sound creativity currently pushing the bar and going against the grain within the South African music and creative scene.

Each episode focuses on one specific artist, poet, mc, vocalist, musician or band and comprises a live performance and an audience driven Q&A session with the artist or band.

Each event affords an eclectic audience, comprising media, music and creative industry players, business and government stakeholders, poetry and music enthusiasts - a close up experience with the future of South African creative arts.

An open mic session allows the audience to be a part of the show and inspire hidden talent to also pick up the mic and dare to shine. The live stage setting emphasizes a specific objective - the pursuit of excellence. Before an artist’s work is heard all around the world, it is on stage where creativity is unleashed and polished, magic is created and dreams are fulfilled. This is where it begins......

How did the event start out? Tell me about preparing for the first event and how the first event went down?

We initially started the shows at Yebo Studios, which is a music recording studio below the Baseline. It was also the only space around Newtown that willing to listen and had equipment but could only fit 40 people. At episode 4 featuring Kojo Baffoe and Warona Seane, 98 people showed up and it was obvious that we had to find bigger space. That’s where Bob at the Baseline stepped in and we moved from the underground to upstairs.

The first event really sucked. I was showcasing and 4 people showed up. I still performed my set though. We were expecting that, the most impor-

tant thing was to get the shows off the ground and build a track record. Six shows later, we are now hosting the shows at the Baseline and quickly running out of space. Considering that not a single marketing cent has gone into the shows, I think we are doing very well.

What are the highlights so far?

Each has its own flavour and highlights but my favourite thus far was episode 5 featuring Kojo Baffoe and Warona Seane. The venue was overcapacity, it was sweaty and hot but the people stayed and watched a great show. For me it showed me a glimpse of what a revived arts and culture scene can be like in Newtown.

We always hear about there being no money in poetry. We hear it from publishers to event promoters. Does Word & Sound plan to make any money? If so, how are you going to slay the ‘no money in poetry’ beast? If not, why not?

Word & Sound was designed mainly to provide a platform and not necessarily make money. The first 5 shows were self funded, with the event becoming sustainable after moving to a bigger venue. The R20 door charge allows us to cover basic costs including venue, sound and logistics. Developmental platforms are essential, with or without money. The other reality is that for an investor to take interest, they will want to see the investment is sustainable and that you have also invested in it.

If we do not host our own events, we will have nothing to show when asking corporate and government for assistance. Word & Sound is currently in negotiations with various companies interested in investing in the arts scene and hopefully this will result in the growth of the show and even create opportunities for other platforms.

Your platform features seasoned poets. Why did you decide on that? How do you select these poets and what role do you think they have to play in the poetry landscape?

Although Word & Sound is primarily a platform for young artists, the seasoned artists are essential as beacons of light and

mentors, especially with poetry. Over the last few years, the absence of seasoned poets from the public scene has meant that young writers have been literally writing in the dark.

If we are to resurrect the poetry movement in Gauteng, it is important that the knowledge bearers are involved. In simple terms, the old must teach the young. It is also important for young writers and poets to acknowledge that they have a lot to learn and to see the wisdom of working with and learning from their elders.

What is the future of Word & Sound? Can you give me a preview of the next Word & Sound event?

Word & Sound aims to grow as a respected and credible platform for performance arts development in South Africa. We aim to keep the shows accessible to both artists and patrons and hopefully assist in unearthing South Africa’s next big talent.

You are a poet that’s been around for some years now. I’m pretty sure that you’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly.

From what you’ve seen at Word & Sound so far (particularly, the open mic) what would you say is the future of poetry?

I believe that poetry has huge potential, especially in South Africa. I am encouraged by what I have heard so far at Word & Sound but also weary of the hard work that still needs to be put in if we are to produce world class writers and artists.

The enthusiasm is there from the youth, now we just need support from our communities both business and civil.

The next event:

Episode 7, will feature Lesego Rampolokeng, affectionately known as the God father of South African poetry. Romeo the Poet will also be showcasing and the usual open mic will start the show. The next event is on 21 May 2011 at the Baseline and starts @ 2pm.

poetry

Masingita Masiya

it’s this walk… this war These traceable steps that dissolve in the road that leads me back here I thought I could lose the road when I ran away But my shadow on the ground is a whisper from the moon That I will only arrive hastily and weary, with the sane baggage at noon So, in this walk, I take a stroll It’s this walk that raptures a conversation within me Its content so fiery and consuming That it eats me alive, yet my shoes keep the walk This war whose war cries are shadows that move in silence Long after screams and roars of the battle line have ceased The swift thump of the arrow kissing the skin and hugging the bone is a lullaby that keeps up in the dark night counting sheep Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!

Save your heart the misery This war whose battlefield is now my mind I walk towards it, I run and shall not fear it bio: I’m a 26 year old male, born and bread in Mabopane. I write.

thirty one

Sinovuyo Nkonki

She Phoenix

Ashes Ashes blown about in the wind.

Trampled on by careless feet.

Ashes...

Just waiting to defeat her oppressor.

Bling Haughtiness and deaf Pride did not see her fiery flames floating in their skies, Did not hear her blazing being soaring above their heads.

No, they did not realise Our She Phoenix Would ever rise above their narrow minds and upturned noses.

But today, Today she declares Across the skies: A wondrous message, A wondrous cry, that a nation is reborn of a woman once scorned, that the dreams and visions of a little Transkei girl are as real as the bricks that build our walls.

That we She’s can believe!

We lift our heads High in the sky, watch our She Phoenix Rise above the ashes once trampled by careless feet; Marvel at the blazing Beauty Once blown about In the wind...

Fiery Phoenix.

Of praise Is she.

Sihle Ntuli

Excuse me Excuse Me you say I am non apologetic & far from apathetic Though being in the district of the sparrow can take it’s toll Like the road that makes me pay for frozen gates Being far away makes one cold they say I’m cold enough to return that “excuse me” So YOU! Apologize I’ll just freeze your words and hang them up Your world made us this way.

Excuse Me I ask to pass through Before I blow a fuse This current flow of action is overflow Short circuits overload to mental excessive’s Neuron bullet loaded in neurological expectance And the mind replies with a calm before the trigger line If I let these neurons fire Would I be excused Or I could just blow my brains out As an artistic excuse Instead of excuse me when I don’t have all of you These words they fall on deaf ears With Wax which I could light a fuse Therefore I beg a question If I suicide bombed our minds Would I be excused

bio: Currently a student studying a B.A and also a recently returning writer whose works have appeared on litnet. itch, U.K based Sang Bleu , Jiggered & Poetry Potion. Also founder of LBRMovement which is a lifestyle blog incorporating poetry into the urban world rather than isolating it.

Natural_ Mystic

We Watched We Watched As I stood and watched, tears of blood fell from the Lords eyes They fell beyond this world Beyond my reach and into the darkness of despair There we stood gazing upon this rotten world We watched We watched as, innocent people were wiped out by hate, poverty and disease And as bloodied woman were dragged screaming into shadows We watched as governments bathed in the stench of corruption And as dreams were crushed under society’s cruel gaze We watched as families were torn apart by war and as humanity gave their lives without knowing why And there we stood until the sun broke through the screams of darkness and into the day As I stood and watched, tears of hope fell from the Lords eyes They washed my hands clean and soaked into the earth There we stood gazing upon this beautiful world We watched as mother earth lovingly fed humanity on her swollen breasts And as strangers held hands as if they were brothers We watched as lovers found freedom entwined in their naked flesh And as dreams came true We watched

danieluv

poetry poetry, my twilight of escapism, from wild animals, rattle snakes, winds and storms, caused by fake friends. my imaginary world, where ink drips but, never dries. a soothing space, where thoughts run wild, where the sun and the moon glows-through darkened spaces.

Monique Barnard

My Weaknesses I begged I pleaded I asked for forgiveness, but you, you would not relieve me of my burden.

You laughed as I cried for my pain was your pleasure.

I was weak, fragile, I asked for help, but nothing, nothing as you stole my life.

You thrived on my pain, and found joy out of my sadness.

When I cried out for you, you would laugh, laugh at my weakness.

For I, I cannot stop, as I still need you in my life.

bio: I’m currently in Grade 12 in Krugersdorp. My favourite poets are D.H Lawrence and Emily Bronte.

Similo Gobingca

lullaby for Julius Malema I know the one who has stolen the jackal’s tongue His insides are bitter and sweet from the corn bread and white man’s water I know the one, who with the tip of his tongue has tasted the Hyena’s tears He shall know so much laughter his spleen will burst The river goddess sleeps under the mystery of pregnancy something is coming something going The spear bleeds The land is burning

bio: I was born in the 80, in the then Transkei town of Idutwya. I completed my Journalism studies at the Durban University of Technology and have been working as an independent documentary filmmaker and TV journalist since then.

essay qairo muso what is relevance?

I’ve often asked myself the question of relevance myself coz 9 to 5’ers and parents who grew up in an era past often take the arts as a hobby or take their immensely talented sons and daughters as lazy human beings for having chosen the arts (or for heeding to it’s irrepressible call coz it truly chooses the individual). However,the answer is not so deep. The answer to relevance is always linked to purpose.

Over the years, I’ve found a portion of the answer in a simple quote that I live by from the fine artist Pablo Picasso.

He once said: “The purpose of Art is to Wash the Dust of Daily life off our souls”. It’s what helps us get by. We need it!

For me, arts... poetry, music, architecture, paintings, fashion, comedy, sculptures, even dance make up the pulse of every society, community, nation and era. It is what gives identity to any country and nationality. It often either defines us as a people or [it] documents events. Art is how the world was built and without it none of what we know would exist. Art is what makes every part of the

http://qairo.tumblr.com/qairobio http://qairo.tumblr.com/futurehistory http://www.facebook. com/pages/Future-History/100987806638226?ref=sgm http:// twitter.com/#!/FH_Band

world unique. It is how every place around the world that you visit tells you its story and who they are as a people. It becomes them. It becomes and defines their culture.

Poets and praise-singers have been there to document every crucial historic event. From ordinations of presidents and kings to documenting or reminding those who will listen of important issues that need addressing. Put the simplest of melodies behind powerful true words by protestors of an apartheid era and it is these songs that have helped give strength, negotiate, soothe and change a situation of a whole nation.

The artist’s role is a relevant one... I, myself, don’t believe much of what politicians say but use my favourite poet or musician to relay to me the same message, I’m suddenly a believer. The artist’s gift and responsibility is to educate, to question, to declare, to analyze, enlighten and address...

From personal matters, world matters, spiritual matters, moral matters, political, love, hate or simply as imaginative story tellers who can heal and make light of you heavy day at work! Artists of the Dada-ism movement way back also showed us that art can also be a way of not taking ourselves so seriously...

I’m tryna say that sometimes it’s just for fun and enjoyment. A celebration of life if you will. Frivolous expression is needed at times, if not for pure laughs, then at least, in order to help the one who doesn’t “get” artists and poets to catch-up to wasup coz words are powerful communication.

Artists who are not afraid and prefer to write (not deep, but rather thought-provoking stuff) are why poetry, words, music will never die. It is the one thing that only requires for people to mimic the Creator of all things and CREATE what your imagination allows!

My mother, a prayerful woman, always says God says that “your talent will make you stand before kings”...This is how far and beyond our mumblings will take us. The artist, poet, vocalist is important.

Qairo Muso is a musician, vocalist, songwriter, Future History band member, artist, graphic designer, Qeuth Apparel partner ... sister, child, woman, god.

poetry seen quaz slamwell I have a great respect for Quaz. His work is pertinent and inspired touching on a wide range of subject matter and emotions.

In the past few years, Quaz hasn’t waited for permission to publish and share his work. In fact, i don’t know any other poet that has consistently released mixtapes and published his own collection of poetry - The Orange Book volume 1 which was distributed for free at poetry events and The Orange Book volume 2.

His first mixtape, i reviewed back in ‘07

“Quaz is eloquent, wise and very sharp with his lyrics.

After this experience you are left fulfilled though not quiet sure how.” ~ za’ This was about the Immaculate Thoughts of Za’uq. His other mixtapes are The Chocolate Brown Guy Mixtape and Your Slice of Cake EP Quaz is one of the most relevant creatives in Jo’burg right now.

Not only is he a working writer and a poet of note but he is carefully leaving a mark with his work as creative writing facilitator as UJ. The poetry scene needs a poet like Quaz because he leads, he doesn’t wait for acknowledgement or permission from the upper echelons. He remains relevant but keeping himself in touch with the poets on the ground.

Check out Quaz’s blog here > http://quazism.wordpress.com/

word &sound episode 6

relevant previous covers since 2007

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