Where folklore meets feminism

With Weeping Becomes a River, Siphokazi Jonas reclaims language, centres women's voices and brings African folklore into global storytelling

- Zingisa Mase

Multitalented: Sipokazi Jonas with her South African Film and Television Award for Best Short Film in 2022. Photo: Supplied

(Supplied)

Siphokazi Jonas is a poet, author, artist and producer whose influence stretches across South Africa and is steadily reaching global audiences.

With deep roots in storytelling and theatre, she brings a rare power to the stage, crafting performances that linger long after the curtain falls.

Jonas has created and showcased many performances, including collaborations with musicians such as Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, Freshlyground, Pops Mohamed, Dizu Plaatjies and Dave Reynolds.

She has become a certified literary sensation. In her recently published book Weeping Becomes a River, Jonas confronts the linguistic and cultural alienation she experienced as a black learner in former Model C schools in the 1990s and early 2000s.

She fashioned the fragments to reclaim and rewrite her place within a lineage of storytellers in South Africa and she submitted the audio book of Weeping Becomes a River for Grammy Awards consideration.

During the book launch, we chatted about her creative process, her efforts to expand peoples’ perspectives through poetry and the use of folklore to shape societies.

One of the most notable poets of her generation, Jonas’s work has resonated across literary spaces in South Africa. And this year she was chosen to become a member of the Recording Academy among 3 600 artists who were invited to join.

Born in a dorpie called Sterkstroom in the Eastern Cape, Jonas’s creative influences are broad, but a recurring purpose is amplifying voices often not heard, and her poetry has been used as a powerful platform to share the perspectives and stories of those in the margins of society.