Xabiso Vili

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Speak Out Loud 2015 Champion

Xabiso Vili is a performer, writer, and social activist from South Africa, currently working in the City of Tshwane (Pretoria). His writings help him explore his inner world so as to be able to relate to the outer world. The Pretoria Spoken Sessions Slam League Champion 2015/16 and the Speak Out Loud Youth Poetry Competition Champion 2015, Xabiso has been published in various anthologies and online, including SACE High School anthologies (2008, 2009, and 2010), Black Communion, Poetry Potion, Badilisha Poetry X-Change and most recently, Sky and Dust. He has performed all over South Africa and in the UK, including Cape Town, Grahamstown, Johannesburg, London, and Scotland, on stages such as Writers On Main, Jozi House of Poetry, Tagores, Cuddle Sessions, Melrose Arch, Word N Sound, Rhodes Theatre, the Market Theatre, and opened for Natalia Molebatsi at the State Theatre.

He has a strong belief in art influencing his community positively and thus is constantly working towards creating alternative stages for art to be shared in innovative ways. Xabiso also runs writing, performance, and event organizing workshops. Representing the Eastern Cape in 2011 he placed 2nd in the Lover + Another Regional Poetry Slam. In 2013 he won the Gauteng Regional Slam and came in 3rd in the National Slam (South Africa). The Word N Sound poet of the year for 2014, he placed in the top 3 of the Word N Sound slam finale.

He is currently busy with a collaborative poetic thesis, a poetry record label, a video EP, The Fabric of Ink Project, a one man show entitled “Lovers I Had and Liked” and is open to touring and running living room poetry shows.

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Xitha Makgeta

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Speak Out Loud 2015 2nd place

Born in Mamelodi township, City of Tshwane, Xitha Makgeta is a South African writer, poet, performer and art activist who also experiments with paint and videography. His passion for writing saw him establish a strong presence in the poetry/art scene in the City of Tshwane (Pretoria). This brought opportunities to share his work on the same stages with artists such as Poet Laureate Prof. Keorapetse Kgositsile, Mr. Lefifi Tladi, Ian Kamau, Myesha Jenkins, Natalia Molebatsi, and Hymphatic Thabs.

In 2012, Xitha wrote and produced his first theatre play, Bits and Pieces. He has released 2 EP’s and has poems published in Guillotine Magazine, I Am A Migrant Too (IOM-South Africa), Aerodrome.com, and PoetryPotion.com. He recently came in 2nd place at the Speak Out Loud poetry competition and he’s working on publishing his first collection of poems and rap verses.

DISCOGRAPHY:

• In fragments (E.P) released in 2008
• Rap-Oetree (E.P) released in 2010

OTHER PUBLISHED WORKS:

• (poem) published in Guillotine Magazine.
• Children of the night (poem) published in PoetryPotion.com
• Nostalgic Jazz (poem) published in Aerodrome.com
• Stranger (poem) published in I am a migrant too poetry book (IOM-South Africa)

He`s also performed at various festivals including:

• The Indigenous Languages Festival.
• Grahamstown National Arts Festival
• Amasiko Heritage Festival

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Modise Sekgothe

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Speak Out Loud 2015 3rd Place

Modise Sekgothe is a spoken word artist, actor, playwright, and a voice to be reckoned with in the South African live literature and performance art movement. Initially a member of the University of Johannesburg Poetry Society called “Fore.word Society” in 2010, he now works as an independent artist and has made a name for himself headlining on shows like the DFL Lover And Another Slam Competition and as a guest performer in the regional semi-finals in 2011. He's also appeared at the Izimbongi Poetry Festival in 2012 at the University of Johannesburg Con Cowan Theatre and in 2013 at the University of Johannesburg Arts Centre Theatre.

He performed at the 3rd Annual Word N Sound International Youth Poetry and Live Music Festival in 2013. In addition, Modise performed at the Melville Poetry Festival in 2012 and 2013. He also staged a successful one-man show in association with Word N Sound called Word N Sound Presents: Modise Sekgothe in 2014. He's recently headlined at the afrWEka Poetry Festival in 2015. Modise also co-wrote and starred in a poetry-theatre production called The Funeral which staged at Pop Art Theatre, DFL Sex Actually Festival and Joburg Theatre in 2013. He is co-creator of a collaborative multi-media performance piece called Metropolar, with Tshwane-based visual artist and musician Jotam Schoeman. Metropolar first premiered at Writers on Main held at The Rubix Cube Gallery in 2014. It was followed by a feature at the Atterbury Film Festival 2014 and culminated in a successful two-men show staged at the Market Lab Theatre in June 2015.

As a result of his work, Modise has won the Word N Sound Award for Most Memorable Showcase of the Year (2013) for his showcase at the Word N Sound Series in June 2013 and the Word N Sound Best Showcase Award (2014) for his performance at the Spoken Freedom Festival at the Market Theatre in 2014. His first debut feature in a collaborative poetry anthology is called “Home Is Where The Mic Is” by Botsotso Publishers and is currently available in print.

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Mthunzikazi Mbungwana

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Speak Out Loud 2015 Top 10 finalist

Mthunzikazi A. Mbungwana is a poet, writer who uses her story telling skill as her contribution towards the preservation of indigenous languages, culture and the history of the black nation. She recently published her debut poetry collection titled Umnikelo (2015).

She has contributed to a number of literary journals such as Prufrock, Poetry Potion, Consciousness, Baobab, LitNet, Isolezwe lesiXhosa, Sunday World and recently contributed to a poetry collection published by Botsotso titled, Home is Where The Mic Is (2015).

Mthunzikazi has performed at the 19th Poetry Africa Festival and in various events including headlining the Night of the Poets at the State Theatre in 2013, performing at the Times Live Poetry Showcase, Mo Faya Poetry Movement, Jozi House of Poetry, the South African Literary Awards (2011) and the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute International Women’s Day Celebration (2012).

In between the calls of her fulltime job as the Media and Public Relations Officer for a public entity, she runs schools workshops, perform at corporate events and is one of the founding members of Human4Human conversations through poetry and music, alongside poet-historian Sarah Godsell, poet-writer Vangi Gantsho and musician-teacher Hanna Foster. These conversations have been moulded into a theatre production with the help of industry greats such as Vice Motshabi, Pamela Nomvete and Jefferson Tshabalala. This play has been staged in creative spaces such Jo’burg Theatre, Freedom Station and Gauteng Schools Festival.

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Mantombi Mnculwane

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Speak Out Loud 2015 Top 10 finalist

Mantombi Mnculwane (stage name: Mantombi) is a performing poet and writer who focuses on viewing social and other issues from different perspectives through her poetry. She began my performing career in 2013 where she joined Penseed Poets; a Christian poetry group; where she performed alongside Kabelo KB Kilobyte, Given Illustrative Masilela and other well-known Tshwane.

She performed alongside renowned DC poet Holly Bass and Phomolo Flex Sekamotho at the State theatre Woman’s festival in August of 2013. In 2015 she was a top 10 finalist in the Speak Out Loud Youth Poetry competition where she performed alongside Vangile Gantsho. She's performed alongside KgafelaDa Magogodi; Napo Masheane and Nathi at Night Of The Poets late 2015 at State Theatre. She attended a workshop which had Flo(the poet), Afurakan and Napo Masheane as guest speakers. She is a poet interested in growing in the industry as a performing artist and a writer.

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