Soli The Poet

I have written poetry for as long as from since childhood. Growing up, I scribbled poems everywhere - rhymes, seemingly meaninglessly patterning with words. At school I would make money out of writing little love-notes, inspirational interpretations of names, and 'ghost' essay-writing, and in higher grades discovered a knack for understanding Shakespeare. My flair for interpretation of what was termed 'the vernacular' was further supported by my reading of the work of Cape Town poet and playwright Peter Snyders. Exposure at The Space and The People's Space meant writing masters like Beckett and Genet became part of my field of reference early, whilst the work of Fatima Dike would leave a lasting impression on me. The Baxter taught me much about the stage. Artscape would come to show me much respect. I learnt early on though, that my creative journey was my own responsibility. There was much about 'Struggle Theatre' that was heady in its merging the crafting of everyday situation into art, with everyday relevance being diminished and ignored. It was also during this time that we did 'Everything But The Shower Scene', one of those works that in Johannesburg was popping out of the creative community that railed against the iniquities of Apartheid and the horrors of the time. I seemed to always be involved with work that could be dubbed 'alternative', if there was work for it to be an alternative to. Exposure to work and working abroad would add an additional dimension to the choices and decisions confronting artists on both a personal and professional level. So at some point, I might sit down and do a list of all the shows I've done and the extraordinary people I have worked with, and why to a majority degree I am proud of the work I have produced, but that's if I get to be blessed like that Poetry and Rhyming would feature prominently in all my self-penned works, with Nice Coat/Lekker Jas - the whole work an hour-and-a-bit rhyme - an eventual, critically-acclaimed result. Moving into District Six, six or so years ago, exacerbated this form of creative expression for me. Not only was Nice Coat conceived here, but the insistence on all the complexities and nuances , all the wordiness and over-simplification, the distracting narratives and ego-driven attention-seeking characterizing so much of creative output, now only wants to be distilled into considered chunks that transcribes its meaning to self and audience. The flow has been relentless. Amidst all my commitments to so much else, the poetry has mostly always been for self. I must have hundreds of poems clogging up my penchant for hoarding - I've managed to hang on to most of them over the years, in books, on pages, and on pieces of paper, not to mention serviettes, paper carrier bags, and pieces of newspapers or magazines. But always for myself. Always a little reluctant about sharing them with others I still am But there is something about the process; the exploration, the examination, the elucidation, that answers the unbidden need for creative endeavour. And I finally feel ready, understanding the sharing is about that. And how the creative endeavour is about evolution. Both the productive and the receptive. And how Art has a function in Society - both for the personal and the public- as I learned coming into the Theatrical Discipline. 'Form is nothing without content' So all that to say I'm going to be part of the Artscape Innovation Lab Programme, and I am truly EXCITED!