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Burst open the doors of possibility: World Children’s Day with Lebohang Masango
Thu, 10 November 2022
“Equality and inclusion for every child” is this year’s theme for World Children’s Day (20 November). What better way of marking this event than celebrating the poetry and stories that offer children access to their own heritage and experience? This year, the AVBOB Poetry Project focuses on the contribution made by Lebohang Masango, a gifted children's author, PhD candidate and popular poet.
john 1:1 and me
No matter what version of the sky you know
there are as many words as there are stars in the galaxy.
The gift presents in cosmic abundance
an endless assemblage of master keys.
Words unlock language and language, a new world.
the doors of possibility burst open
when the alphabet is merged.
These lines make up the first stanza of ‘john 1:1 and me’, a poem that reimagines the famous gospel verse as an invitation to revel in the beautiful, sometimes difficult, gifts offered by stories. Lebohang believes deeply in making those gifts available to young children.
Her first children’s title, Mpumi’s Magic Beads, (David Philip, 2018) won the South African Independent Publishers Award for Children’s Books that year and the Exclusive Books IBBY SA Award for Best Writer in 2019. It was translated into all 11 of South Africa’s official languages and was soon followed by a series that explores Mpumi’s daily life.
“Books play an important role in uniting South Africans across linguistic barriers and having titles in translation helps to keep languages and cultures alive. This only happens with the help of mother tongue access and instruction,” says Lebohang, who is a PhD candidate in anthropology. “In studying this subject, one learns to listen to many people’s voices, to treat them with dignity and respect. In other words, there can never only be one version or one story. While it is important to write stories down, we must never neglect the oral tradition, especially for children. Anthropology taught me that stories are everywhere. They live in rituals, in everyday objects. Story happens wherever we are.”
Her openness to other voices leads Lebohang to create new work that riffs off other artists, often forming unlikely partnerships. For instance, her poem ‘Ten Thousand Stories’ (featured on DStv’s Most Loved Storyteller campaign) pays tribute to Maya Angelou’s poem ‘Our Grandmothers’, with its line “I go forth along, and stand as ten thousand.”
This captures Lebohang’s belief in the power of words to cross boundaries and strengthen community. Such forays into mass culture have made her one of very few South African poets to reach a large audience, enabling poetry to be heard by those who would not otherwise be exposed to it.
Lebohang’s storytelling grew out of her love of poetry. Written in rhyme, Mpumi’s Magic Beads grew out of the rhythm and music of nursery rhymes. “It’s a blend of rhyme and story,” she explains. “Poetry has nourished my storytelling since I was a little girl.”
Her next children’s book, The Great Cake Contest, was part of the Book Dash initiative. “Books are prohibitively expensive for so many people in South Africa, and this organisation promotes affordable books for young children translated into mother tongue languages,” she says.
Mpumi and Jabu’s Magical Day – co-written with Professor Claudine Storbeck, Director for the Centre for Deaf Studies at Wits University – won a Pendoring Award. “I wanted to share the magic of friendship for children facing difficult circumstances.” No matter what version of the sky you know, story is a vital, life-affirming opportunity to connect in a powerful way with the children in your life.
The AVBOB Poetry Competition welcomes poems inspired by or about children. Enter online at www.avbobpoetry.co.za before 23:59 on 30 November 2022.
Image by Masego Morulane
john 1:1 and me
No matter what version of the sky you know
there are as many words as there are stars in the galaxy.
The gift presents in cosmic abundance
an endless assemblage of master keys.
Words unlock language and language, a new world.
the doors of possibility burst open
when the alphabet is merged.
These lines make up the first stanza of ‘john 1:1 and me’, a poem that reimagines the famous gospel verse as an invitation to revel in the beautiful, sometimes difficult, gifts offered by stories. Lebohang believes deeply in making those gifts available to young children.
Her first children’s title, Mpumi’s Magic Beads, (David Philip, 2018) won the South African Independent Publishers Award for Children’s Books that year and the Exclusive Books IBBY SA Award for Best Writer in 2019. It was translated into all 11 of South Africa’s official languages and was soon followed by a series that explores Mpumi’s daily life.
“Books play an important role in uniting South Africans across linguistic barriers and having titles in translation helps to keep languages and cultures alive. This only happens with the help of mother tongue access and instruction,” says Lebohang, who is a PhD candidate in anthropology. “In studying this subject, one learns to listen to many people’s voices, to treat them with dignity and respect. In other words, there can never only be one version or one story. While it is important to write stories down, we must never neglect the oral tradition, especially for children. Anthropology taught me that stories are everywhere. They live in rituals, in everyday objects. Story happens wherever we are.”
Her openness to other voices leads Lebohang to create new work that riffs off other artists, often forming unlikely partnerships. For instance, her poem ‘Ten Thousand Stories’ (featured on DStv’s Most Loved Storyteller campaign) pays tribute to Maya Angelou’s poem ‘Our Grandmothers’, with its line “I go forth along, and stand as ten thousand.”
This captures Lebohang’s belief in the power of words to cross boundaries and strengthen community. Such forays into mass culture have made her one of very few South African poets to reach a large audience, enabling poetry to be heard by those who would not otherwise be exposed to it.
Lebohang’s storytelling grew out of her love of poetry. Written in rhyme, Mpumi’s Magic Beads grew out of the rhythm and music of nursery rhymes. “It’s a blend of rhyme and story,” she explains. “Poetry has nourished my storytelling since I was a little girl.”
Her next children’s book, The Great Cake Contest, was part of the Book Dash initiative. “Books are prohibitively expensive for so many people in South Africa, and this organisation promotes affordable books for young children translated into mother tongue languages,” she says.
Mpumi and Jabu’s Magical Day – co-written with Professor Claudine Storbeck, Director for the Centre for Deaf Studies at Wits University – won a Pendoring Award. “I wanted to share the magic of friendship for children facing difficult circumstances.” No matter what version of the sky you know, story is a vital, life-affirming opportunity to connect in a powerful way with the children in your life.
The AVBOB Poetry Competition welcomes poems inspired by or about children. Enter online at www.avbobpoetry.co.za before 23:59 on 30 November 2022.
Image by Masego Morulane
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