Keorapetse Kgositsile

Keorapetse Kgositsile
Kgositsile in 2012
Born
Keorapetse William Kgositsile

(1938-09-19)19 September 1938
Johannesburg, South Africa
Died3 January 2018(2018-01-03) (aged 79)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Other namesKgosi
Occupations
  • Poet
  • journalist
  • political activist
Years active1960–2018
Spouses
Children5, including Thebe
Writing career
Pen nameBra Willie
GenreJazz
Subject
  • African culture
  • Black culture
  • African-American literature

Keorapetse William Kgositsile OIS (19 September 1938 – 3 January 2018), also known by his pen name Bra Willie, was a South African Tswana poet, journalist and political activist. An influential member of the African National Congress in the 1960s and 1970s, he was inaugurated as South Africa's National Poet Laureate in 2006.[1] Kgositsile lived in exile in the United States from 1962 until 1975, the peak of his literary career. He made an extensive study of African-American literature and culture, becoming particularly interested in jazz. During the 1970s he was a central figure among African-American poets, encouraging interest in Africa as well as the practice of poetry as a performance art; he was well known for his readings in New York City jazz clubs. Kgositsile was one of the first to bridge the gap between African poetry and African-American poetry in the United States.

  1. ^ Victor Dlamini, Podcast with Poet Laureate Keorapetse Kgositsile, Books Live, 12 August 2008.