September 17, 2007
By Ndaba Dlamini
LOCAL poets will lock horns with international masters of the spoken word at the Speak the Mind poetry sessions in Newtown on 28 and 29 September.
The sessions will take place at the Market Theatre's Main Stage, and are part of the Arts Alive Lockdown Festival.
The People's Poet Mzwakhe Mbuli will 'speak his mind' at the Arts Alive festival
Renowned South African poet Mzwakhe Mbuli, affectionately known as the People's Poet, will lead an impressive line-up of local poets that includes Finuala Dowling, Gcina Mhlophe, Kgafela Oa Magogodi, Lesego Motsepe, Bra Sticks Mdidimba, Mphutlane Wa Bofelo and Makhosazana Xaba.
Mbuli has said the two-day poetry sessions will be his last local public performances, which he is stopping for personal reasons; he will still perform internationally.
Born in Sophiatown, but forced to relocate to Meadowlands, Mbuli was an outspoken opponent of apartheid. During the 1980s he was detained on numerous occasions and survived assassination attempts.
Although his works were banned by the public broadcaster, nevertheless his albums went gold. He has released nine albums and a book called Before Dawn.
An award-winning poet, Dowling has published two volumes of poetry, I Flying in 2002 and Doo-Wop Girls of the Universe in 2006, as well as two novels, What Poets Need and Flyleaf.
She reads her work at both local and international festivals.
International poets billed to perform include Zena Edward from the United Kingdom; Samantha Raheem Thornhill from Trinidad and Tobago; and Korean-American Ishle Yi Park. Poets from other African countries, like Linda Gabriel from Malawi and Sam Farai Monro from Zimbabwe, will join the fray.
The former Poet Laureate of Queens in New York, Yi Park has performed her unique blend of poetry and song in the US, Cuba, Korea, Singapore and New Zealand.
She received the Pen America Beyond Margins award for outstanding writers of colour for her first book, The Temperature of This Water.
She has also performed with artists such as KRS-One, Ben Harper, De La Soul, and Saul Williams.
Arts Alive organisers have promised a special musical performance featuring Yi Park and South African Kora master Pops Mohamed in what is described as "a rare and once-off collaboration". Acclaimed poet Julius Moeletsi, the legendary "Makweru", will host the event and the resourceful Nicky Blumenfeld will provide accompanying tunes.
Entrance to the Speak the Mind poetry sessions is R30. For more information, contact Langa Mancunga on 083 317 6232.
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