Tag Archives: Anger

Toni Stuart

Toni Stuart is a poetry writer, performer and developer. Her poetry has been published in numerous anthologies including The Ground’s Ear (Quickfox Publishing, 2011) and Agenda Journal on Teenage Fertility and Desire (Unisa Press and Routledge, 2011).

As a performer she was part of And the Word Was Woman Ensemble, from 2004 – 2007, with Malika Ndlovu and the 2010 Ingrid Jonker Prize winner Tania van Schalkwyk among others. She has performed locally and internationally, at numerous events including Urban Voices International Poetry Festival in 2010, Bridgewater International Poetry Festival in 2013, and alongside UK poet Lemn Sissay in 2012. Her work uses poetry to interrogate a range of social issues such as the stories of place and displacement (The Calllings Performance as part of GIPCA’ Exuberance Project, Emancipation Day Commemoration at Reminiscence Theatre Festival), HIV/Aids (commission of Breath and Blood for University of Cape Town) and gender-based violence (Woman.Object.Corpse exhibition for Centre for African Studies, UCT).

She is the curator of Poetica, at Open Book Festival 2013 and runs The Silence That Words Come From – writing workshops that enable people to explore their own voice.

In 2013, she was named in the Mail and Guardian’s list of 200 Inspiring Young South Africans for her work in co-founding I Am Somebody! – an NGO that uses storytelling and youth development to build integrated communities.

Tshepiso Konopi

Tshepiso Konopi is an academic and Wits Graduate, actor, poet, drama and voice trainer and theatre director. He has been a theatre practitioner for a number of years. Over these years he’s had the opportunity to present his work to a myriad of audiences nationally and internationally. He’s also collaborated with acclaimed artists and academics who have helped to carve his career in the arts.

His interest and focus in theatre has been directed toward developing artists who are skilled enough to compete on national and international platforms. Currently he is involved in the development of an actor training model which concentrates on helping actor peak their performance abilities. With this model he has since produced a number of articles, actors and productions.

Also, he is a Senior Drama Tutor at Mmabana in Mafikeng, a co-founder of Konopi Media – a company that specializes in the production of various media solutions ranging from, publications, audio-visual products to drama based training simulations for sales representatives and managers in the corporate sector.

Tracy K Smith

Tracy K. Smith (born April 16, 1972) is an African-American poet and educator. She has published three collections of poetry. She won the Pulitzer Prize for a 2011 collection, Life on Mars.About this collection, Joel Brouwer wrote in 2011: “Smith shows herself to be a poet of extraordinary range and ambition. … As all the best poetry does, Life on Mars first sends us out into the magnificent chill of the imagination and then returns us to ourselves, both changed and consoled.”

Smith is a native of Falmouth, Massachusetts.She was raised in northern California in a family with “deep roots” in Alabama. She received her B.A. from Harvard University in 1994, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 1997. From 1997 to 1999 she was a Stegner Fellow in poetry at Stanford University. She has taught at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia University. In 2005 she joined the faculty of Princeton University, where she is professor of creative writing.

Tinashe Tafirenyika

Tinashe Tafirenyika is currently a student at the University of Zimbabwe studying Medical Laboratory Sciences.  She is one of the newest spoken word artists in Zimbabwe having stepped onto the scene less than a year ago.  A regular at the House of Hunger Poetry Slam and Sistaz Open Mic sessions at the Book Café. She has already been the “Luckiest Poet” five times in a row a feat that saw her performing at the Shoko Slam in September, 2013.  In November Tinashe travelled to perform at the Word N Sound Festival in Johannesburg.

Thabiso Mokoena

Thabiso’s passion of poetry started in 1995 while he was in secondary school. In pursuit to live out his passion, Thabiso travelled from his hometown in Bethlehem in the Free State to Gauteng in 1999. He attended various poetry sessions and workshops during that time, he was eager to learn and grow as a poet. Upon his return he was offered a job at COPAC as Development Arts Office, he was in charge of co-ordinating poetry, drama and dance classes. In 2010 he published his book, I Forsee. Thabiso currently hosts the Mehlodi Poetry Session in Bethlehem.

Tantra-Zawadi

New York spoken word artist and performance poet, Tantra-Zawadi’s rousing poetry has established her as a force in the genre. Her work has been extensively published and televised and her numerous stage performances include the iconic Nuyorican Poets’. For Tantra-Zawadi poetry is “breathing, walking, doing, loving and awakening – limitless in its ability to reach across genres and varying walks of life”.

Uche Uwadinachi

Uche Uwadinachi also called Flames – Priest of poetry, is a spoken word artist and the author of poetry collection SCAR in the HEART of pain and it’s Spoken Word audio Album.
He is the winner of ANA Lagos (Association of Nigerian Authors) Poetry Performance Festival Prize 2006 and Pakistan June ‘Poetrycraze’ contest 2009. 2nd Prize Poetry Winner of Ken Saro-Wiwa Contest, USA  2010, won the June Loudthotz Poetry contest 2011 and directed the overall winning Poetry performance of district 5 Education Board for the Lagos State Jam Feast Competition 2011, his poems have been published in the ‘Lime Jewel’ collection-London 2010 and other publications. His poetry performances has been seen on Bookshelves-LTV8, 9ja TV, Tinapa Trade Expo 2008, Lagos State Trade Fair EKO-EXPO 20011, Wordslam 1,2,3 & 4, Poetry Potter, Potters Lounge, Anthill, Pen Society among others,  presently, he is  an independent television presenter with Konto Music and works towards his new spoken-word-rap album titled E’FI MI LE’ joo’or.

Unathi Slasha

Unathi Slasha under the nom de plume ‘Dark-blood the bard’ is a spoken word artist, performer, literature enthusiast, poet, short story writer born in 1989, emerging from a small township named Dispatch in the Nelson Mandela Bay, infamous of its extremely high rate of illiteracy and dearth of artistic activism. A glimmer of hope carried out by this well-read young man determined to be a positive model and a trendsetter among his peers and set a perfect example for the up-and-coming young people in his community through performance art, with an undisputed aptitude.
His love for performance poetry commenced when he got introduced to poetry sessions by a friend who was a poet. From there, he got influenced and imbued with passion to start writing. He consistently contains an influential and enticing manipulation of words, with a flawless poetry and a unique phraseology and diction. On stage he is known for his spirited and energetic delivery and controversial style that comes out as a blend of street style yet literary poetry that involves socio political issues and historic events that tend to take any audience aback.His love for African literature is evidenced by the allusions and complex metaphors and intertextuality prevalent in most of his poetry – spoken word.
He aims at using his writings as an apparatus to inform and to instigate social reforms: to individuals who wish to be products of change in the society at large: he creates a personal pressure that frog-march them to do research about their identities and roots. Since he commenced his journey of performances and circulation around the different parts of the Eastern Cape, KZN and in the Western Cape, he has been receiving respect and love from each and every single person that has witnessed his pure talent and energy on stage.
One of his short stories and a few of his analytical poems have been published in an annual literary Journal called Ntinga, and as well as in the publication called Expressions within both of these publications were/are initiatives of arts and culture and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s department of language and literature.  During the operation of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, when some of the matches where held in PE, he was one of the performers that kept the crowd intrigued with his revolutionary  and unconventional poetry at the PE Opera House theatre.
He has performed in East London at one of the most prominent platforms known as the Soul Clap Sessions organized and hosted by Ipoetry KaNkqo. The Bard was one of the indelible artists that had an outstanding theatrical performance at the annual Grassroots Arts Festival held in Motherwell. He was one of the four first PE artists to make an appearance in the yearly Hip-hop event – The Final Touchdown in Alice. The bard has performed as a guest poet at the Love Life Music is Life mini Festival that was held In Uitenhage at Willow Dam in 2013. In 2012 he was one of the poets that were chosen to facilitate and demonstrate spoken word to high school pupils during the poetry workshops that were held in September during the National Book week at the Red Location Museum in New Brighton. The Bard has performed at the 2013 Nelson Mandela Bay Book fair that had the likes of Ntsiki Mazwai, Don Mattera, Lesego Rampolokeng, Niq Mhlongo, Motsoko Pheko, Ayanda Billie and other remarkable renowned authors and poets.
He has also co-founded NMMU’s foremost spoken word and poetry society called the Resonance Poetry Movement, along with Sisonke Papu and Azola Dayile – which they have successfully managed to launch.
He has also worked with the NMMU International Office and the Centre for the Advancement of non-Racialism and Democracy (CANRAD) in the NMMU Africa Week in a public lecture delivered by Prof. James Ogude (University of Pretoria) in remembrance of the late Chinua Achebe and his impact on the African literature landscape. He has been featured as a one of the performers at the first ever two days poetry festival in the Nelson Mandela Bay: Praat Poetry Festival, which hosted Lebo Mashile and Lesego Rampolokeng as guest poets.
He is a regular performance poet at the Elements of Hip-hop sessions that are monthly held in Motherwell and at the Culture Consciousness weekly sessions. He was once headlined at the PE Opera House YiYo (An Opera house initiative that focuses on solo artists granting them a platform for discussion, performance and constructive criticism on their respective art forms.)
Every single person who claims to love poetry and is an art enthusiast is obliged to show respect to the craft of this young wordsmith as he continues to make major moves. He believes to be the embodiment and the rhetorical speaker for the neglected poor through his spoken word that he enthusiastically utters.

Vuyelwa Maluleke

Vuyelwa Maluleke is a Joburg-born writer and poet who grew up in a township. She describes herself as a storyteller: “It is when I am most honest. It is also the hardest thing to do for me, to hand my work over so publicly to audiences. But the sharing between the audience and myself generates an immediacy that is like church. There is so much magic there.”

Vuyelwa began competitive poetry in 2012 winning theTEWOP Poetry Slam and the DFL Lover and Another 2012 Johannesburg Regionals. She has performed on  various stages in Johannesburg. She graduated in 2013 with a BADA at the University of Witwatersrand, and was awarded the Leon Gluckman Prize 2013, for the student with the most creative piece of work.

Vincent Nwilo

Vincent Nwilo who writes under the pseudonym Nwilo Bura-Bari, Vincent was born on the 15th day of September 1987 in Rivers State, Nigeria. He had his formative education in the city of Port Harcourt under harsh conditions – from dilapidated facilities to subhuman living spaces like the violence-ridden Mile 3 and Ogbunabali. He chose poetry and the short-story as mediums for the expression of his anger. Stories from Bori and other Poems, is his first collection of poems. He is the founder of Words Not Swords. He is a screenwriter.

Vangile Gantsho

Vangi began performing seriously in 2005 but has been writing most of her life. She had her first real break performing at Rhyme Alive at the Moonbox Theatre in Pretoria (2005), where she shared a stage with (amongst others) Lebo Mashile.

Since then she has been privileged enough to perform alongside Makhosazana Xaba, Natalia Molebatsi, SALA Poetry recipient Phillippa Yaa De Villiers and Def Poetry poet Saddi Khali to name a few.

Warsan Shire

Shire was born in 1988 in Kenya to Somali parents. She later emigrated to London.

Shire thereafter began writing poetry as a way to connect with her Somali heritage and her roots in Somalia. Her verse first gained notice after her poem “For Women Who Are Difficult to Love” went viral. In 2011, she also released Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth, a poetry pamphlet published by flipped eye.

Shire has read her poetry in various venues throughout the world, including the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, North America, South Africa and Kenya. Her poems focus on themes of travel and loss, and have been featured in the Poetry Review, Magma, Wasafiri and the Salt Book of Younger Poets. They have also been translated into a number of languages, such as Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.

In April 2013, Shire was presented with Brunel University’s inaugural African Poetry Prize, an award earmarked for poets who have yet to publish a full-length poetry collection. She was chosen from a shortlist of six candidates out of a total 655 entries.

In October 2013, Shire was also selected from a shortlist of six young bards as the first Young Poet Laureate for London. The honour is part of the London Legacy Development Corporation’s Spoke programme, which focuses on promoting arts and culture in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the surrounding area.

Wangari Ngugi

Wangari Ngugi is the daughter of the late Ngugi Wa Mirii. She was born in exile in Harare, Zimbabwe and thus goes by the name ‘daughter of exile’. She is inspired to write by her experiences growing up as well as current economic, social and political issues affecting our world today.

She is a passionate performer who hopes to be published by the end of 2011, who is currently working on a book as well as a compilation of her poetry. She has written two poems for the ‘We want Peace’ campaign spear headed by Emmanuel Jal aimed at creating awareness about the need for global action to prevent war in Sudan. Her work can also be found www.myndz-community.com where she blogs occasionally.

Xabiso Vili

Xabiso Vili is a writer, performer and poet obsessed with social development. He has performed his poetry around South Africa, including Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Grahamstown and more. He came in the top six in the 2011 Lover + Another national poetry slam and came third in the 2013 poetry slam of the same national event after winning the regional finals.

He has worked as an assistant teacher and run multiple workshops around poetry and improvisational comedy in Cape Town. He is currently staying in Pretoria and working with various organisations to further the reach and effect of poetry. In his spare time he enjoys battling silver-tongued dragons in the hopes of claiming one as his own.

Yrsa Daley-Ward

Yrsa Daley-Ward is a writer and poet of mixed West Indian and West African heritage. Born to a Jamaican mother and a Nigerian father, Yrsa was raised by her devout Seventh Day Adventist grandparents in the small town of Chorley in the North of England. Her first collection of stories On Snakes and Other Stories was published by 3:AM Press. Bone is the title of her new book.

Goodenough Mashego

Goodenough Mashego is an editor, artist, publisher, journalist, published author (Journey with me and Taste of My Vomit) and a social commentator based in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga. His poetry has appeared in various anthologies such as Botsotso, Timbila, New Coin, Green Dragon, Fidelities and ten others. Mashego is a literary critic and publishes two arts and culture blogs, Kasiekulture and MSHINI WAM.

Bantu Letter is his first editorial project.

Prayforce Mashilane

Prayforce Mashilane resides in Bushbuckbridge in Mpumalanga, South Africa. His work was recently featured in Bantu Letter, an anthology edited by Goodenough Mashego. His work has also been published in the Daily Sun, on Bushbuckbridge News, and Ziwaphi Investigative Newspaper.
In 2013 Prayforce released his first 18-track Hip Hop album titled A Kgokologa Moholoholo, which has subsequently sold out.

He has shared stages with national icons such as Zahara, Pro, Character, Professor, Kwesta, and Bucie.

Mosubudi Letjeku

Mosibudi Letjeku is  a young emerging and dynamic poet from Polokwane in Limpopo, South Africa. She is passionate about reciting poetry in her home language of Sepedi as way of celebrating her heritage and culture. She hopes to share her words with wider audiences in other provinces.