Poet watch...

At 24, writer and poet Busisiwe Mahlangu has already set the poetry world on fire.

Born and raised in Mamelodi, east of Pretoria, Mahlangu has won numerous poetry slams since the beginning of her professional career.

His recent achievement, The SA National Poetry Prize 2021 that she got last month, is proof that the rising star has arrived. She won the competition with a poem titled I Wear Mother’s Bones, a dedication to her mother, a domestic worker.

She walked away with R10,000 cash prize. That is not all. Mahlangu has been slowly making a name for herself in the international arena.

She has presented her work internationally at different events in Nigeria, Sweden and Washington DC in the US, among other places.

When the wordsmith is not writing, she makes and sells beaded jewellery under the name Busi Creates. Mahlangu is also doing her final year at Unisa, where she is studying creative writing.

She is also the author of Surviving Pain, a collection of poems that deals with loneliness and helplessness.

Mahlangu caught up with TimeOut while performing at the Arts and Culture Trust strategy launch in Waverly, Johannesburg, last week.

How do you feel about winning inaugural SA National Poetry Prize 2021?

I feel happy and proud. Winners were announced last month. I entered six poems and the poem called I Wear Mother’s Bones, which I dedicated to my mother, won me the grand prize. My mother, who is still working as a domestic worker because she is a hard worker, has been supportive to my career. She is a pillar of my strength.

In fact, the whole family is my first audience. My mother got to know about the poem when it was shortlisted [for the award]. I had to recite it for her and she was overwhelmed by emotions because I had made it to the final list. When I have a performance she always reminds me to rehearse and she shows up at my performances.

At what point did you decide to turn poetry into a professional career?

While studying at Wits University, doing my degree in electric engineering. I used to enter a lot of poetry slams that were happening in the Joburg Theatre. I used to win R500. When Wits excluded me from its academic year in 2016, I went back home.

I remember entering the Tshwane Speak Out Loud Youth Poetry Competition and won it. I won cash prize and a trip to Washington DC on an exchange programme. I used some of the money to register for the creative writing course at Unisa. Since then I have performed in Sweden, Nigeria, Lesotho, Mozambique and Washington DC.

When did the love of poetry begin?

I started falling in love with reading after my mother got me a library card. I used to borrow books at the library and read them when I was in primary school. The reading pricked a writing interest in me because I began writing my thoughts down. The more I read, the more I enjoyed writing and expressing myself in a writing form.

As much as I began to focus on poetry at high school, when I went to Wits, I enrolled for electrical engineering. During the FeesMustFall protests, I met different students including people who were studying drama and literature. Talking to them opened my mind.