Come to the Women’s Jail, Constitution Hill, on Thursday 6 Nov to hear me read poetry at the opening of Bongi Bengu’s new exhibition, ‘Emancipation’.

Rose Francis will be there, too – and Mzansi Productions. RSVP to christina@brownspice.co.za / 083 611 3508, and visit www.brown-spice.com.

Click the image to see a larger version of the invitation.

Them Particles, Joburg’s best kept secret, are performing for the first time at the Troyeville Hotel. All proceeds will go to Kensington Pre-Primary, our education enclave that has cradled some of the best minds of the community.

This exciting rock band with its blend of gypsy infused blues and psychedelic country has won over local audiences. Veteran musician Dax Butler has teamed up with a group of young musicians and has created an inspired alt. country sound that appeals to young and old music lovers and revellers alike.

The legendary Troyeville Hotel with its Joburg skyline and traditional Portuguese cuisine is excited to host Them Particles who will be supported by the local Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, writer, actress, poet and author of Taller Than Buildings. Also performing will be the dynamic stand up comedian Stella Steenkamp. Stella is an actress, singer, writer and director and has been a firm favourite on the comedy scene in Johannesburg since the beginning of 2007.

Safe and secure parking!

Cover: R50

Venue: Troyeville Hotel, 25 Bezuidenhout Ave

Date: 2nd August 2008

Time: from 8pm ‘till late

Contact: 011 4027709 / www.troyevillehotel.co.za/index.html

or Sally 0769765231

Release your inner leopard print, and come play in Darling!

My dance on the theatre boards has been extended (thanks Evita!) because…

I’ve been invited to perform in Darling on the 5, 6 and 7 September. The voorkamerfest is a kind of rolling bandwagon of shows put on in people’s front rooms. Check out the festival at www.voorkamerfest-darling.co.za.

The third edition of Taller than Buildings will be available, at the usual modest price of R100.

Boekehuis’ famous “Saturday Voices” / Saterdagstemme event this week is a dual poetry reading with… myself, and Andries Bezuidenhout (Retoer).

Details are below: everyone please come!

Here’s the “Oor die digter” blurb on Andries:

Andries Bezuidenhout het veral bekendheid verwerf as lid van die rockgroep Brixton Moord en Roof Orkes en vir sy rubrieke op Litnet en in Rapport. Hy is dosent in Sosiologie aan die Universiteit van die Witwatersrand.

And here are two sample poems from the books:
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Actually, what I set about writing was a report on the launch of Napo’s book Caves Speak in Metaphors, but the event gave me so many ideas to think about I ended starting the piece completely differently.

I create the world through my works, through my works I represent the world. This is the role I have chosen or was chosen for me: storyteller, poet, healer, performer.

In a world of silences, I itemize the infinite variety of experience, in telling I give new names to the unspoken, and liberate my suffering from an inarticulate chaos. When I name sorrow, loss, exploitation, racism, fear, disgust… I am no longer subject to them, in fact, they become my subjects.
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Original Skin at the Baxter Theatre this Sunday

The Baxter Theatre Centre’s popular South African season in the 2007 Play>Ground series continues this Sunday, November 4, with performance poet Phillippa Yaa de Villiers’ Original Skin, at 5pm in the Baxter Sanlam Studio.

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