Tag Archives: Captivation

Shingi Mavima

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Shingi Mavima currently writes out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. His work revolves around the inescapability of time, Africa in her flawed glory, and love.
Mavima is also the lead poet and editor of Homeward Bound, an anthology by five young Zimbabwean poets (now available on Amazon.)  Away from poetry, Mavima has a Masters of International Affairs Degree from Penn State University, and is currently getting his Phd in African American and African Studies at Michigan State University.

Rethabile Masilo

Rethabile Masilo blogs at Poéfrika and co-edits Canopic Jar. He is a Mosotho poet from Lesotho and enjoys reading and writing. Today he lives in Paris, France, with his wife and two children. His work has been published in various hard and soft-copy magazines, including Canopic Jar.

Rethabile was born in 1961 in Lesotho and left his country with his parents and siblings to go into exile in 1981. He moved through the Republic of South Africa (very short stay, on account of the weight of apartheid), Kenya and the United States of America, before settling in France in 1987.

In 2012 his first book of poems, Things That Are Silent, was published by Pindrop Press. The second book, Waslap, will be published in 2015 by The Onslaught Press.

Phomelelo Mamampi Moshapo

Phomelelo Mamampi Moshapo is a lover of words. Her poetry has been published in various volumes of the Timbila Poetry Project. She has contributed to an anthology of poetry by South African Women, Basadzi Voices (UKZN Press, 2006). She also published a Sepedi collection of poetry titled Peu tša tokologoIo (Timbila, 2005). She was also one of the featured poets in Throbbing Ink 2003, a poetry collection by six South African poets.

She has read her poetry on various stages including the following: Polokwane Literary Fair 2014, 95 Poems 95 Poets Long Live Madiba, Polokwane Literary Festival 2012, Poetry Africa 2007, and Grahamstown National Arts Festival 2005, as well as the Beyond Borders Literature Festival in Uganda 2005. Her writing is mainly social commentary.

She’s a mother to Gaositwe, Mukona, and Muwanwa; wife to Segopotso Moshapo; and she holds a degree in physiotherapy

Tapiwa Mugabe

Tapiwa Mugabe is a writer who was born in Zimbabwe and raised in England, UK. As a writer and poet he has recently published his first collection of poetry titled Zimbabwe. Tapiwa’s poetry introduces a fresh and bold voice into the rich current that is emerging from young African millennial artists.

http://tapiwamugabe.tumblr.com/

Mmakgosi Ophadile Anita Tau

Mmakgosi Ophadile Anita Tau was born in  1989 in Botswana.
Her first poem was published in 1999, for a school magazine. In 2007 she won a poetry competition at the Monash University, and after this triumph she was asked to help head the Poetry Association of Monash. This role helped her secure  many opportunities such as, her performance at the Women’s Day Celebrations.

During her time in South Africa she performed at open mics held in places like House of Nsako in Bree, Shivas in Newtown and in Johannesburg.

Mmakgosi was featured on the Word Of Mouth-Audio compilation, and she is a member of the Poets Circle Movement and MO Scripts.

MO Scripts is a group advocating for growth and awareness in Botswana literature. they
have four mobile applications published for Android, Symbian, Blackberry and Java enabled phones and they can be downloaded free of charge. To date, more than 250 000 people have downloaded their app. For more on the applications please check out Facebook page MO Scripts: https://www.facebook.com/pages/MO-Scripts/338887719546526?fref=ts

Thabiso Nkoana

Born in Kagiso, raised in Diepkloof, polished in Scummyside and studying in Cape Town. Thabiso is a self proclaimed wordsmith exploring the multiverse one syllable at a time.

Myesha Jenkins

Myesha Jenkins writes and performs poetry. Her second collection, Dreams of Flight, was launched in 2011 at UKZN’s prestigious, international festival, Poetry Africa, where she also performed. Her first collection, Breaking the surface was published by Timbila in 2005. Her work can also be found in We Are (Penguin, 2010) and Isis X (Botsotso, 2006). Myesha has been interviewed in the print media and on radio and TV.

For the last three years, she has produced Poetry in the Air to celebrate Women’s Month on SAfm. She also co-hosts the Jozi House of Poetry, a non-competitive, woman-friendly monthly poetry session.

In 2013 , Myesha won the Mbokodo Award for Women in the Arts in the Poetry category

She also runs writing workshops for women and girls, stimulating creativity and imagination. Myesha is currently co-editing South Africa’s first erotic poetry anthology. Also, a CD is in the pipeline.

Feminist, immigrant, activist, she generously shares her life, reflections and vision. She has been on stages with Napo Masheane, Lebo Mashile, Ntsiki Mazwai, Natalia Molebatsi, Gabeba Baderoon, Antonio Lyons, Phillippa DeVillers, Vonani Bila, Khosi Xaba and Khethi Ntshangase

She has lived and worked in Johannesburg since 1993 when she relocated from California.

(www.myeshajenkins.com)

Ashraf Booley

Ashraf Booley is a young poet from Cape Town whose love for writing birthed at the age of sixteen. He works as a digital content producer by day, where he keeps his other passion alive – food. His poetry has featured in a handful of anthologies and his tenacity has seen him recite poetry alongside two of his favourite poets – Rustum Kozain and Gabeba Baderoon. Ashraf writes to challenge oppressive institutions, as a form of catharsis, expression and firmly believes in poetry as a medium to voice the voices of those who have been silenced.

Darren Carolissen

Darren Carolissen was born and raised in Stellenbosch, South Africa. He started writing at the age of 13. He started writing lyrics and eventually found his way to poetry. Since then he has been chasing this form of storytelling with a fierce passion.

Codey Young

Codey Young is a graduate of Ursinus College, class of 2014. He was recently selected as a 2014-15 Watson Fellow by the Thomas J. Watson Foundation, for a year of international travel to pursue an independent creative project on art, activism, and Black masculinity in the African Diaspora while also performing his poetry. Codey has also launched a website, the Black M.A.R.S. Project, to highlight the work of Black male artists throughout the Diaspora. He has been writing poetry since the age of 12 and performed his work throughout college, at Ted Perkiomen Valley High School, as well as One World Poetry in Berlin, Germany.

Andrew Manyika

Andrew Manyika, is a Writer, Performance Poet, Comedian and MC based in Johannesburg. He has performed at Poetry Festivals and Fashion shows, hosted Award Shows and weddings, and taken to prominent comedy & poetry venues in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Sometimes referred to as “the Gentleman of Poetry” due to his penchant for wearing 3-piece suits, Andrew began to make his mark on the local poetry scene when he won the Gauteng Drama For Life Slam in 2011; and he placed second in the DFL National Grand Slam. Preceding this was a victory in the University of Johannesburg International Students poetry competition, and being published in a departmental university diary. In November of 2011 he took 3rd place at the WordnSound Poetry Festival Open Mic Finale and has been extensively involved in WordnSound from that time, now consulting as their Marketing Officer.

Highlights of his poetry career include having performed at the BAT Centre (Durban 2012); the State Theatre Pretoria Night of The Poets; Johannesburg International Motor Show 2011 (for team Mazda); TEDx Johannesburg 2013; The opening of the Living Arts Emporium Gallery.

In 2012 his poem “Make Up (Your Mind)”( http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DO_4Ck4FEva8 ) was nominated for the inaugural Word N Sound “Perfect Poem” award, and has gone on to receive generous airplay on Radio2000, featured on SAfm and flighted on EDTV and LoveWorld Sat (DStv). Other media appearances include: E-tv Sunrise; Zoned.tv; Soweto Tv, Mzansi Insider, Power FM, VOW fm and UjFM.

In 2012 Andrew emerged from a national audition process as one of ten poets to be selected for the Macufe Festival. He has subsequently been host or performer at the Word N Sound Festival (2011-13), Melville Poetry Festival (2012 & 2013); The Gospel Revolution Conference; The 2013 Izimbongi Poetry Festival and co-produced the inaugural “Slam For Your Life”. In May 2014, Andrew made his Debut appearance at the Harare International Festival of the Arts (on both their comedy and poetry stages).

It is this peculiar mix of comedy and poetry that has enabled Andrew to bring a fresh perspective to MCing. He is the current host of the Word N Sound Awards (where he is a 2-time nominee) and has hosted Night of the Poets 2014, and co-hosted the Glory-to-Glory Revival Centre Year-End of Year function. In 2013, he MC’d the Divine Adoration Concert; and Given Illustratives 1-man show.
He has taken to the stage performing stand-up comedy at Wish, the Comedy Underground; Kitchener’s; The Box; Parkers, and the “Bang Bang Comedy Club” (Zim).

Alongside Napo Masheane and rapper ProVerb, Andrew is profiled in the 5th Anniversary edition of the online poetry magazine: www.poetrypotion.com.

Being a born-again Christian, Andrew strives to represent Christ well through his art.
He is the holder of BCom Marketing Management & BCom (Hons)Strategic Management degrees and is an emerging entrepreneur.

Catch him on: @drewmannshow Andrew Manyika

Javier Perez

Javier Perez is a poet, performer, and teacher. Born in the U.S., his family immigrated from El Salvador during a violent civil war. Growing as a “Latino” in a predominantly immigrant neighborhood in America, Javier always came face-to-face with questions surrounding identity, masculinity, class, and heritage. 

As a first generation university student, he studied political science, while quickly developing a passion for spoken-word poetry on the side. With some friends, he started Swarthmore College’s first spoken-word collective, OASIS (Our Art Spoken In Soul), and competed at local and national poetry slam competitions. After graduating, he was awarded the Thomas J Watson Fellowship to travel internationally for a year in pursuit of an independent project: an exploration of how poetry can empower, heal, and give voice to criminalized youths in light of the massive growth of prison systems worldwide. After traveling to South Africa, Australia, Guatemala, Jamaica, and Brazil, Javier concluded two main things: crime and incarceration are global phenomena intimately linked to histories of colonialism, racial violence, and inequality; and poetry provides a transformative space for communities to challenge, reimagine, and change the status quo. He now lives and works in Cape Town as a resident poet for Usiko Trust, facilitating poetry workshops alongside youths from the townships to create a space for exploring their voices and (re)writing their narratives. Javier is very keen to foster stronger connections and dialogue between communities in Latin America and Africa that share common roots, histories, and struggles.

Alain Alfred Moutapam

Alain Alfred Moutapam is an international lawyer, founder of Tamtamarts a cultural NGO, and a consultant in cultural diplomacy and creative industries.

He was a member of the organising committee for the World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar in 2010 and lecturer on the subject of cultural diplomacy and creative industries as new avenues for development of Africa.

He has been involved in several prestigious conferences, including the National Assembly of France, Unesco, in many French councils, the European Parliament in Brussels in his dual capacity as poet and cultural expert.

He is the author of the collection of poems entitled New poetry for a Better World published by Tamtamarts.

DéLana Dameron

DéLana R. A. Dameron holds a B.A. in History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has a strong interest in the intersections of history and literature. Her poetry has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, PMS: PoemMemoirStory, 42opus, storySouth, Pembroke Magazine, and Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review. She has received fellowships from the Cave Canem Foundation and Soul Mountain and is a member of the Carolina African American Writers Collective. Dameron, a native of Columbia, South Carolina, currently resides in New York City.

Fatou Dioffé Bâ

Born in the 1988 on Saint-Louis in the Senegal, Fatou Dioffé Bâ first started dabbling in poetry in college. Although she is a graduate of a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics, Computer Science and Finance, poetry is her number one passion.

Kalyre Slam

Kalyre Slam is a Cameroonian slam poet who regularly performs on local and international stages. Kalyre Slam is the winner of the Chanson pour l’education or Song for Education Competition organized by the Swiss based NGO Enfants du Monde. He is also the president of the Association De la Promotion Des Arts Urbains in Mali.

Loyce Gayo

Loyce Gayo was born in Tanzania and is currently pursuing a degree in African and African Diaspora Studies with a Minor in Mathematics at the University of Texas in Austin. Gayo’s time in the diaspora and her constant desire to go home has profoundly influenced her craft. Gayo was the Slam Champ of the UT Spitshine Poetry Slam team who won the 2014 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational in Boulder Colorado. Gayo currently serves as a member of the Austin TheySpeak Youth Slam that will be competing in the 2014 Brave New Voices in Philadelphia.

Sindisiwe Getrude Mbombi

Sindisiwe Getrude Mbombi was born and bred in Mpumalanga province, residing under Nkomazi Municipality in the village called Masibekela. She started writing for fun way back in the early 1990’s, but this hobby soon turned into a great passion. Ligwalagwala FM, a local radio station in her province, has featured her poetry on numerous occasions. She recently published two books titled Tsatsa Umtsamo volume 1 & 2. She is currently in the process of completing volume 3 and 4.

Deanna Rodger

Deanna Rodger is an actor and spoken word poet. She is the youngest UK Poetry Slam Champion (2007/8) and completed vocational acting training in The National Youth Theatres (NYT) REP Company 2012.

She has written and performed as a poet and actor in 2012 Olympic Team Welcome Ceremonies (NYT commission), Buckingham Palace (NYT commission), Speakers House (NYT commission), 10 Downing street (somewhere to_ commission) and Honey Coated Dream (Lyric Hammersmith commission) as well as delivering two TedX performances (Southwark and EastEnd). She has recently completed the audio book recording of ‘Feral Youth’ by Polly Courtney and is currently writing her one woman show ‘LondonMatter’ which has received support from POP Productions (IdeasTap, Sky Arts), Roundhouse Camden, The Albany and the Arts Council.

She is co founder of two popular spoken word events Chill Pill and Come Rhyme With Me (Spread the Word, New Writing South) and is in poetry collectives: Point Blank Poets (Biennale UK Artist International award 2011) and Keats House Poetry Forum, as well as leading on Podium Poets (Spread The Word) and workshops in and around the UK.

M. Ayodele Heath

An Atlanta native, M. Ayodele Heath is a top-10 finisher at the National Poetry Slam. A graduate of the MFA program at New England College, his honors include: a McEver Visiting Chair in Writing at Georgia Tech, an Emerging Artist grant from the Atlanta Bureau for Cultural Affairs, and a fellowship to the Caversham Center for Artists in South Africa.

Ayodele has been a featured performer at such venues as the National Black Arts Festival, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and the TurnerSouth ‘My South Speaks’ television campaign, as well as universities and festivals across America. His first book, Otherness, is available from Brick Road Poetry Press.

Amira Ali

Amira is a creative artist, poet, writer and educator, born in Ethiopia, based in the U.S.

She focuses on using creative mediums as a narrative tool, with a particular interest in alternative narratives of the global south: “owning and telling our ‘own’ stories while advocating for viewing ourselves through our own lenses, recognizing that stories are born with a right to be told”. Her creative artistry deals with promoting the African cultural aesthetics, documenting narratives of journey -stories we live in. While producing and curating these stories, she hopes to assess social issues, explore the beauty of arts, culture, and wisdom of the global south, in connection to the world.

She is a regular contributor to Pambazuka News and chief writer, as well as editorial team member at AfricaSpeaks4Africa.org. She is currently at work on, in collaboration with a South African poet and Kenyan writer, producing Podcast stories (Afro’pick and coffee) that accentuates the everyday stories of the African disaporans, residing in America.

Ambluk Banda

Banda is the DCES for Quality Assurance under the Mpumalanga Department of Education.
He has been writing since 1977 and has since then published various articles, essays, books, and poems. His current collection of poetry entitled Poems and Stories from the Countryside, is due to be published in 2015.

Hazel Tobo

Hazel Tobo also known as Fasaha Mshairi was born in Tembisa Gauteng but grew up in Polokwane Limpopo. She started writing at the age of 11 and writing has since grown into a great passion. She has a published an audio book entitled Have we put out the fire? compiled in collaboration with SHINDIG AWE. She has performed at a number of events in her home province Limpopo, including Kgorong Poetry and Sound, Arts summit, Woman’s Conference, and Fire on the Mountain Annual Festival.

She has also performed outside of Limpopo; she slammed at the 2014 Windybrow Theater Freedom Friday Poetry Festival, she has also taken part in UJ’s events as a resident poet, performed at The Izimbongi Festival 2013 and Poetry Africa Slam 2013. She plays the recorder and harmonica and also does photography as a hobby

Collin the Bushman

Collin the Bushman is an Attaqua bushman from a town called Dysselsdorp, on the outskirts of Oudsthoorn. He grew up in the Boland, Worcester area.

A poet, artist, bushman-blues/folk singer and musician, he is passionate about what he does. Part of his journey has been to rediscover his Khoikhoi roots. Living in a culturally diverse South Africa has inspired Collin to theme his work under the bushman heritage and culture.

Collin has been in the music and poetry industry since 1995. He started out in the hip-hop scene with the help of Black noise, P.O.C, Brasse van die Kaap, and Hip crew. He started out as a B- boy/MC, the culture of self-expression through music & art really inspired Collin to voice issues that were and are still relevant today. The issues addressed in his music & poetry are mostly around cultural & community awareness.

In 2011 Collin met up with rapper/artist/performer Jitsvinger, which led him to also working with the great spirit Jethro Louw aka Tannaman !xam. Combining his work with Jitsvinger and Jethro really took the poetry to a whole new level of Khoikhoi-culture awareness.

Peggie “Umind” Shangwa

Peggie Shangwa known as Umind is a spoken word artist who thrives on word passion and speaks her mind in connection with her spirit, laying down heart issues on any platform. She is a performance poet as well as a slam poet. She started performing poetry in October 2012 at the House of Hunger Poetry Slam and has graced platforms like FLAME PAMBERI’s Sistaz Open Mic, International Poetry Celebrations, national television, national radio stations to name just but a few. Peggie has also performed at the National youth Slam at Shoko Festival 2012 and Jacaranda Young Women’s Festival in 2013. She opened for Grammy nominee, Da TRUTH at his Love, Hope and War Tour Africa and featured in a music album with Zimbabwean Artist Ney. Some of her poetry has been published in Nigeria and in local Magazine, The Voice.

 

Matshedisho Aletta Motimele

Matshedisho Aletta Motimele has been writing poetry for over two decades. She is the author of Peu tsa lerato and Re thankgetse. This talented actor and playwright has also written for radio and television productions.

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first African-American poet to garner national critical acclaim. Born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1872, Dunbar penned a large body of dialect poems, standard English poems, essays, novels and short stories before he died at the age of 33. His work often addressed the difficulties encountered by members of his race and the efforts of African-Americans to achieve equality in America. He was praised both by the prominent literary critics of his time and his literary contemporaries.

Dunbar was born on June 27, 1872, to Matilda and Joshua Dunbar, both natives of Kentucky. His mother was a former slave and his father had escaped from slavery and served in the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and the 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry Regiment during the Civil War. Matilda and Joshua had two children before separating in 1874. Matilda also had two children from a previous marriage.

The family was poor, and after Joshua left, Matilda supported her children by working in Dayton as a washerwoman. One of the families she worked for was the family of Orville and Wilbur Wright, with whom her son attended Dayton’s Central High School. Though the Dunbar family had little material wealth, Matilda, always a great support to Dunbar as his literary stature grew, taught her children a love of songs and storytelling. Having heard poems read by the family she worked for when she was a slave, Matilda loved poetry and encouraged her children to read. Dunbar was inspired by his mother, and he began reciting and writing poetry as early as age 6.

Dunbar was the only African-American in his class at Dayton Central High, and while he often had difficulty finding employment because of his race, he rose to great heights in school. He was a member of the debating society, editor of the school paper and president of the school’s literary society. He also wrote for Dayton community newspapers. He worked as an elevator operator in Dayton’s Callahan Building until he established himself locally and nationally as a writer. He published an African-American newsletter in Dayton, the Dayton Tattler, with help from the Wright brothers.

His first public reading was on his birthday in 1892. A former teacher arranged for him to give the welcoming address to the Western Association of Writers when the organization met in Dayton. James Newton Matthews became a friend of Dunbar’s and wrote to an Illinois paper praising Dunbar’s work. The letter was reprinted in several papers across the country, and the accolade drew regional attention to Dunbar; James Whitcomb Riley, a poet whose works were written almost entirely in dialect, read Matthew’s letter and acquainted himself with Dunbar’s work. With literary figures beginning to take notice, Dunbar decided to publish a book of poems. Oak and Ivy, his first collection, was published in 1892.

Though his book was received well locally, Dunbar still had to work as an elevator operator to help pay off his debt to his publisher. He sold his book for a dollar to people who rode the elevator. As more people came in contact with his work, however, his reputation spread. In 1893, he was invited to recite at the World’s Fair, where he met Frederick Douglass, the renowned abolitionist who rose from slavery to political and literary prominence in America. Douglass called Dunbar “the most promising young colored man in America.”

Dunbar moved to Toledo, Ohio, in 1895, with help from attorney Charles A. Thatcher and psychiatrist Henry A. Tobey. Both were fans of Dunbar’s work, and they arranged for him to recite his poems at local libraries and literary gatherings. Tobey and Thatcher also funded the publication of Dunbar’s second book, Majors and Minors.

It was Dunbar’s second book that propelled him to national fame. William Dean Howells, a novelist and widely respected literary critic who edited Harper’s Weekly, praised Dunbar’s book in one of his weekly columns and launched Dunbar’s name into the most respected literary circles across the country. A New York publishing firm, Dodd Mead and Co., combined Dunbar’s first two books and published them as Lyrics of a Lowly Life. The book included an introduction written by Howells. In 1897, Dunbar traveled to England to recite his works on the London literary circuit. His national fame had spilled across the Atlantic.

After returning from England, Dunbar married Alice Ruth Moore, a young writer, teacher and proponent of racial and gender equality who had a master’s degree from Cornell University. Dunbar took a job at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. He found the work tiresome, however, and it is believed the library’s dust contributed to his worsening case of tuberculosis. He worked there for only a year before quitting to write and recite full time.

In 1902, Dunbar and his wife separated. Depression stemming from the end of his marriage and declining health drove him to a dependence on alcohol, which further damaged his health. He continued to write, however. He ultimately produced 12 books of poetry, four books of short stories, a play and five novels. His work appeared in Harper’s Weekly, the Sunday Evening Post, the Denver Post, Current Literature and a number of other magazines and journals. He traveled to Colorado and visited his half-brother in Chicago before returning to his mother in Dayton in 1904. He died there on Feb. 9, 1906.

Mirna Kabwe

Mirna Kabwe is a 22 years old born in the DRC but based in Johannesburg South Africa. She is currently a third year student at the University of Monash studying computer sciences. She enjoys writing and listening to poetry. One of her poems was published in Sakaza Mngani (A Kidz Community Radio Handbook) in 2007.

Makosha Valencia Dimo

Born and breed in the South African province of Limpopo, Mmakosha is a multi-talented artist who practices various art forms including singing, acting, and writing and reciting poetry. She has performed across numerous stages around the country. She is also the admin officer for The Polokwane-based, Timbila Poetry Project, alongside renowned South African poet Vonani Bila.

Titilope

When Titilope first stepped to the microphone in 2007 at a local open mic, to gracing stages from Lagos to Cape Town, New York to California, Edmonton to Toronto and places in between, her goal has been to remind people that the ties that bind us transcend all of the borders we have created. She will tell you that no poem is brand new. In the telling and re-telling we are reminded that someone has walked this path before.

Titilope is a Nigerian born civil engineer, author and spoken word poet and the winner of the 2011 Canadian Authors’ Association Emerging Author Award for her first collection of poems, Down To Earth. In 2013 Titilope released her first spoken word album Mother Tongue and her second collection of poetry, Abscess, in 2014 with Geko Publishing in South Africa.

She was a resident artist at the 2011 Yemoya Artist Residency under the mentorship of acclaimed Jamaican-Canadian Dub poet and educator, D’bi Young. She was the recipient of the 2013 RISE award for achievement in the arts and the 2014 National Black Coalition of Canada Fil Fraser Award.

She has featured on stages across Canada and internationally, performing with Sonia Sanchez, Jayne Cortez, Yusef Komunyakaa, Obiora Odechukwu, Bassey Ikpi, Twin Poets and Offiong Bassey, at the 2011 Achebe Colloquium on Africa at Brown University. In 2013, Titilope was selected from over 200 writers to meet legendary poet and author, Dr. Maya Angelou.

She is the creator of Rouge Poetry, a weekly open mic that has feature local and international poets and musicians for over 5 years. She is the founding member of the Breath In Poetry Collective, home of the 2011 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word (CFSW) championship winning Edmonton Slam Team. Titilope also adds acting to her list of accomplishments, starring as Eki in the Ndani TV hit series, Gidi Up that will air across Africa in 2014.

Even with the soil of continents beneath her feet, the stories that are surer with each passing year, she has not forgotten where it all began. She will tell you it is simple; when your heart is cracked open and a multitude of words begin to leak from your chest, before you stain everything you dare to touch, put it in a poem.

Dawn Garisch

Dawn Garisch has had five novels, a collection of poetry Difficult Gifts and a memoir/popular science work Eloquent Body published. Both short stories and poetry have been published in anthologies, journals and magazines. She has had a short play and short film produced, and has written for television and newspapers. Three of her novels have been published in the UK.

In 2007 her poem Blood Delta was awarded the DALRO prize. In 2010 Trespass was short-listed for the Commonwealth prize for fiction in Africa, and in 2011 her poem Miracle won the EU Sol Plaatjie Poetry Award.

Her interest in interdisciplinary work in all art forms and psychology has led to her running both memoir writing and creative method courses. She is a practising medical doctor and lives in Cape Town.