JahRose is a poet, mentor, performer, an author, social entrepreneur and art activist. JahRose Productions is an umbrella where all these come together. She self published and launched her debut poetry compilation book: Rooted from the heart in 2010. She recently published Free State of Mind Anthology, with an audio book and a DVD. Free State of Mind Anthology has subsequently been turned into a documentary.
Artist and Writer Jacqueline Kibacha, also known as the Pretty Poet, has a passion for words and a heart to raise the voice of the voiceless. As a creative strategist she uses her poetry to document and respond to the tensions that occur in the world around her and the human soul within.
Originating from Tanzania, living in the Middle East and currently settling in United Kingdom, Jacqueline Kibacha has gained an understanding of issues faced by her brothers and sisters across continents in the light of different cultures, faiths, relationships and politics. It’s hard to be exposed to so many places and not gain a love and appreciation of the colours, textures and rhythms and sounds from East to West. All of these are incorporated in her poetry and music.
Her pre-poetry performance background is in acting and singing. Being a soloist in various choirs, classical to gospel, and also the lead female vocalist of a reggae-funk band that was born in the North East of England. Her creative influences include artists such as Lauryn Hill and Nina Simone who match the weight and richness of their voice with lyrical content that is thought provoking and socially aware.
Kibacha has been a newspaper columnist but has also studied and enjoyed creative writing and is fascinated by the power of words. Through organising music events she has cultivated an eclectic taste in music, which fuelled experimentation that started with sounds and words. In her pieces she fuses the love for words with music, collaborating with DJs, musicians and producers to create poetry with a purpose beyond words on a page.
With a professional background in project planning and community development Jacqueline Kibacha works with like-minded organisations to set up projects that use creativity to address needs, gaps, issues and obstacles in the community.
Jumi who holds qualifications in Dental Surgery and Medical Informatics is the Creative Enthusiast behind IMOLE, Jumi’s Spoken Cabaret is an innovative compilation of ten inspirational tracks of ironic weaves of recitals, songs, poetry, word games, wit, metaphors and subtleties set to varying genres of music.
Jumi sees poetry as a fascinating tool that gives expression to a passionate and unorthodox voice. She clearly feels very much a part of her audience and believes that in listening incisively they will find twists, turns and whimsies of our collective destiny food for inspired thought.
A “proudly Nigerian” poet, vocalist and lyricist with a tender tough stripe of cultural louche and spiritual commentary, Jumi’s artistic style is bold and imaginative with a conversational voice that sounds almost reticent.
In Jumi’s Spoken Cabaret, she maximizes this compelling and inimitable style to ride hot currents for the pain and pleasure of swooping around spiritual, pure, social, maternal and fragile subjects. Whilst doing this, she clings to images of reality that are firmly embedded in what she perceives to be the public’s consciousness, acknowledging issues people feel they are familiar with or can relate to, offering a speculative but entirely plausible view.
Exposure to Yoruba griot sounds, classical forms of music plus a need for and hunger to express truth’s tale becomes tension released in distinct ways in each of the ten tracks on the CD. From deep sentiments to an indigenous groove set to a lush vocal background to epics of gratitude carrying a sensual earthiness, the entire production is a consolidation of international and traditional styles fused into a deeply personal approach.
Jumi is happily married to her friend Kola and has three daugthers.
Jon Goode is an Emmy nominated writer raised in from Richmond, VA and currently residing in Atlanta, GA. Jon’s work has been featured in CNN’s Black in America, HBO’s Def Poetry, BET’s Lyric Café and TVOne’s Verses and Flow. Jon has also written radio commercials for McDonalds, print ads for Nike, and appeared in commercials, vignettes and interstitials for Chick-Fil-A and TVLand/ Nick @ Nite. In 2006 Jon’s work with Nick @ Nite earned him an Emmy nomination alongside the 2006 Promax Gold award for best copyright North America.
Jimmy Rage is a visual artist, performer and writer. He has had live poetry and art performances in the Netherlands, Belgium, U.K. and the U.S. and participated in group exhibitions all over the world.
Jimmy Rage has been a regular contributor to the KAGABLOG since its beginnings in 2005. Daily updates feature the poetry, short stories and artwork of Jimmy. Other work includes Jazzing through the Ages Liner notes for the John Coltrane Tribute Album – produced by Kindred Spirits. Jimmy Rage is also a regular contributor to CLAM Magazine in Paris. His latest contributions include the following: Growing Up – Selection of short stories and poems published in CLAM Magazine fall/winter edition 2007/8 and Escape – short story: When I Was in the Bush published in CLAM Magazine spring/summer edition 2007.
Born and raised in the Eastern Cape, Jessica Mbangeni is one of South Africa’s most sought after female Imbongi (praise singer), and has made her mark in male dominated cultural terrain. Invoking the role of this ancient tradition, largely influenced by her grandmother’s isiXhosa storytelling in the village of Nqamakwe, she offers insightful commentary on contemporary affairs. She has performed alongside numerous musical icons, such as Dolly Rathebe and Dorothy Masuka.
Jesse writes under the pseudonym William Saint George. He is a Computer Science major at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology with an avid interest in the arts and global issues, history, and diplomacy. He is also am an amateur photographer and a blogger.
Growing in the towns of Mombasa, Nakuru and Nairobi City, Jemedari is a spoken word poet and Hip Hop artiste. Having involved himself in poetry from school level competitions, his style is a gritty mix of English and coastal Swahili. His focus on topics is mainly politics and social justice, with the occasional dabbling in matters of the heart.
Jane Okot P’ Bitek Langoya is a Ugandan poet and is one of the children of legendary poet Prof. Okot P’ Bitek (RIP). She is a lawyer by training and holds a MBA (entrepreneurship and business venturing). Her love for poetry started way back during her secondary school days where she would compose poetry and plays for the schools talent shows.
Her poetry was nurtured particularly by her beloved Head Mistress Sr. Cormack Cephas, who went as far as declaring that if she did not want to study literature in ‘’A’ levels then she should go to another school. At that time she was interested in sciences with a view to becoming a doctor. However this was one of the best schools in Uganda so the Head Mistress’s wish became her command.
Her greatest inspiration and influence was her father from whom she adopted the ‘song’ style of poetry. She is a published poet, Song of Farewell, and currently has an unpublished manuscript. Her poetry covers political and social issues, especially those that touch human beings and the rhythm of nature.
Jamala Safari is a writer and a poet based in Cape Town. This DRC native has been writing since the age of 12. He is the author of a collection of poems called Tam-Tam Sings. His debut novel The Great Agony and Pure Laughter of the Gods is a story about 15 year-old Ristro and his journey through the war-stricken Congo.
Jacques Coetzee tutored English literature at the Universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch for several years before becoming a full-time poet and musician. In 2003, he obtained an M.A. Degree in Creative Writing from the University of Cape Town with a collection of poems entitled Singing Through. His English translation of Eugene N. Marais’ Dwaalstories, published by Human and Rousseau as The Rain Bull and Other Tales from the San in 2009, was nominated for the 2009 SATI Award for Outstanding Translations and Dictionaries.
In June 2008 he performed at the Grahamstown Arts Festival alongside Tossie van Tonder in an improvisational piece called Intiem Et Cetera, making use of both movement and voice. Together with poet Barbara Fairhead he is currently involved in a musical project, Red Earth & Rust, which released its first album of original songs, Look For Me, in 2008.
Lyrical poet and musician, Jacques Coetzees poems are born out of the need to surprise himself now and then. In his words: “Writing them is like taking a walk without knowing where it will lead”. His evocative and sensory poetry comes from a desire to bring attention to the place where the inner experience and the world meet.
Jacob Oketch is a poet and a freelance journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. He has been performing and writing poetry for almost a decade. At the moment,he is preparing to publish his first collection of poetry. He is also in the process of releasing a poetry CD that features other two poets from the East Africa region.
Oketch is a postgraduate student in journalism at the University of Nairobi. He has worked with a number of foreign and local cultural institutions to promote and publicise poetry including Goethe institute Nairobi, Italian institute of Culture Nairobi, and Kwani Trust. He has featured as a backup vocalist in a Kenyan musician’s CD besides also previously featuring in an acapella group. In addition, he has also acted in plays staged by theatre groups in Kenya, most notably the University of Nairobi free travelling theatre. He has written articles for various magazines published in Nairobi.
Credentials
* Emeritus Professor of English and Creative Writing, University of Cape Town
* Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, UK
Occupations
* Poet and Writer of Fiction
* Vice-President of the SA PEN Centre
* Literary Patron of New Contrast magazine – together with Andre Brink, Nadine Gordimer, JM Coetzee, Dan Jacobson, Zakes Mda & Zoe Wicomb
Publications
* Collections of Poetry
o Drive of the Tide (1976)
o New-Born Images (1991)
o Mulberries in Autumn (1996)
o The Living and the Dead: Selected and New Poems 1976-2005 (2005)
o Where the Wind Wills (2011)
* Works of Fiction
o Testimony – a novel(1992)
o African Tales from Shakespeare – short stories (1999)
Literary Prizes
* SANLAM National Literary Competition (1989)
* The Heinemann/Weekly Mail Literary Award (1990)
* The Arthur Nortje Memorial Award (1991)
Greg Frankson (a.k.a. Ritallin) is a spoken word artist, arts educator, creative services consultant, writer and social activist based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Greg is a former National Director and currently the Vice-Chair (Communications) for Spoken Word Canada, organizers of the annual Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. He was the Spoken Word Curator for Westfest for four years and is a co-founder of the award-winning Capital Slam poetry series. He is a roster member for two arts education organizations – MASC, based in Ottawa, and Toronto-based Prologue to the Performing Arts – and a member of the League of Canadian Poets.
Ritallin self-published a political poetic memoir entitled The Halifax Chronicles in 2006 and has released two poetry chapbooks – Coast Poems in 2008 and Mindfull in 2010. His debut poetry collection Cerebral Stimulation was released by BeWrite Books in 2006, and he was included in an anthology of spoken word poetry by Quattro Books entitled Mic Check in 2008. He released the CDs Capital Thoughts in 2005, Poet Psychology Volume I in October 2010 and Poet Psychology Volume II in January 2011. Ritallin appeared on the track Can You Feel It? on the 2007 CD It’s Great to be Fine by Ropeadope Records jazz-ambient band Antizario and the track Uncomfortable by Inuit hip-hop/spoken word artist M.O. in 2009.
Gloria D. Gonsalves is a creative writer and founder of World Children’s Poetry Day (WoChiPoDa), an initiative aimed at instilling the love of poetry in young people. Her work has appeared in various literary magazines, platforms and journals. Occasionally, she writes opinion pieces for newspapers.
Her literary works aim at supporting humanitarian related projects and creativity in others, especially children, by having them participate through drawings or stories. Her aspiration is to see more writers give back as profiled at Read A Book, Make A Difference (RABMAD).
Gloria’s mission as a writer is in paving the way for those seeking creativity in writing without paying attention to societal expectations. You might find her in unexpected spaces because she sees it as her job to show aspiring writers that possibilities exist. She does not procrastinate or allow man-made excuses such as it is not African. Even if it is not, she will be the African in it.
She holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Environmental Sciences, a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Tourism Marketing and a Diploma (S.A.C Dip) in Professional Proofreading and Editing.
Gloria is from Tanzania, has lived in Ireland and currently resides in Germany.
You can find her online at www.auntieglo.com
Iconic and award-winning Kwazulu-Natal storyteller and poet, Gcina Mhlophe has been writing and performing for over twenty years. Known for her engaging stage presence, she has written numerous award-winning childrens books as well as poetry, short stories and plays, including Nozincwadi Mother of Books, African Mother Christmas, Fudukazi’s Magic and Love Child. Gcina Mhlophe has received Honorary Doctorates from the London Open University as well as the University of Natal and awards from BBC Africa Service for Radio Drama, The Fringe First Award in the Edinburgh Festival, the Josef Jefferson Award in Chicago, and OBBIE in New York. Her work has contributed to the revival of indigenous storytelling in South Africa.
Gabeba is the author of the poetry collections The Dream in the Next Body (2005), The Museum of Ordinary Life (2005), and A hundred silences (2006). The Silence Before Speaking, a volume of her poetry translated into Swedish, is published by Tranan publishers. The Dream in the Next Body was named a Notable Book of 2005 by the Sunday Independent in South Africa and was a Sunday Times Recommended Book. A hundred silences was short-listed for the 2007 University of Johannesburg Prize and the 2007 Olive Schreiner Award.
In 2005, Gabeba received the DaimlerChrysler Award for South African Poetry and held the Guest Writer Fellowship at the Nordic Africa Institute, the second person after Ama Ata Aidoo to receive this honour. In 2008, Gabeba was the recipient of a Civitella Ranieri Fellowship in Italy and a Writer’s Residency at the University of Witwatersrand. Gabeba has read at international literary festivals such as Winternachten in the Netherlands, Poetry International in Rotterdam and London, the Calabash Literary Festival in Jamaica, the Stockholm Poetry Festival, the Bristol Poetry Festival, the Franschhoek Literary Festival, Spier and Poetry Africa. Her fiction appears in Chimurenga, Twist (Oshun, 2006), Cape Town Calling (Tafelberg, 2007) and Art South Africa (6.2, Dec 2007). Gabeba is also a scholar, and writes for the media. Details of her academic writing and her articles in Newsday, the Sunday Independent, Mail & Guardian, Oprah and Real Simple magazines can also be found on gabeba.com.
Gus Ferguson has been writing poetry for the past 20 years and has acted as a publisher of mainly South African poets since 1979.
He has several collections published by a broad range of publishers – his latest collection Holding Pattern was published in 2009.
He is the recipient of a Molteno Silver medal and the English Academy Gold medal, both for services to poetry and as a poet.
Grandmaster Masese is a Kenyan poet, actor, and writer as well as a Fahamu Pan African Fellow on Social Justice. He is also an Obokano player – a traditional harp from the Gusii community in western Kenya. Masese has performed in festivals across Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, India, The UK and Tanzania. He has been featured in numerous Kenyan online magazines. He has a band called Ritongo Afrika and is also a member of the Mstari wa Nne poetry group and Al Hazira FM comedians. He currently has three students who he teaches to play the Obokano – two young girls and the renowned poet and visual artist Mama Charlotte Hill O’neal.
Gert Vlok Nel came to the attention of South Africans in 1994 with his debut work Om te Lewe is Natuurlik (To Live is Natural), for which he received the coveted Ingrid Jonker Prize for exceptional debut poetry. Vlok Nel paints personal portraits of his childhood in Beaufort-West and writes lyrics that are of a haunting, bewitching, almost hypnotic quality in unusual, innovative Afrikaans.
Genna Gardini is a writer based in Cape Town. She won the 2012 DALRO New Coin Poetry prize and was chosen as one of the Mail & Guardian’s Top 200 Young South Africans for 2013. Gardini has had two plays produced at the National Arts Festival, WinterSweet(2012) and Scrape (2013), both of which won Standard Bank Ovation awards. She was selected for the Royal Court Theatre’s South African Playwright 2013 – 2014 programme. Her work as a poet has been published widely, both locally and internationally. She works as an arts writer for various publications, including the Cape Times. Gardini is currently completing her MA in Theatre-making (Playwriting) at UCT.
Gail Dendy has published seven collections of poetry, her most recent being Closer Than That (Johannesburg: Dye Hard Press, 2011). Her first collection, published by Harold Pinter, was Assault and the Moth, Greville Press (UK) 1993. This was followed by People Crossing (Snailpress, 1995), Swimming in the Long Dark Sound (Stride, UK, 1998, Painting the Bamboo Tree (Arc, UK, 1999), The Poetry of Norman Corwin and Gail Dendy (Shirim, USA, 2002), and The Lady Missionary (Kwela/Snailpress, 2007). Her poetry regularly appears in journals and anthologies both in SA and overseas.
Throughout the 1980s and early ’90s Gail pioneered Contemporary Dance in South Africa and was nominated for the inaugural AA Vita Award for Best Performer. In her writing career, she was a Finalist in the South African Science Fiction Society’s Short Story competition, 1992; Finalist, Dalro Award 2007, Winner of the “Playwriting” category, SA PEN Millennium Competition, 2000; and Joint Winner of the cash prize for the Herman Charles Bosman Literary Award, 2008. She has also been long-listed for the Plough Prize (UK, 2008), shortlisted for the Thomas Pringle Award for Prose (Category: Short Story), 2010, and shortlisted for the EU/Sol Plaatje Poetry Prize in both 2011 and 2012.
The most recent anthologies to feature Gail Dendy’s work are: Anthony Astbury (ed) A Field of Large Desires (Manchester: Carcanet, 2010; Liesl Jobson (compiler) The Sol Plaatje/European Union Poetry Anthology 2011 (Cape Town: Jacana, 2011), and Patricia Schonstein Pinnock (ed) Africa, My Africa! (African Sun Press, 2013), and Harry Owen (ed) For Rhino in a Shrinking World: An International Anthology (East London, SA: The Poets Printery, 2013).
Over the years Gail has worked, inter alia, as a university lecturer, copywriter, and radio news writer. She is currently the Information Specialist for an international corporate-law firm.
Gail is passionate about environmental- and animal-rights issues. She lives in Johannesburg together with her husband, pets, a law library, and a collection of ballet, dance, classical, and Rock ‘n Roll CDs and DVDs.
G.O is a Cape Town based poet who has performed at places such as Touch of Madness, Tagore’s, and Zula Sound Bar. He has appeared on Bush Radio, UCT Radio and Vibe Radio. He has been published in IAM Magazine, Zazi Magazine and IMBO Online Magazine.
He coaches a poetry team called Word of Mouth that won an entry to compete in the Annual Brave New Voices Slam Poetry Competition in the United States.
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Ewok — a.k.a. Iain Gregory Robinson, Creamy Ewok Baggends, Hused Whut? and more — is a star in the South African Hip Hop scene. He has been seen and heard at numerous, sold-out shows in his hometown, Durban, and in Cape Town and Johannesburg. He has appeared in numbers of countries overseas. He has been widely praised by the public and the press for his spellbinding verbal control, gripping imagery, forceful vision, sharp insights, and critical voice.
Pimp My Poetry is the second collection of Ewok’s performances on stage brought to the page—it follows his very successful Word: Customized Hype, published in 2007 by Echoing Green Press.Pimp My Poetry had an electrifying launch at the Schools Festival, after the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, where he had again performed to much acclaim.
Ewok is a performance poet of a rare kind—his words really deserve close attention. Those who see and hear him perform are eager to capture his verbal dexterity on the page. His popularity as a Spoken Word Artist, MC and SLAM Champion continues to rise nationally in South Africa and globally.
Evans Nganga is a Kenyan contemporary artist, dancer, poet, yoga instructor and beadwork craftsman who concentrates on performing arts based on African traditions and modern art. The past few years have included months of varied art projects, workshops and performances with both local and international artists, choreographers and dancers and travel for research and performances.
He has received his artistic academic training through open forums, seminars and self study, while practical training included dance workshops and apprenticeship receiving instructions in choreography and electronic media at the tertiary level. Evans has choreographed a Solo Dance Piece titled the poem performed at Encounters from Africa festival, the annual festival of solos and duests at Goethe Institute in Nairobi and Dance Week in Kampala, Uganda.
Affectionately known to her fans as ‘Ernie’, Ernestine Deane gained huge popularity in South Africa as lead vocalist for S.A. super group, Moodphase5ive.
Having released two albums with the live hip-hop band, Steady On and In Superdeluxe Mode and with several performances on local and international recordings, she independently released her debut solo album, Dub for Mama in 2007.
A natural storyteller, Ernestine’s lyrics cut to the bone. It is the combination of her honest song writing skills and unforgettable melodies that earns her royalties off several international and local compilation albums, commercials, soundtracks, documentaries and film scores. Born in 1974, Ernie grew up on the Cape Flats in Grassy Park, Cape Town and started singing professionally with Hip Hop legends, Black Noise, at the tender age of 15. Ernestine is herself a freelance arts journalist, contributing to publications such as the O Mag and South African arts quarterly, Rootz.
She has appeared on several television and radio shows locally and abroad. A former drama student, she put her acting skills to work playing the mother of Twist in the feature film Boy called Twist in 2003, a Cape Town take on the Dickens classic by acclaimed director Tim Greene. Her voice and original music also grace the film score. The film was warmly received at the 2005 Cannes film festival.
Ernestine has collaborated and shared the stage with top S.A. artists as diverse as poet Breyten Breytenbach, Arno Carstens, Mac Makenzie, Blk Sonshine, Hilton Schilder, Tamara Dey, Max Normal, Goddessa, Tasha Baxter, Concorde Nkabinde, Black Coffe, Simphiwe Dana, Barry van Zyl, Freshlyground, and Bongo Maffin. She has supported international artists, African stars: Cesaria Evora, Khadja Nin, Manu Dibango, Ismael Lo, Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela. Poets Sarah Jones, Saul Williams, Jamaican dub poet Mutabaraka. As well as English acts Morcheeba, Basement Jaxx, Mica Paris, Omar and Brand New Heavies. Some of the international festivals she has performed at are the Harlem Jazz Festival, Womad, Hove Live Festival, Pukkelop, Westerpop, Global Connection, The Lowlands Festival and The North Sea Jazz Festival.
During her first pregnancy in 2003, Ernestine was inspired to write an introspective account of her family’s history as landowners in the now affluent Cape Town wine land, Constantia, before they were forcibly removed by the Group Area’s Act instituted by the Apartheid government. This led to collaboration with filmmaker Kali van der Merwe of Otherwise Media to create the musical documentary, Brown. Their combined efforts resulted in a heartwarming and sensitive tale of triumph over suffering as punctuated by Ernie’s lyrics and script. The documentary film premiered at the 2004 Encounters Documentary Festival and garnered prestigious film awards at the 2005 Milano Film Festival in Italy (Best Afro/Asian/Latincategory), the annual Durban Film Festival and the Apollo Film Festival as Best African/South African Documentary. The film has traveled to international film festivals in Zanzibar, Switzerland, Italy, Czech Republic, and Australia and has been licensed for broadcast on SABC, DSTV and CTV.
In 2009 Ernestine produced White Paper Boats- an ongoing healing performance ritual that fuses music and origami-journeying through the impact of the slaveship route to South Africa
Her current projects include working on a second album, writing for her first Afrikaans release, hosting discussions/workshops using the film Brown as a tool to encourage men, women and youth to find their creative expression and explore their heritage as she does in the film, in an effort to better understand the origins of the challenges that face the so-called coloured community today. Ernie is currently fund-raising for her second musical documentary, Arikan Son as she spreads her wings as filmmaker, producing and co-directing the film. One of her well- loved music collaborations is an ongoing project called Womantide, where she joins forces with two other phenomenal female artists: singer/songwriter, Tina Schouw and playwright/performance poet, Malika Ndlovu. Womantide’s debut album, Yemenya’s Call, was launched in August 2009 at the Women Speak Festival, Artscape Theatre, Cape Town.
Born in Nairobi, KENYA, in the late 1980s, Eric begun writing at 16 after being expelled from school. His first piece, A Letter To The Grave, was dedicated to his five-month-old sister who had died suddenly. He has not stopped writing and reciting his work ever since, he believes poetry is his destiny.
Epiphanie Mukusano is originally from Rwanda where she used to be a teacher. She has a Master’s degree in English Literature and now lives as a refugee in Cape Town with her husband and children.
Her poems have been published in Living on the Fence (2007) a collection of writing by women who are refugees from various countries in Africa. Epiphanie contributed When a name is lost to the collection of birth stories Just keep breathing (Jacana, 2008) and Cambridge University Press has published her children’s story Shema and the goat (2009). Epiphanie’s poem comes from her first poetry collection Kilimanjaro on my lap.
Elizabeth is a dynamic and energetic performance poet, short story writer and theatre director. From 2006 to present day Elizabeth has performed her poetry on various stages and at various events in and out of Harare, Zimbabwe. Elizabeth’s short story Positive Death was published in The Zimbabwe Women Writers’ Magazine in 2006.
She also wrote an article entitled Telling our Stories and Perspectives in early 2010 which was on Pepeta blog and was later on published in a MISA-Zimbabwe Magazine called Women Speak. Her short story Radio Culture Is Dead was short listed in the Intwasa Short story competition for the year 2011.
In march 2008 Elizabeth got an opportunity to be part of the cast for a HIFA-DIRECT production Silent Words and from then on the theatre bug had caught, seeing Elizabeth assisting on a production in 2009 and directing two productions in 2010 namely Just Papers and Wedding Day. In 2011 she also took part in the HIFA-DIRECT program as an assistant director for Colours of Dreams. She went on to co-direct a play Miss Julie in June 2012 and also assist in the direction of The Father as part of the August Strindberg project which is carried out by Global Arts Trust and Complete Arts Project.
Elizabeth believes that it is important to know one self, to accept one’s history, the past and the present in this quest for shaping the future.
Evolution is an artist, poet, musician and creative head who credits all her work to her ancestors. She speaks only the truth which they provide. She mediates between the spirit world and that of physical existence.
Known by her stage name Es Taa, Esther Karin Mngodo is a Tanzanian poet based in Dar Es Salaam. At the age of 10 she was encouraged by her mother to join the choir, which she did. As the youngest member at the time, Es Taa started off as a Saprano and later on as an Alto. She recently discovered her Tenor voice in a band that ahe has been part of since 2006. Not only is the 26 year old a poet and a musician, but a journalist, a storyteller, a playwright, a social worker, a song composer and a woman passionate about her faith in God.
In 2011 she co-wrote a Musical Move: The Time is Now that was staged at The National Museum Theatre in Dar Es Salaam. She recently performed her original poems at The Smart Partnership Dialogue Meeting held in Dar es Salaam that was attended by Commonwealth Heads of States and different dignitaries.
Using her own life experience, Es Taa’s passion is to unearth matters that people would rather not talk about openly, to bring healing through authentic lyrics that have been birthed through her own pain, mistakes and the quest of life’s purpose. She also seeks to use art as a tool of social change by addressing issues of human rights and social justice in a way that people can relate to.