In the beginning, there was the word. And the word was caged, shackled by laws inked in the brittle bones of colonialism, bound in the thick ropes of apartheid and its bastard chommies; racism, sexism, xenophobia, classism, political oppression, capitalisms...

Tshegofatjo Makhafola is a poet from Zebediela, Limpopo, currently based in Johannesburg. A writer and spoken word artist, his work explores themes of Blackness and queerness, using vivid imagery to reflect on these experiences. He holds a degree in Mining...

Olive Olusegun is a South African resident, Kenyan-born, Nigerian and multi-disciplinary artist and the current (2024) Poetry Africa Slam Champion. Olive graduated cum laude from the University of Johannesburg School of Architecture in 2022 with a Masters’ thesis on Afromodern...

Poet, Playwright, Novelist For many seasonsOur home layUnder the roof of sorrow. Now I knowThat from a dog’s withered backYou can tell that There’s hunger in a home. South African poet and novelist Mzi Mahola passed away in August 2023. Born in...

Zandile Caroline Sibanda (also known as Zandile Carol) is a Soweto-based spoken word artist of Zimbabwean and Zambian origin. Her inspiration is taken from the likes of William Blake, Emily Brontë, and Sophocles. She considers most of her work as...