Keorapetse Kgositsile

Keorapetse William Kgositsile ( born September 19, 1938 in Johannesburg) is a South African poet and political activist.

Life

Kgositsile received his high school diploma in Johannesburg and wrote for the banned magazine New Age. In the 1960s and 70s he was a vested member of the ANC. In 1961, he went into self-imposed exile in Dar es Salaam. From 1962 to 1975 he lived in exile in the United States, first as a graduate student and later as a teacher and artist in residence at various universities. In the 70s he directed a central figure among African - American poet attention to Africa and to the practice of poetry as performance art. As one of the first he overcame the gap between African poetry and Black poetry in the U.S. and became one of the most important poets of the Pan-African movement. In 1982 he went back to Tanzania and taught at the University of Dar es Salaam English. Since 2001 he lives in Johannesburg, 2006, he was Poet Laureate of the country.

He was married to Baleka Mbete. His son is Earl Sweatshirt, known by the hip- hop group Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All.

Works

  • For Melba (1970 )
  • My name is Africa (1971 )
  • The present is a dangerous place to live ( 1974)
  • Heartprints (1980 ), German: Heart traces. ISBN 3-922087-45-0.
  • When the clouds clear ( 1990)
  • If I could sing (2002)
  • This way I salute you ( 2004)
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