The highly anticipated memorial lecture, which honours South Africa’s first National Poet Laureate, Keorapetse Kgositsile, will take place at the Keorapetse Kgositsile Theatre at the University of Johannesburg’s Arts and Culture Centre on the 3rd of October.
It is one of the flagship events of the Poetry Africa festival, which runs from the 3rd to the 15th of October 2024. The third iteration of the memorial lecture will be hosted by Siphindile Hlongwa and presented by Dr Uhuru Phalafala.
More about Dr Phalafala
Dr Phalafala is an artist, a scholar, and currently a senior lecturer in the department of English at the University of Stellenbosch. Her groundbreaking book Keorapetse Kgositsile & the Black Arts Movement: Poetics of Possibility was published by Wits University Press earlier this year. The lecture will explore Kgositsile’s impact on poetry and his contributions to the literary world, featuring reflections and discussions on his enduring influence.
Dr Phalafala is ideally placed to present the lecture, as her wide-ranging book is an insightful excavation of the work of the South African writer, teacher, and activist, popularly known as Bra Willie. Her book reveals the foundational influence of Kgositsile’s mother and grandmother and unveils the importance of Tswana oral and aural traditions, Indigenous knowledge systems, and cosmologies he carried with him into and after exile.
Phalafala’s work illuminates a southern African modernity that was strongly gendered and expressed robust anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, anti-apartheid, and civil rights struggles. She will dwell on this and other issues that led to the creation of a ‘poetics of possibility’ for Kgositsile’s contemporaries in the Black Arts and Black Power Movements and their abiding relevance.
The festival, which takes place at venues in Durban and Johannesburg and online, will open officially on the 10th of October with a keynote address by featured artist, the poet, philosopher, painter, sculptor, and musician, Lefifi Tladi. Following the opening address, poets will share works inspired by Dennis Brutus’s life and poetry in an evening of tributes to his legacy.
Performing Poets at Poetry Africa 2024
Poets performing at the 2024 edition of Poetry Africa include South Africans, Siphokazi Jonas, and Teamhw SbonguJesu, and international poets, Hawa Kimbugwe (Uganda), Lyndah Sibanda (Zimbabwe), Ivandro Sigaval (Mozambique), Nimrod Oscar (Namibia) and Dr Allia Abdullah-Matta (USA).
These key events on the festival programme will be a literary reunion of sorts for Kgositsile and Brutus, as they were both founding members of the African Literature Association together with Es’kia Mphahlele, Daniel Kunene, and Mazisi Kunene in 1974.
The poetry show, the (R)evolution of Words, is designed to engage students with the world of poetry and will take place in both Durban and Johannesburg this year. It explores the South African poetry canon and contemporary voices, including poems from the Grade 11 and 12 curriculum and poets that reflect and challenge the current zeitgeist. Written by Lebo Mashile and curated by Jade Bowers and Quaz Roodt, the first performance will be staged at the Con Cowan Theatre at the University of Johannesburg campus on the 5th of October.
The show is performed by a cast of UJ Art Academy students: Ally Roux, Nick Moyo, Ntsakisi Shilubane, Hillary Nyikayaramba, Khanyisile Sibiya, Leah Mollink, Xolani Mbhele, and Tintswalo Masondo, accompanied by theatre and television professional Tina Redman. On the 11th of October, this phenomenal group will perform at the Luthuli Museum in the morning and take to the stage at the Seabrooke’s theatre in the evening to allow audiences in Durban to experience the dynamic and engaging celebration of South African poetry.
Engage with featured poets – outreach programme
The festival’s outreach programme is another element where young people and students are encouraged to engage with the featured poets and ensures that the love of poetry is shared far and wide. The first visit of the year will be to Howard College with African poets Vuyokazi Ngemntu (South Africa) and Lyndah Sibanda (Zimbabwe) and poets from abroad, Claudio Pozzani (Italy) and Miksi Brouwer (Belgium).
On the 8th of October, they spend the morning with the Imbiza Performing Community Group. On the 10th of October, the day begins at the Denis Hurley Centre with Hawa Kimbukwe from Uganda and Lyndah Sibanda from Zimbabwe. Included is Yuliya Musakovska from Ukraine, who will visit the Durban University of Technology.
Lethu Nkwanyana will host sessions with Nimrod Oscar from Namibia and Dr Alia Abdulla-Matta from the USA at the Howard College. Pupils at the Danville Park Girls High School will have the pleasure of attending a workshop with Vuyokazi Ngemntu.
On the 11th of October, the programme begins in Kwa Mashu. Ivandro Sigaval and 65th Poetry Slam Africa Champion, Slim Shaka from Kenya visit K-CAP of Positive Arts. (Kwa Mashu Community Advancement Projects) Various schools in uMlazi will host Emma Ofosua (Ghana), Lethu Nkwanyana (SA), Nimrod Oscar (Namibia), and Siphiwe Nzima (Lesotho).
The outreach programme will no doubt inspire young writers and aspirant slam poets to enter future slam poetry competitions. This year’s contestants will be battling it out in the Slam Jam at the Keorapetse Kgositsile Theatre on the 4th of October.
Masai Sepuru, Asiphe Feni, Solly Ramatswi, Busisiwe Mahlangu, Dshamilja Roshani, Jonathan Lefenya, Khanyisa Mabasa, Tshegofatjo Makhafola, Olive Olusegun, and Sello Chokoe will hope to continue to the final on the 12th of October at the Seabrooke’s Theatre.
The final will be judged by Allia Abdullah-Matta (US), David Onyango (Kenya), and Lethu Nkwanyana (SA), and the winner will represent South Africa at the World Poetry Slam in Mexico in 2025.
Everything Poetry
Whether you want to listen to and watch poetry performances, learn about the business of poetry, or share in the excitement of slam poetry competitions, the variety of venues and the inclusion of an online option will make sure that an October without poetry in South Africa is impossible. Not only do the participating poets and poetry itself continue in the theme of this year’s festival and make survival a certainty, but they, together with Poetry Africa, ensure its thriving as a possibility for all.
Tickets are available at Webtickets, and the full programme can be viewed on the Poetry Africa website. To stay up to date on all the news about the festival ,follow DIFF on Facebook, Instagram,X or visit here to sign up for the Poetry Africa newsletter.
Poetry Africa proud host of the 2026 World Poetry Slam Championship: 08 – 10 October 2026
About Poetry Africa
Poetry Africa is an annual international poetry festival curated and presented by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in Durban each year during October. The festival features Spoken Word & Publish Poets in performances and dynamic engagements which includes panel discussions, campus and school visits, poetry exchanges, book launches, open mic sessions and a slam jam competition.
The festival provides a vital platform for celebration and critical reflection about the contribution of poets in the movement for social change both nationally and internationally. At the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the Poetry Africa festival supports academic scholarship in contemporary poetry. The festival is a dynamic player in the cultural economy of the broader eThekwini; and plays a vital role in advancing the city’s status as a UNESCO City of Literature.
