Xabiso Vili

Xabiso Vili is a South African poet, new media artist, author, and speaker who has performed his poetry nationally and internationally. He earned the title of World Slam Poetry Champion in Brussels in 2022.[1] He is also noted for his poetry, which has been published in various anthologies, and his interactive multi-media projects. Owing to the work he has done in the arts sector of South Africa, he was named one of the Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans in 2022. Quotes Solving for X is an abstraction, logical thinking that allows one to reach a set of possibilities. X can be anything. It can be Phat Boi. But it could also be thin Boi and fold itself in a poem that wins slams. X could be a eulogy. Buried. And questioning why some people spell tired as suicide. X can be a kingdom of scars, a Love letter to Gaza or Black boi be during a Black Lives matter March. X could be broken. But fixed with gold. Most importantly X needs to be found. I think I am slowly settling on therapy. Just because the concept of therapy itself, is so versatile. It encompasses healing but also encourages meaningful action towards change. Both for the personal and for the external and community. I’ve always said that this art form helps me make sense of my internal world to be able to relate to the external world and vice versa. But now, I have been able to take it a step further and do that for other people. Look, I am an an artist – and I am always looking at how to expand and improve upon my art, but I think Siphokazi Jonas mentioned in one of your chats, that she is focussed on process rather than outcome or product. And that has been really important for me as well. In my writing and the workshops I run, it’s all good and well to leave with a “dope” piece, but what did we learn during the process, what did we change, what did we tackle? And I really think a more involved process makes for better art but this art is just a tool to make better humans. Is staying away from any thoughts of the next day’s show. I like to give myself a buffer. SO I have probably spent the week or two before (depending on how big the show is) memorising poems, finding the mood and the character and living in the poems. So, the day before, I trust that I know what I am going to do – so I don’t do anything, just so I can keep the pieces fresh for myself. So I am doing anything that distracts me from the show and when I get to the venue the next day, I step into the poems and character(s) I’ve created like I am meeting old friends for the first time again. External links [[Category:Living people]