writer – Sarafina Magazine

A Q&A with Zoey Black

Zoey Black is a transgender woman of colour living in Cape Town. She is trans rights activist, actress, freelance writer and digital content creator. She is employed with Gender Dynamix, a non-profit organisation with a focus on championing human rights for trans and gender diverse persons and communities in Southern Africa. Zoey is the organisation’s Legal and Education Advocacy Officer and leads the legal, policy and educational reform initiatives and projects. In her personal capacity, Zoey publicly advocates for trans rights and visibility, and broadens the scope of trans representation and narratives through her social media and online platforms, including her recently launched Youtube channel. Her channel acts as a resource in providing accessible information on trans specific issues, including accessing hormone replacement therapy, and changing one’s name and gender marker at the Department of Home Affairs. Working in tandem with her YouTube channel, Zoey runs a blog, which focuses on sharing her personal experiences and narrative as a transgender woman, including issues around discrimination and violence, mental health and wellness, and acceptance and tolerance. In addition, Zoey is studying toward a Bachelor of Laws, with intensions to enhance her capacity to further assist vulnerable persons and communities in accessing their rights, as well as contributing to the development of policy and legislation which will enhance, promote and protect the rights of marginalised members of society.

October 13, 2020October 13, 2020 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Advice, Arts, Author, Cape Town, Content Creator, Filmmaker, Influencer, Interview, Organisation, Performer, Q&A, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, Womxn, writerTags: Activist, Actor, Actress, Advice, Behind The Cut Masterclass, Cape Town, Content Creator, Filmmaker, Filmmaking, Gender Dynamix, Interview, Lawyer, Masterclass, Online Content, Q&A, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Trans Rights Activist, writer, Youtube, Youtuber, Zoey Black Leave a comment

A Conversation with Prue Leith

Prue Leith has made a name for herself internationally as a chef, restaurateur, author and entrepreneur. She founded the Prue Leith Chefs Academy in Centurion, which has trained many of South Africa’s top chefs. Internationally, she is well known for her role as a judge on The Great British Bake Off. She has published 14 cookbooks, a memoir, Relish and eight novels. Prue Leith’s career has included her own restaurants, catering and cookery school businesses. Prue has had a deep involvement with education and the arts: she chaired the first of the companies charged with turning around failing state schools and was Chair of the School Food Trust, responsible for the improvement of school food and food education. She started and led the campaign for contemporary sculpture to be exhibited on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. She has been active in many charities and is the Chancellor of Queen Margaret University. She is an advisor for the Government’s Hospital Food Review. Among her awards she has a CBE, 12 honorary degrees or fellowships from UK universities, the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the year, and her restaurant, Leith’s, won a Michelin star. Prue’s latest cookbook The Vegetarian Kitchen, which she wrote with her niece Peta Leith, will be released in March 2020.

Continue reading →

February 28, 2020February 28, 2020 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Advice, Arts, Author, Candice van Litsenborgh, Cape Town, Conversation, Interview, Photography, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Television, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, Womxn, writerTags: Advice, Art, Author, Candice van Litsenborgh, Chef, Chef's Academy, Conversation, Cookbook, England, Fourth Plinth, Interview, Novelist, pan macmillan, Peta Leith, Photography, Prue Leith, Prue Leith Chefs Academy, Prue Leith Glasses, Relish, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, South African, Television, The Great British Bake Off, The Vegetarian Kitchen, TV, Vegetarian Kitchen, Women, writer Leave a comment

A Conversation with Nicola Hanekom

Nicola Hanekom has been a freelance actress, director and writer for the past twenty years. Her theatre work as writer/director includes a series of site-specific productions; Betésda, Lot, Babbel and Land van Skedels. As a writer and performer, Nicola created Trippie, and her self-penned one-woman show Hol/Running on Empty. These together with her latest play In glas have garnered twelve Kanna awards, eleven Fiësta awards, two ATKV writing awards and one Aartvark award. Nicola was also awarded the Eugène Marais Prize for her collection of plays Die pad byster. She has written and directed two short films, Trippie and Unspoken. Her short, Trippie won two Silwerskermfees awards. Cut-Out Girls is her first feature film and arrives in local cinemas on November 22nd.

Continue reading →

November 19, 2019November 19, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Advice, Arts, Author, Cape Town, Conversation, Director, Film, Filmmaker, Interview, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Playwright, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, SWIFT, Television, Theater, Theatre, Theatremaker, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, Womxn, writerTags: ACT, Actors, Actress, Advice, Babbel, Betésda, Cape Town, Conversation, Cut-Out Girls, Die pad byster, Director, Dwaalster, Film, Filmmaker, In glas, Land van Skedels, Lot, Movie, Nicola Hanekom, Performance, Photography, Television, Trippie, TV, Unspoken, Women, writer 1 Comment

A Conversation with Antoinette Louw

Antoinette Louw is a multiple award-winning stage and screen actress and writer. She has appeared in leading roles on South Africa’s most popular TV series including 7de Laan and Binnelanders. Her theatre credits include Women of Troy, The Women who Cooked her Husband which she produced and directed, Rudely Stamped, Engele Soner Vlerke, Die Trommel, Die Vagina Monoloë, Afspraak, Dis ek, Anna and ‘night Mother which she also adapted into its Afrikaans translation Nag ma. In 2014 she won a SAFTA award for her role in Deon Meyer’s Die Laaste Tango as well as a nomination for Best Actress in the Afrikaans short film Totsiens, Pa. Antoinette also starred in the Afrikaans feature film ‘n Man Soos My Pa. Her recent film credits include the multi-award-winning films Axis Mundi, Sew the winter to my skin, An Act of Defiance and Nul is nie niks nie. She is currently appearing on screens as Sara in the film adaptation of the beloved Afrikaans folktale Die verhaal van Racheltjie de Beer. Continue reading →

October 18, 2019October 18, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Advice, Arts, Author, Cape Town, Conversation, Film, Interview, Joburg, Johannesburg, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Producer, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Television, Theater, Theatre, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, Womxn, writerTags: 7de laan, Actor, Actress, Antoinette Louw, Author, Axis Mundi, Binnelanders, Bram Fischer: An Act of Defiance, Conversation, Die Storie van Racheltjie de Beer, Die Verhaal van Racheltjie de Beer, Director, Film, Nag Ma, Night Mother, Photography, Producer, Silwerskerm, Silwerskerm Fees, South Africa, Television, The Story of Racheltjie de Beer, Theatre, TV, Women, writer Leave a comment

A Conversation with Primrose Mrwebi

Primrose Mrwebi is a writer, poet and performer. She has written and edited for titles such as Cosmopolitan, Fairlady, Bona, Abafazi, Student Life and many others. She has directed and performed in a number of poetry productions and has facilitated writing workshops at several festivals. She is a frequent contributor to Book Week for Young Readers at Franschhoek Literary Festival as well as a facilitator at the Northern Cape Writers Festival. Primrose is a contributor to Black Tax, edited by Niq Mhlongo. She is the director of the PrimPoetry Foundation and a participating author in this year’s Open Book Festival. Continue reading →

August 21, 2019August 21, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Advice, Arts, Cape Town, Conversation, Interview, Open Book Festival, Organisation, Performer, Photography, Poet, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, The Fugard, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, Womxn, writerTags: Cape Town, Interview, Open Book Festival, Photography, Poet, Poetry, PrimPoetry Foundation, Primrose Mrwebi, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, The Fugard, writer 1 Comment

Guest Post: The Chronicles of an Independent Theatre-Maker

In 2018 during our interview with theatre-maker Dara Beth, we spoke about the return engagement of her play, Nasty Womxn. Now, 18 months later, Nasty Womxn is back for its third return engagement, this time featuring a new cast, a reworked script and coinciding with Dara’s latest theatrical offering, The Chronicles of Athena, Babes. Tasked with staging two independently produced works which almost run concurrently, we ask Dara to share her thoughts around this creative process. Continue reading →

August 14, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Advice, Artist, Arts, Baxter, Cape Town, Conversation, Culture, Designer, Director, Essay, Guest Post, Now Playing, Producer, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, The Alexander Bar, The Baxter, Theater, Theatre, Theatremaker, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, Womxn, writerTags: Alexander Bar, Baxter Theatre, Cape Town, Dara Beth, Director, Essay, Guest Post, Masambe Theatre, Nasty Womxn, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, The Chronicles of Athena Babes, The Furies, Theater, Theatre, Theatre-maker, UCT, Women, writer Leave a comment

A Conversation with Siphokazi Jonas

Siphokazi Jonas is a writer, performer, and poet. She has written, produced, and performed in four one-woman poetry shows. She wrote, produced and performed in a multi-genre theatre production, Around the Fire, which was staged at the 2016 Artscape Spiritual Festival and the 2018 Women’s Humanity Festival. Her stage work includes Natalia da Rocha’s Adam Small Festival and Mandla Mbothwe’s Oratorio of a Forgotten Youth. In 2018, she presented her directorial debut, The Widow, as part of Artscape’s New Voices programme. The production returns to the Artscape Arena at the beginning of August 2019. Jonas has been a featured act at numerous poetry sessions in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Her experience with spoken word has led to multiple invitations to judge poetry slam competitions in Cape Town and Johannesburg. She has also performed with renowned musicians including, Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, Freshlyground, Pops Mohamed, Dizu Plaatjies and Dave Reynolds. Jonas made history in 2016 as the first African poet to perform at Rhetoric in California. In February 2019 she was also a headline act on the first ever South African national poetry tour, the Fresh Poetry Tour. She was crowned as the first Cape Town Ultimate Slam Champion in 2015 and was the runner-up in the prestigious 2016 Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award, coming second out of 600 poems submitted nationally. Her work was longlisted again in 2017.

Continue reading →

August 7, 2019August 7, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Advice, Arts, Artscape, Cape Town, Conversation, Culture, Director, Interview, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Poet, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Theater, Theatre, Theatremaker, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, Womxn, writerTags: Around the Fire, Artscape, Cape Town Ultimate Slam Champion, Conspiracy Theory, Conversation, Director, Oratorio of a Forgotten Youth, Performer, Photography, Poet, Poetry, poetry slam, Poetry Under the Stars, Siphokazi Jonas, The Widow, What We Inherited In The Fire, Women, Wrestling with Dawn, writer Leave a comment

A Conversation with Olivia Fischer

Olivia Fischer is an award-winning playwright, director and producer. After graduating with her degree in theatre and performance, specialising in theatre-making from the University of Cape Town, Olivia premiered Still at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in Los Angeles, CA. Still was awarded five Hollywood Fringe awards including Tvolution’s Best International Show and the Conversation Creation award. In 2018, Olivia opened a production company called LIV Studios, a company that aims to develop female-identifying playwrights and theatre-makers. Olivia is a published writer: her autobiographical monologue Coming For You was recently published in the Market Laboratory’s anthology Between the Pillar and the Post: an anthology of South African monologues and scenes. Her other theatre credits include writing and directing an adaptation of Sindiwe Magona’s The Cruel King Lives! called Thandiwe: The Loved One and directed Duncan MacMillan’s Lungs. Her main focus as she continues to grow as a theatre-maker is telling stories of womxn: their resilience, their strength but above all, their undeniable capacity to love.

Continue reading →

July 24, 2019July 24, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Art, Arts, Cape Town, Conversation, Culture, Director, Interview, Now Playing, Photography, Playwright, Producer, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Theater, Theatre, Theatre Arts Admin Collective, Theatremaker, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, Womxn, writerTags: Between the Pillar and the Post: an anthology of South African monologues and scenes, Cape Town, Coming For You, Director, Hollywood Fringe Festival, Interview, LIV Studios, Lungs, Olivia Fischer, Playwright, Producer, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Still, Thandiwe: The Loved One, The Cruel King Lives!, Theater, Theatre, Theatre Arts Admin Collective, Theatremaker, UCT, Womxn, writer Leave a comment

Guest Post: Swan Song Takes Flight

During our conversation with storyteller Buhle Ngaba in 2017, she spoke about winning the Brett Goldin Bursary and creating her show, Swan Song during her time at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Now, almost three years later and after a successful developmental and award-winning run at the Klein Karoo National Festival in 2017, Swan Song has its eyes firmly focused on Vrystaat Kunstefees. Prior to its run, Buhle has launched Going For A Song, an art auction with a difference, making a difference to make art accessible. At the auction which will take place at the Book Lounge on July 1st, bidders will raise funds to get Swan Song on stage in front of a wider audience. On the night, it’ll be chosen at random and announced to guests which items will be up for auction – sold, to the highest bidder! – and which will be raffled. This split is symbolic of what Buhle hopes to do with Swan Song, and her wider body of work: to democratise art in a way that allows accessible participation and an easy buy-in to art that maintains its value. Those purchasing ‘tickets’ will do so at a fixed cost and post them into the “bidding box” beside each artwork to stand a chance to make it their own. In celebration of the upcoming auction, Buhle writes about the evolution of Swan Song. Continue reading →

June 26, 2019June 26, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Art, Artist, Arts, Cape Town, Culture, Essay, Now Playing, Organisation, Performer, Playwright, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, Shakespeare, South Africa, Theater, Theatre, Theatremaker, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, Womxn, writerTags: Actress, All womxn creative team, Amy Rusch, Auction, Author, Brett Goldin Bursary, Buhle Ngaba, Cape Town, Conversation, Creative, Creator, Essay, Fundraiser, Guest Post, Ilana Cilliers, KKNK, Klein Karoo National Festival, Neo Baepi, Opinion, Royal Shakespeare Company, RSC, Shakespeare, Sitaara Stodel, South Africa, Storyteller, Swan Song, Theater, Theatre, Vrystaat Festival, writer Leave a comment

A Conversation with Lukhanyiso Skosana

Lukhanyiso Skosana is an actress, performance artist, vocalist and theatre-maker. Her performing credits include Love Like Blue directed by Puleng Lange-Stewart, Khanyisile Mbongwa’s performance art piece kuDanger, Ndawo directed and written by Thapelo Tharaga and Nguvu Ya Mbegu directed by Mandla Mbothwe. To continue her collaborations with womxn of colour, she was in the dance piece Bana Ba Mobu choreographed by Tshegofatso Mabutla. She is in the continuous process of touring and reworking Womb Of Fire, a production written and performed by Rehane Abrahams and directed by Dr Sara Matchett for which she was recently awarded a Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for Best Original Music Score. She continued her longtime collaboration with The MotherTongue Project by performing in their performance piece Walk in India at the ITFOK festival, at the National Arts Festival in 2018 and at Woordfees 2019. She recently choreographed her debut dance piece entitled Zinyile i’Queers and also participated in Body Politics in a durational Butoh piece titled UMGOWO. In 2018, Lukhanyiso made her directorial as well as playwriting debut with her graduation piece Inguquko.

Continue reading →

March 13, 2019March 13, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Art, Artist, Arts, Cape Town, Composer, Conversation, Culture, Dance, Dancer, Director, Interview, Performer, Photography, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, Singer, South Africa, The Baxter, Theater, Theatre, Theatremaker, Uncategorized, Womxn, writerTags: Actor, Actress, Advice, Director, Fleur du Cap award, Interview, Lukhanyiso Skosana, music, Nominee, Performance Art, Photography, Rehane Abrahams, Sara Matchett, Singer, Sound Designer, The Mother Tongue Project, Theater, Theatre, UCT, Vocalist, Walk, Winner, Womb of Fire, Womxn, writer 1 Comment

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: