Lebo Mashile

• @lebomashile

Despite being born in the United States as a result of her parents’ exile, Lebo Mashile has become a household name in the field of oral poetry in her home country, South Africa. She is also a presenter, actress and a committed to supporting human rights, diversity and feminism. She wrote and produced the documentary series The Attitude (L’Attitude) and the children’s television programme Great Expectations. She made her acting début in the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda and, alongside choreographer Sylvia Glasser, wrote and starred in Threads, a fusion of poetry, music and dance widely regarded as a driving cultural force in South Africa. In February 2018 she made her theatre début with a piece about Saartjie Baartman, an African woman she uses to explain racism in twenty-first-century Europe. Her first book of poems In a Ribbon of Rhythm (2005) received a NOMA, one of the most highly-regarded awards in African literature. She is also known for her poetry book Flying Above The Sky (2008) and the albums Lebo Mashile Live! and Moya (2016), produced in collaboration with the singer and composer Majola.