People

Webster Chagonda

Webster Chagonda

Webster is the founder and managing director at Pick Me Up Poetry. His creative journey began at an early age as an aspiring musician, and by 2013, he was the arts & culture facilitator for the University of Johannesburg. He is currently pursuing a Business Management degree with The University of South Africa while pursuing #PMUP fulltime. 

Email: webster@pickmeuppoetry.org

Kalkidan Getnet is a poet and an aspiring concept/Minimal artist. She runs a poetry blog titled “Everted” with the theme “Poetic Disruption through Bold and Uncensored Self-expression”. Her poems explore various emotional states which fall mainly in grief, depression, and solitude, collected from her own experience and mere observations.

Kylin Lotter

Kai Lotter

Kai Lotter is a writer, poet, and artist. She is a postgraduate student at the University of Witswatersrand, studying English Literature and specialising in Dante’s Divine Comedy. Her work has been featured in the bi-annual Poetry Potion journal. Her poem “Wolf Girl” will be featured in the upcoming anthology entitled “Yesterdays and Imagined Realities: An Anthology of South African Poetry.” Her work explores themes of gender expression, mental health and what it means to be human.

Muskaan Ayesha is a South African author, poet, editor and radio presenter. She’s a strong-willed woman with a love for trying new things and living life through all her gathered knowledge.  

Zandile Caroline Sibanda, also known as The Unnatural is a young female writer based in Johannesburg. Her journey began at the Wit’s Poets Corner writing sessions before making the transition to the Current State Poetry Class of 2020. These platforms have helped in guiding her technique as the writer transitioned from a one-sided writer to confidently exploring different literary domains. 

Poetry is dead Thandiwe Nqanda

Thandiwe Nqanda

Thandiwe was born and raised in the Mother City of Cape TownSouth Africa. She’s an avid poet and writer, currently pursuing a Quadruple Major in Bachelor of Arts at Wits University.

"You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate."
― Elizabeth Gilbert