Tshwane Speak Out Loud is a youth poetry competition and festival which encourages youth to write and perform poetry that addresses the social issues faced by their communities. now on it's 3rd season, TSOL will see poets stand a chance to win a share of R50 000 in cash prizes. previous winners have also gone on to partake in international exchanges that have seen them travel to perform abroad.
Tshwane Speak Out Loud is a project by the City of Tshwane.
The Tshwane Speak Out Loud Youth poetry competition is open to any youth between the ages of 18 and 35 who reside within the City of Tshwane.
The prizes for the 2017/18 Season of Tshwane Speak Out Loud Youth Poetry Competition are as follows:
The Audition phase for the 2017-18 Season of Tshwane Speak Out Loud is now over.No more registrations will be taken. Please stay tuned for details on when the Semi-finals, FEstival and Grand Finale will be taking place
All events are open to the public to come watch for free.
| EVENT | DATE | TIME | VENUE | FEATURED PERFORMANCE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUDITION 1 | FRI 19TH JANUARY 2018 | 15:00- 19:00 | MAKGOBA SEBOTHOMA HALL. TEMBA | TBA |
| AUDITION 2 | SAT 20TH JANUARY 2018 | 12:00- 17:00 | ES’KIA MPHAHLELE LIBRARY, SAMMY MARKS SQUARE | EMMAH MABYE (2016-17 3RD PLACE WINNER) |
| AUDITION 3 | SUN 21ST JANUARY 2018 | 12:00- 17:00 | MABOPANE INDOOR CENTRE | MWAMBA CHILESHE(2016-17 TOP 5) |
| AUDITION 4 | SAT 27TH JANUARY 2018 | 12:00- 17:00 | OLIEVENHOUTBOSCH COMMUNITY HALL | ANGA MAMFANYA (2016-17 2ND PLACE WINNER) |
| AUDITION 5 | SUN 28TH JANUARY 2018 | 12:00- 17:00 | REFILWE COMMUNITY HALL | BUSISIWE MAHLANGU (CURRENT CHAMPION) |
| AUDITION 6 | SAT 3RD FEBRUARY 2018 | 12:00- 17:00 | MAMELODI WEST COMMUNITY HALL |
TBA |
| AUDITION 7 | SUN 4TH FEBRUARY 2018 | 12:00- 17:00 | ZITHOBENI COMMUNITY HALL, BRONKHORSTSPRUIT | TBA |
| SEMI-FINALS | TBA | 12:00- 17:00 | TBA | TBA |
| TSOL POETRY FESTIVAL | TBA | SEE FESTIVAL SCHEDULE | VARIOUS VENUES | VARIOUS ARTISTS TBA |
| GRAND FINALE | TBA | 12:00 - 17:00 | TBA | VARIOUS ARTISTS TBA |
This Season we will be launching a week long poetry festival during the week leading up to the TSOL Grand Finale. The festival will feature a variety of poets and speakers for events such as performances, workshops and master classes among other activities.
The Tshwane Speak Out Loud Poetry Festival dates will be anounced soon
For the 2017-18 season, Tshwane Speak Out Loud has partnered with non-profit youth poetry organization Hear My Voice and The Embassy of Sweden in Pretoria for the "Sweden_South Africa" Poetry Exchange. This initiative will see Swedish poets Henry Bowers, Amer Sarsour and Olivia Bergdahl travel to Tshwane in February 2018 to partake in the Tshwane Speak Out Loud Poetry Festival and the winner of Tshwane Speak Out Loud 2017-18 season form part of a delegation of poets that will travel to Sweden during the 2nd half of 2018 to perform at the Ordsprak-Uppsala international poetry festival. more details of the exchange can be viewed on the Hear My Voice website.
In past seasons we hosted delegations of poets from Washington DC based social justice and poetry non-profit Split This Rock in Tshwane. They had the opportunity to perform and conduct workshops at various communities within Tshwane in addition to feature performances during the 2015 Tshwane Speak Out Loud Grand Finale which took place at the South African State Theatre on the 8th of August 2015.
In 2016, The 3 Tshwane Speak Out Loud winners along with two finalists had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC on invitation by social justice and poetry non-profit Split This Rock, to participate in their bi-annual Split This Rock Poetry Festival.
find out more about #Tshwane2dc poetry exchange below
