ISBN 9781928215288
ePub ISBN 9781928215516
Pages 54
Dimensions 210 x 148 mm
Published 2017
Publisher Modjaji Books, South Africa
Formats Paperback, eBook

Serurubele

Poems by Katleho Kano Shoro

by Katleho Kano Shoro

Serurubele means ‘butterfly’ in Sesotho. It is the art of metamorphosis, a mind in flight and the beat of poetic expression.

I offer you my perspectives, my many mothers’ teachings.
I present both hopelessness and moments that excite, the taxi mgosi that makes me write.

Johannesburg performance-poet Katleho Kano Shoro puts her stage presence into print with this metapoetic debut collection that captures the cadences of her fearless voice, her unassuming sense of humour, and her enthusiasm for an Afrocentric literary culture. Katleho reflects on creativity, on the writing, reading and performance of poetry, exploring the language that structures it, the forces that inspire it and the transformation that follows our experience of it. From there her words wander through personal relationships and politics, articulating ideas about masculinity, sexuality, blackness, colonialism and our connections to those we love. Crafted with both the spoken and written word in mind, Serurubele invites you not only to read poetry but to voice it, to taste the language as it flows from your tongue, to feel its rhythms and to hear its rhyme. Katleho has performed in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Grahamstown, Swaziland and London, and has been involved in myriad African literary initiatives. Recordings of her readings can be found online.

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Reviews

“Katleho Kano Shoro shines in her individual claiming of voice and honouring of her ancestral roots. Her poetry speaks with a profound sense of conviction that encourages others to do the same, she agitates our soil not for sensational effect but to liberate what healing resources may lie buried in the dust of our past. She calls us, her readers, to soak our dehydrated soul-selves in the restorative rains of imagination, to bask in the light of integrity and to delight in the power of story.”

Malika Ndlovu

“Katleho’s poetry sizzles with compassionate ambivalence of youthful curiosity, interrogation and accommodation. It delves into the nuanced complexities of what it means to be young, female and hopeful in the post-apartheid crossroads of being and becoming South African in freedom.”

Francis B. Nyamnjoh, author of #RhodesMustFall: Nibbling at Resilient Colonialism in South Africa

About the Author

Katleho Kano Shoro

Katleho Kano Shoro is a published performance poet and African scholar who holds a Masters' degree in Social Anthropology. She has performed in South Africa, Swaziland and London as well as participated and facilitated in the South African literary festivals: Naked Word Festival, Open Book Festival and Franschhoek Literature Festival. Katleho Kano is the co-editor of The Spoken Word Project: Stories Travelling through Africa (2015) and her poetry has been published in journals internationally. Her work in the arts extends to research, facilitating workshops and managing projects particularly in African film and literature. 

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