Sweden_South Africa Poetry Exchange 2018 Phase 3

The third phase of the Sweden_South Africa Poetry Exchange facilitated by Hear My Voice and made possible by the Embassy of Sweden in Pretoria, will be taking place from 27th September 2018 to 7th October 2018 in Sweden. The project sees three South African poets; Busisiwe Mahlangu, Phomolo Sekamotho and MoAfrika 'a Mokgathi along with arts administrator Ishmael Sibiya travel to Sweden to partake in various activities over 10 days which include facilitating workshops, feature performances, outreach and open mics in Uppsala, Stockholm and Gothenburg. The previous phases of the project have seen Swedish writers and performers Henry Bowers, Olivia Bergdahl and Amer Sarsour travel to South Africa in February 2018 and then again Swedish writer Athena Farrokhzad in August - September 2018 for similar activities in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Cape Town.

The South African poets will be visiting the Gothenburg University on the 1st of October along with fellow South African poet Koleka Putuma who will also be in the country for the Gothenburg Book Fair. They will facilitate a workshop with students at the University's Valand Academy and later on that evening perform at the Gothenburg Litteraturhuset (House of Literature). From the 4th to 6th October they will be partaking in the Ordsprak International Poetry Festival taking place in Uppsala, Sweden which will also feature poets from the rest of the world including Buddy Wakefield from the USA and D'bi.Young from Jamaica/Canada among others. The poets close off the tour with a performance at the Revolution Poetry Open Mic at the Kulturhuset Stadsteatern - Stockholm House of Culture and City Theater in Stockholm on the evening of the 6th of October.

"At the heart of The Sweden South Africa Poetry Exchange is the making of space for quality poetry; for the writers that will form the canon of tomorrow and for the readers and audience that will be engaged, provoked, and touched. We do this by providing young poets the possibility to step onto international arenas on the other side of the globe." says the Swedish ambassador to South Africa, Cecilia Julin.

Stay up to date with the tour on social media (@HearMyVoiceSA) on: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and the #SE_SA hashtag. The full itinerary will be made available shortly.

The Sweden South Africa Poetry Exchange aims to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, best practices, networks, market growth through the generation of new audiences and provide access to international markets for the participating Swedish and South African writers and performing poets. This phase is Facilitated by Hear My Voice in partnership with the Ordsprak - Uppsala International Poetry Festival, the project is made possible by the Embassy of Sweden in Pretoria through funds from the Swedish Arts Council and the Swedish Institute. Programming partners include the Gothenburg University and Revolution Poetry.

Tour Schedule

Monday 1st October 2018
10:00
Workshop at the Valand Academy at the University of Gothenburg
Venue: University of Gothenburg405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden,
Details: Featuring Koleka Putuma, MoAfrika ‘a Mokgathi, Busisiwe Mahlangu and Phomolo “Flex” Sekamotho
Entry: Open to Valand Academy students only
19:00
Performance at Litteraturhuset, House of Literature
Venue: Göteborgs Litteraturhus Heurlins Plats 1, 413 01 Göteborg, Sweden
Entry: Open to the public
Details: Featuring Koleka Putuma, MoAfrika ‘a Mokgathi, Busisiwe Mahlangu and Phomolo “Flex” Sekamotho

Tuesday 2nd October 2018
18:00
Performance at the Nordic Africa Institute
Venue: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet Villavägen 6, 752 36 Uppsala
Details: spoken word evening at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala. Four poets and artists from South Africa will grab the microphone:
Entry: Free, no need to register https://www.facebook.com/events/284651618808173/?acontext=%7B%22ref%22%3A%2222%22%2C%22feed_story_type%22%3A%2222%22%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D

Wednesday 3rd October 2018
09:00 - 12:00
Performance and Workshop at the Wik Further Education College
Venue: Wik Further Education College, Uppsala
Entry: Open to Wik Students only

Thursday 4th October 2018
19:00
Ordsprak International Poetry Festival: Ordsprak Poetry Slam
Venue: Regina Theatre, Trädgårdsgatan 6, Uppsala
Entry: Free
https://www.reginateatern.se/ordsprak-2018.php

Friday 5th October 2018
19:00
Ordsprak International Poetry Festival: Main Event
Venue: Venue: Regina Theatre, Trädgårdsgatan 6, Uppsala
Details: featuring D'bi.Young (Jamaica/Kanada), Buddy Wakefield (USA), Phomolo Sekamotho (Sydafrika), MoAfrika 'a Mokgathi (Sydafrika), Busisiwe Mahlangu (Sydafrika), Melinda "Dizi" Lönnberg (Finland), Jami Faltin (Sverige), David Väyrynen (Sverige) , Olivia Bergdahl (Sverige) , Oskar Hanska (Sverige), Henry Bowers (Sverige), ÖFA (Sverige), Alma Kirlic (Sverige), Amer Sarsour (Sverige)
Entry: Festival entrance fee: 150 kr (& booking fee 25 kr); under 27 / student: 90 kr (& booking fee 10 kr)
https://www.reginateatern.se/ordsprak-2018.php

Saturday 6th October 2018
19:00
Ordsprak International Poetry Festival: Main Event
Venue: Venue: Regina Theatre, Trädgårdsgatan 6, Uppsala
Details: featuring D'bi.Young (Jamaica/Kanada), Buddy Wakefield (USA), Phomolo Sekamotho (Sydafrika), MoAfrika 'a Mokgathi (Sydafrika), Busisiwe Mahlangu (Sydafrika), Melinda "Dizi" Lönnberg (Finland)
Jami Faltin (Sverige), David Väyrynen (Sverige) , Olivia Bergdahl (Sverige) , Oskar Hanska (Sverige), Henry Bowers (Sverige), ÖFA (Sverige), Alma Kirlic (Sverige), Amer Sarsour (Sverige)
Entry: Festival entrance fee: 150 kr (& booking fee 25 kr); under 27 / student: 90 kr (& booking fee 10 kr)
https://www.reginateatern.se/ordsprak-2018.php
17:00
Performance at Revolution Poetry Open Mic
Venue: Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, Beridarbansgatan 5, 111 51 Stockholm

Participants

Busisiwe Mahlangu

Busisiwe Mahlangu is a multi-award winning poet, TEDxSpeaker and founder of Lwazilubanzi, a community project aimed at making learning fun and accessible in public schools.
Her work converses and interrogates issues around poverty, domestic violence, mental health and survival. She is longlisted for the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award 2. She has performed on stages around South Africa including: The Naked Word Festival (2017), Open Book Festival (2017), Vavasati International Women's Festival (2016), Words In My Mouth Slam Week, Lead SA Changemakers and TEDxPretoria.

In poetry slam competitions, she has attained these titles: winner of the Tshwane Speak Out Loud Youth Poetry Competition (2016/2017), winner of Another Kinda Slam by Mzansi Poetry Academy (2017) and winner of the National Library of South Africa’s Library Week Poetry Slam (2017). Her poetry is published on Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Anthology volume 7, Ja Magazine, Naane Le Moya, Kalahari Review and 'Poems, stories and letters for the rainbow nation' a reading pack for grade 4-9 learners in the Gauteng province. Her work is forthcoming in the Atlanta Review and Best New African Poets 2017 anthology and she is offered a writing residency on Naane Le Moya for the month of April. She is currently studying for a BA in Creative Writing majoring in Linguistics and African Languages at the University of South Africa.

Phomolo "Flex" Sekamotho

Born in a township called Thabong in South Africa, Phomolo Sekamotho, better known as Flex (of He & I) has since been trying to explore and create avenues for poetry within a larger body of music. He & I is a ‘poetry in music’, afro-trip band that create the melodies to supplement the spoken word. The sound is testament to their passion and love for the Mother Continent.
His craft has seen him travel and share all across Southern Africa, Washington DC as well as New York. In 2012 he headlined the House of Hunger Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe. In 2015 he toured the United States of America, performing and facilitating writing workshops in schools across Washington DC. Flex is currently working on a live “poetry in music” album with his 6 piece band. Under the Fly Language and Azania to DC banner, He has facilitated workshops at the Pioneer Academy in Johannesburg as well as Washington DC under the Azania to DC banner, creating channels that serve as a platform for communities of young artists to express and exhibit their creativity, talents, beliefs, history, culture and perspectives.

MoAfrika 'a Mokgathi

Muriel Mokgathi-Mvubu known as MoAfrika ‘a Mokgathi is a South African based multi-faceted artist, who is a performer, Poet, cultural activist, Art-‘preneur, Band leader, award winning radio presenter-Producer and a civic leader amongst many in her talent hat. MoAfrika is known for her Sepedi pen, her fusion of the language with English, fusing with Jazz, soul and kiba rhythms blending with her deep sassy vocals that keep her followers wanting more. MoAfrika started her artistic journey in 1999 professionally in 2005. In the 13 years she has headlined an impressive list within the Music and literary spaces. MoAfrika co-founders art organizations and seats on boards as an executive adding her brick to building a solid industry in South Africa from foundation to professional level which is a rare encounter. MoAfrika is currently working simultaneously on her poetry and jazz debut album “From Mamelodi to Mali’ and a book “My tongue is a rainbow” both to be released when the rain comes.

Ishmael Sibiya

Ishmael Sibiya is an arts facilitator and manager focused on the development of emerging artists specifically within the Literature (Poetry and Spoken Word) industry. He has coordinated, produced and facilitated numerous noteworthy poetry projects namely, The Tshwane Speak Out Loud Youth Poetry competition which is one of the most rewarding poetry competitions in South Africa, awarding over R50 000 in cash prizes and international touring opportunities. He also runs international arts exchanges between South Africa and other countries such as the USA and Sweden. He is a co-founder of Hear My Voice, a South African non-profit organization focused on developing young spoken word artists as well as creating open and uncensored platforms for youth to express themselves through spoken word poetry.