John Matshikiza (South Africa)

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John mAtShiKizA was born in Johannesburg in 1954, and grew up in Lusaka and London. While in London, he trained in drama and also worked in theatre, television and film as an actor, director and writer.He has also lived in the United States, Amsterdam, and various African countries including Senegal, where he was Director of the Department of Culture of the Gorée Institute for some time.

He returned to South Africa in 1991 and has directed plays at the Market and Windybrow theatres, written and directed documentaries and dramas for television as well as appearing in various films.John still pursues his acting career and takes roles “when the irresistible role arises and sometimes even just for the hell of it; or sometimes, though seldom, just for the money!” His latest acting role is the villain of the piece in the third series of the highly successful television series Hard Copy on SABC 3.

John is also a columnist and feature writer for various newspapers, including the Mail & Guardian – as well as an author for the online openDemocracy.net, one of the leading independent websites on global current affairs. In 2002, he was the winner of the Regional and National Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award in the Specialist Category for his column which appears in a collection of his and his father’s columns entitled With the Lid Off (Mail & Guardian Publishers, 2000). His published works also include South Where Her Feet Cool on Ice (Lo Honyera, 1981) and Prophets in the Black Sky (Polyptoton, 1986).

His poetry CD entitled Sunday and the God Machine is scheduled for publication and release in 2006.

John Matshikiza will be joined at Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre by saxophonist, Mfana Mlambo

Song, somewhere near Roma
 
If I could
I'd like to talk about
Riding on your back
Through Sotho-Speaking
Mountains in the snow,
Lost naked
In an overwhelming sky.
We'd talk about
How nice today has been,
How still you could learn
Life from me,
From my tribe.
But how can we now,
With all this blood?