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16th POETRY AFRICA: International Poetry Festiva |
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Friday, 21 September 2012 11:42 |
Poetry Africa in Durban 15-20 October, Poetry Africa on Tour 6-13 October
The popularity of the spoken word is evident in the powerful performance arc that threads through the 16th edition of Poetry Africa. Music is also a prominent presence in this landmark festival organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal) and made possible through principal funding from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund. Poetry Africa runs in Durban from 15 to 19 October at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, with the festival finale at BAT Centre on 20 October. Satellite events take place in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Cape Town before culminating at the main event in Durban.
Saul Williams
Sure to stir up a storm is Saul Williams, whose innovative work as an actor, poet and musician continues to break new ground on arts stages around the world. The proficiency and originality across different artforms which have established Williams at the cutting-edge of creativity provide a riveting fusion of voice and music artistry on matters of heart, mind and social conscience. Well-known for his breakout role in Slam, Williams has appeared in over ten films and starred in the Senegalese-shot film Tey, which showed at the recent Durban International Film Festival.
Performance Power
Local audiences will be introduced to the avant garde approach of dynamic Jamaican dub poet, prolific playwright, monodramatist and educator D’bi Young, fresh from a TED talk programme in India. Star of the South African hip-hop scene, well-known for imaginative collaborations with artists from a range of disciplines and genres, Tumi will showcase his distinctive individuality, this time without the Volume. There is Cameroon-born Werewere Liking, a legendary poet, musician, painter and cultural activist who established the Ki-Yi artist village in Ivory Coast and top Swedish hip-hop artist Henry Bowers who is also recognized as one of Europe’s leading slam-poets. Bowers is part of a contingent of performance poets coming from Ordsprak Festival in Uppsala, Sweden that includes Oskar Hanska, Sam Kessel, Solja Krapu and Laura Wihlbörg.
Another popular participant is Ewok, not only one of South Africa’s sharpest wordsmiths but also also one of the busiest, active as MC, playwright, actor, teacher, organizer with the LifeCheck movement, and part of hip-hop outfit Illuminating Shadows. The lineup also includes Poppy Seed, a singer and spoken word artist from the UK with a number of cds and poetry publications to her credit; Mbali Vilakazi, who won a gold medal at the recent Poetry Olympics; Gouslaye, a colourful performance poet from Reunion Island; Croc e Moses who combines a guitar and voice approach to his poetry; talented Durban poet Tumelo Khoza who is also organizer of the Cup O’ Thought poetry sessions; and the brilliant Niels Hav from Denmark, whose perceptive poetry is lined with delicious irony.
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Africa Inside Out: Stories, Tales and Testimonies |
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Tuesday, 18 September 2012 14:05 |
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Edited by Michael Chapman
Review by Sephen Coan
 A feature of the annual Time of the Writer Festival run by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts is the opening night when the authors attending are each allowed a few minutes to strut their stuff – a brief advertisement of what they might have to offer in the coming week.
In some respects Africa Inside Out, Michael Chapman’s collection drawn from festival participants, is the equivalent of that opening night in book form. Eighteen writers responded to Chapman’s invitation to submit a story or essay that transcended the ‘images of the global newscast’, what Chapman refers to as ‘CNN Africa’ – the stereotypical images of ‘Big Men, wars, abused women, ravaged children, droughts and floods, disease, starvation, criminality, failed states’.
Ironically, most of the stories turn out to be commentaries on that same CNN Africa – nearly all of the issues listed by Chapman get a mention – there’s nothing rose-tinted on offer here. Elana Bregin’s seemingly whimsical Missing Mama Afrika becomes cautionary parable while Saving Agu’s Wife, Chika Unigwe’s raw tale of a Nigerian woman on the corporate ladder in her own society reduced to being a menial among her fellow Nigerians in exile, uncomfortably echoes Lauretta’s Ngcobo’s recent Prodigal Daughters.
But for the ebullient spirit on display Africa Inside Out would be a depressing affair but each of the contributors tackle the ironies and contradictions of the African experience with a fresh eye, not least Albie Sach’s in his ruminative essay Free Spirits and Ravaged Souls, a valuable addition to the current debate as South Africa present seeks to come to an accommodation with South Africa past.
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Monday, 10 September 2012 16:03 |
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The fate of Zulu in South Africa, where English has become the dominant language, could be compared with that of Gaelic in Ireland.
This was said by Donal McCracken, senior professor at UKZN’s Centre for Communication, Media and Society and “an Irishman in Africa”, at the official opening of the Zulu Literary Museum last week. The museum, which will be housed in the Centre for African Literary Studies (CALS) on the local campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, was opened at the beginning of the 2012 Midlands Literary Festival.
However, though Zulu speakers and readers could learn from what had happened to Gaelic, McCracken said they could take heart from the fact that “Zulu is still widely spoken. It is spoken in the streets, shebeens and supermarkets ... unlike Gaelic it’s not yet an intellectual experiment.”
Read the full article on The Witness ... |
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