i was recently introduced to the Poetry of Shiksha Dheda, who i stumbled upon on the Twitterer. She graciously offered to send me a copy of her book, 'Washed away' and i offered to share a little bit of her story here. Her poetry is definitely worth a look and i hope a number of you will buy her book, which is available online. But first let me allow Shiksha to introduce herself to [...]
One of my favourite people on the Twitterer [and i do have a lot, but this one stands out] is my friend Ekta Somera. She is both an exceptional talent who has released a book called 'Made in Poetry' which i reviewed over here, and a second book, Twenty-Two, which i am still to get my hands on. But also finds the time to design, collaborate on and release The Paper Trail Literary Journal, [...]
A friend of mine connected me to Eve Thompson, who, among other things, is the author of the book 'Leading Women of Africa'. When i heard how the book had come about, due to a lack of black women being mentioned in educational materials, i was very excited to connect with Eve and hear a little more of her story and she has graciously shared it here... Leading Women of Africa Hi. My [...]
The first time i met Ekta Somera was on the Twitterer [as @madeinpoetry]. The second time was in a mall in the Chatsworth Centre Mall after she had just been finished being interviewed for Sunrise FM radio.Ekta very wisely brought her dad with her [cos you never know with meeting strange old white men who you connected to on the internet]... and i brought my mate Dreadlock Mike [cos you never know with meeting strange [...]
The Food Dialogues 2021 is a virtual event taking place in South Africa from the 6th of September to the 14th of October. i had the privilege of catching up with Kurt Ackermann who is the executive manager of the SA Urban Food & Farming Trust, who are hosting this event. We had a fascinating conversation in which i got to hear some of his journey into the Sustainable Food space as well as [...]
A story and message for everyone, but especially those who are hesitant about getting their vaccine. Ashley Brownless is a very good friend of mine who i have known for more than 20 years now. He has written a pretty viral post for my blog before sharing some of his journey as a South African living with HIV AIDS, and he is back to share some more, but particularly how it relates to his [...]
What is it like to be teaching during a pandemic? As we close in on a year-and-a-half of what has been a world-shaking pandemic, everyone has paid a cost. Whether it has been personal or in your community, financial or mental-health related, no-one has escaped. But some have definitely paid more than others. A teacher friend asked if they could use this space to share some of their thoughts and feelings and experiences as [...]
i have just [finally] finished reading 'Community' by Peter Block. It has taken me a while - and i did sneak in a three-day reading of Neil Gaiman's 'Anansi Boys' just as something a little quicker and lighter - but it was overall a good and thoroughly challenging read and i feel like it has inspired me to think differently about a number of things. The book 'Community' is included in the pack of [...]
i was recently introduced to Josh Cox and his website called The Racial Literacy Project and asked him if he would mind sharing some of his story, Meet Joshua Cox: The Racial Literacy Project Last year I launched a simple website www.racialliteracy.co.za with the aim of helping white people 'do the work' of becoming more literate on issues of race and racism. The end goal being that people are more equipped to speak out on these [...]
i am busy reading the book Community - The Structure of Belonging, by Peter Block. It is very similar to The Art of Possibility which i read recently and shared some thoughts from over here - by Benjamin Zander and Rosamund Stone Zander - in theme at least, but it is a little more of a dense book, requiring multiple rereadings of paragraphs and sections. But i am enjoying it. Particularly the invitation to [...]
