Meet the poets at festival
Lebohang 'Nova' Masango is a Swedish-born writer, poet, activist, feminist and speaker.
A SELECT group of poets from South Africa and around the world will gather to showcase the face of present-day spoken word and storytelling at the 19th Poetry Africa Festival, taking place in Durban from 12 to 17 October.
Hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts, Poetry Africa provides a space for intercultural exchange and dialogue.
Evening poetry readings and discussions will take place at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre (Howard College), UKZN. The festival finale will take place on 17 October at the Rivertown Beer Hall in Durban’s CBD, with a closing performance by soulful singer, Nakhane Touré.
This year’s festival features 24 poets, including prolific poet and actress, Lebo Mashile, who was named one of the Top 100 Africans by New African magazine. From abroad comes UK-based Kat Francois, a comedienne, playwright, actress, performer, host, schools and youth facilitator and a well-known performance poet both in her country and globally.
Lebohang ‘Nova’ Masango is a Swedish-born writer, poet, activist, feminist and speaker, also joined by UK-based Ghanaian performance poet, writer and sociocultural commentator, Nii Parkes.
Also from South Africa comes Lesego Rampolokeng, the renowned hard-hitting South African writer, playwright and performance poet. From Durban comes Khanyi Shusha, a diviner, performance art poet, stylist, designer, facilitator, brown consciousness activist, feminist and writer. Numerous other artists will take part in 19th Poetry Africa Festival.
Tickets for the evening sessions, which take place at 7pm at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, are R40 (students/pensioners R25 at the door) and can be purchased through Computicket or one hour before the performance begins at the box-office. Tickets for the festival finale at Rivertown cost R70 (pre-sale) or R80 at the door, and can be purchased at www.computicket.com.
