THE 4

TH
WORD N SOUND INTERNATIONAL YOUTH POETRY FESTIVAL

Press Release
The South African poetry landscape is set to be ignited once again as the Word N Sound
International Youth Poetry Festival comes to Johannesburg and Cape-town from the 3
rd
to the
8
th
of October 2014.

A FEAST OF WORDS |26 Poets| 5 Days|2 Cities

The Word N Sound Live Literature Company, in partnership with The Soweto Theatre and British
Council Connect ZA, present the 4
th
Annual Word N Sound International Youth Poetry & Live
Music Festival.
Continuing in the tradition that began last year, the Festival moves between Cape Town and
Johannesburg with workshops and performances by local and international poets.

The Soweto Theatre marquee of the Festival will be lit by bright names such as three-time US slam
champion Buddy Wakefield; one of SAs most pre-eminent poets, Lebo Mashile; Spirit of London
Awards ambassador & Gay rights activist, Dean Atta from the UK; celebrated poet and arts
entrepreneur DJ Dema (Botswana), winner of the first national edition of Slam for Your Life at the
National Arts Festival and South Africas first National Slam champion, Koleka Putuma, and
hailing from Zimbabwe, poet, comedian and MC, Andrew Manyika.

A new Open Mic Champion will be crowned in a breath-taking finale of the the yearlong
spoken word development initiative, The Word N Sound Open Mic Poetry League. Bafentse
Ntlokoa, Nkosinathi Gaar, Zewande BK Bhengu, Carlos NoLIFE Ncube, Xabiso Vili, and Thando
Bhuthelezi will be vying for the coveted King/Queen of the Mic title, which for the first time in its
four year history has six (and not 5) contenders.

We are thrilled to partner again with the Word N Sound Spoken Word festival. Our UK
element, Dean Atta joins an already impressive lineup of South African spoken word
talent. Through a project like the British Council Connect ZA, we are able to continue to
develop cultural understanding between South Africa and the UK. Tom Porter, British
Council Connect ZA programme manager.
The jam packed festival is scheduled as follows:

Friday | 3 October |10:30 16:00 |Soweto Theatre | Free
Workshops Day: Facilitated by Lebo Mashile, Dean Atta, Khosi Xaba TJ Dema and featuring
local and international poets and literature practitioners. The workshop sessions will focus on
three main themes which are; Africa Unpublished, Branding Spoken Word and Poetry As Social
Conscious.

Saturday | 4 October |12:00 19:00 |Soweto Theatre | R50
Open Mic Slam Finale: After eight months of intense competition in the Word N Sound Open Mic
Poetry League, 6 of Gautengs most exciting emerging spoken word talent, will vie for the
coveted 2014 Word N Sound Open Mic Champion title. The top six contenders for this year are
Carlos NoLIFE Ncube, Zewande BK Bengu, Bafentse Ntlokoa, Nkosinathi Gaar, Thando Buthelezi
and Xabiso Vili.

The second half of this day will also feature A Live Literature Company a multimedia
performance by the Word N Sound company members who balance the difficult task of
balancing being arts entrepreneurs and renowned poets. The 2 hour production features
Afurakan, Mutle Mothibe, Andrew Manyika (Zimbabwe), Conelius Jones, Mandi Poefficient
Vundla, Masai Dabula, Mutinta Bbenkele (Uganda), Elysium Garcia, Xongani Maluleka, Bonga
Ndziweni; Lwazi Mthembu, Mpho Khosi and hosted by literary critic and Poet Ayob Vania.

Sunday | 5 October |12:00 19:00 |Soweto Theatre | R50
Poetry Is. Showcase performances by local and international poets featuring Lebo Mashile,
Buddy Wakefield (US), Dean Atta (UK), TJ Dema (Botswana), Andrew Manyika (Zimbabwe),
Makhosazana Xaba and Koleka Putuma.

Tuesday | 7 October |15:00 17:00 |Amazink, Stellenbosch | Free
Workshops Day: Facilitated by Dean Atta and Adrian Van Wyk TJ Dema and featuring local
poets and literature practitioners. The workshop sessions will focus on Poetry As Social Conscious
as a central theme.

Tuesday | 7 October |19:00 23:00 |Play Bar, |Goodwood | R30
Poetry Is. Showcase performances by local and international poets featuring Dean Atta (UK),
Afurakan, Adrian Different and Koleka Putuma.

Wednesday | 8 October
Poetry Corner. Returning to Johannesburg to wrap the festival, is an event that will feature a brief
open mic followed by DJs and that will mark the end of the festival.

The 4
th
Annual Word N Sound International Youth Poetry + Live Music Festival is brought to you in
partnership with: Soweto Theatres and British Council Connect ZA and forms part of the part of
SA-UK Seasons 2014 & 2015 which is a partnership between the Department of Arts & Culture,
South Africa and the British Council.
Tickets will be available at The Soweto Theatre Box Office and through Computicket. For more
information, please visit www.wordnsound.wordpress.com and www.sowetotheatre.com

For enquires, artist profiles and visuals contact:
Festival Director
Thabiso Mohare
thabiso@wordnsound.com | 073 549 2458

PR and Marketing
Andrew Manyika
andrew@wordnsound.com | 072 350 6051

Facebook: Word N Sound Poetry + Live Music Series
Twitter: @WordNSound
Blog: www.wordnsound.wordpress.com

Soweto Theatres
Mambila Mageza
Mambila@sowetotheatre.com | (011) 930 7461

Notes:

About Word N Sound
Word N Sound Poetry and Music Series is a platform for the expression of spoken word, not so
much a commercial venture as an attempt to make a positive impact on youth in the country.
In South Africa, a country with such a low literacy rate, spoken word encourages curiosity and
exposes people to literature in English from a range of cultures around the world. Writing is
central to every profession so this is a key skill across all sectors. The Word N Sound platforms
bring together older practitioners of literature - elders of 40 years and older - with young people
in their teens and early twenties, to encourage and inspire them and to give them a sense of the
trajectory of a literary career.
The project has been active since 2010 and has quickly gained a reputation as the most
credible and challenging spoken word platform in South Africa. Please visit our blog to review
our history, projects and activities. www.wordnsound.wordpress.com

About British Council Connect ZA
British Council Connect ZA is a major new series of cultural exchanges between the UK and
South Africa marking 2014 as a celebration of 20 years of democracy in South Africa. From 2013
to 2015, the programme will support cultural connections between young people aged 18-35 in
the UK and South Africa with series of arts projects and use digital platforms to build creative
networks through live music, film, visual art and design.Projects will range from partnerships with
arts festivals and workshops to working with artists, writers, filmmakers and designers. British
Council Connect ZA aims to reach new and diverse audiences for the arts and stimulate
innovation, whilst forging new collaborations with organisations and individuals on both
continents. http://connectza.tumblr.com/

About Soweto Theatre
The Soweto Theatre is the cultural heartbeat of Jabulani Soweto; it is more than a theatre - there
will be several performance spaces, parkland, public art and other amenities. Dedicated to the
arts, it is here that the community will be able to find expression. It is a multipurpose performing
arts centre, used for theatre productions, music productions, dance productions and choir
singing. It also hosts festivals, conferences, meetings and community gatherings.
www.sowetotheatre.com

About The Featured Artists

Buddy Wakefield, United States
Buddy Wakefield is the three-time world champion spoken word artist featured on NPR, the BBC,
HBOs Def Poetry Jam, and most recently signed to Ani DiFrancos Righteous Babe Records.
Buddy, an original Board of Directors member with Youth Speaks Seattle, is published
internationally in dozens of books with work used to win multiple national collegiate debate and
forensics competitions.

Lebo Mashile, South Africa
Lebo Mashile an award winning poet, published author, performer, actress, presenter and
producer. Her diverse work also includes a cross-media and cross- generational with renowned
choreographer Sylvia Glasser entitled Threads. As an artist and personality, Lebo Mashile has
featured on numerous covers of South African entertainment and lifestyle magazines, and she is
regularly asked for her view as a commentator in the South African press.

Dean Atta, United Kingdom
Dean Atta is a writer and performance poet. He has been commissioned to write poems for the
Damilola Taylor Trust, Keats House Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain and Tate
Modern. Atta won the 2012 London Poetry Award and was named as one of the most influential
LGBT people by the Independent on Sunday Pink List 2012. An ambassador for the Spirit of
London Awards, he lives in London and teaches writing workshops across the UK.

TJ Dema, Botswana
TJ Dema is a poet who favours reading her work out loud and has done so in countries including
but not limited to Germany, Zimbabwe, India, USA, Scotland and France. She participated in
Lancaster Universitys Crossing Borders program and later mentored the all-female team of
national champions for the British Councils 7 country Power in the Voice initiative.

She is an honorary fellow of the University of Iowas International Writing Program (2012), former
chairperson of the Writers Association of Botswana and runs Sauti A&PM - a Botswana based arts
administration organization. For her work within Botswanas literary community she was named
an Arise Magazine African Changemaker (2013) and a St Louis Top 40 under 40 catalyst (2014).
Her chapbook Mandible (2014) was published by Slapering Hol Press for the African Poetry Book
Fund as part of the Seven New Generation African Poets box set.
Koleka Putuma, South Africa
Kuleka Putuma is South Africas first national slam champion. She is a fresh and energetic voice
that brings to stage vivid and imaginative writing poised in theatre discipline. In March 2013 she
was commissioned by Badilisha Poetry X-change and Scotlands International Poetry Festival in
collaboration with Livingstone Association Poets, to produce a poem to be exhibited in a digital
installation during the Stanza Festival in Scotland.

Andrew Manyika, Zimbabwe
Andrew Manyika is an award winning poet and comedian who has performed in Zimbabwe
and South Africa. He has appeared at the Harare International Festival of the Arts 2014, TEDx
Johannesburg 2013, Melville Poetry Festival and appeared twice on the first season of
ZimComedyLive and performed Comedy at Oliver Mtukudzis Pakare Paye.

MASAI DABULA
Poet and Photographer, Masai Dabula is a Spoken Word artist of note. His passionate delivery
and visceral depiction of the South African reality cuts a cross-section through our society to lay
our wounds bare to either heal or repel us. Masai is the inaugural Word N Sound King of the Mic
and is the second winner of the Zimbabwean Shoko Festival Slam competition.

MANDI POEFFECIENT VUNDLA
Two-time Word N Sound Queen of the Mic, Mandisa Vundlas journey into the Spoken Word
Arena was at times rocky, but her achievements are a testament to her determination. She
presently consults as an assistant editor for Botsotso Publishers, and has graced the TEDx
Johanesburg stage as well as the Poetry Africa festival. Her skill has even seen her be
approached by corporates for poetry commissions.

MUTLE MOTHIBE
Widely acknowledged as one of the pioneering artists of the current generation of South African
spoken word, Mutle is a founding member of the group Inaudible which released the acclaimed
album Definition; as well as Brake Seshions which produced the play Estar. In his own right,
this multi-faceted author has released the album In_Sense and has performed on most major
poetry stages in South Africa and has performed in Cardiff, Scotland.

AFURAKAN
Word N Sound Co-founder, Arts Entrepreneur, Award-winning Poet and Copywriter, Afurakan
has a career that spans 11 years in the Johannesburg poetry scene and has steadily risen to the
upper-echelons thereof. He was the official poet for AFCON 2013, and part of the Olympics
Artists Delegation for 2012.

CONELIUS JONES
Hot off the heels of a three city tour of Germany, Conelius Jones is a former Word N Sound King
of the Mic and a dashing performer. Widely renowned for his mastery of love poetry in
particular, Mr Jones is currently hard at work on a debut album in between performing at various
festivals. His appearances include the Arts Alive Festival; TEDx Johannesburg, and the BAT Centre
Durban.