Lebogang Mashile (born 7 February 1979) is a South African actress, writer and performance poet.

Biography

The daughter of exiled South African parents, Mashile was born in the

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and returned to South Africa in the mid-1990s after the end of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

. She began to study law and international relations at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

but became more interested in the arts. With Myesha Jenkins, Ntsiki Mazwai and Napo Masheane, she founded the poetry group Feela Sistah. She appeared in the 2004 film ''

Hotel Rwanda ''Hotel Rwanda'' is a 2004 drama film directed by Terry George. It was adapted from a screenplay co-written by George and Keir Pearson, and stars Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina and his wife Tatiana. Based on the Rw ...

'' and has performed in a number of theatre productions, including ''Threads'', which combined dance, music and poetry. She also recorded a live performance album incorporating music and poetry, titled ''Lebo Mashile Live''. She co-produced and hosted the documentary programme ''L’Attitude'' on

SABC 1 SABC 1 is a South African public television network operated by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) which carries programming in English and Nguni. It was created in 1996, after the SABC restructured its television channels. SABC 1 ...

and hosted a game show called ''Drawing the Line'' on

SABC 2 SABC 2 is a South African family public television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). SABC 2 broadcasts programming in English, Sepedi, Afrikaans, Venda, and Tsonga. As of August 2018, the channel started broadc ...

. In 2005, she published her first poetry collection, ''In a Ribbon of Rhythm'', for which she received the

Noma Award The Noma Prizes were established by Shoichi Noma, or in his honor. More than one award is conventionally identified as the ''Noma Prize''. Noma was the former head of Kodansha, the Japanese publishing and bookselling company. Kodansha is Japan' ...

in 2006. Mashile and musician, performer, writer Majola released an EP in 2016." Majola and Lebo Mashile release E.P"
Artlink.

Awards and honours

Mashile was named one of South Africa's Awesome Women of 2005 by ''

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'' and one of the Top 100 youth in South Africa by the ''

Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'' is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, local arts, music and popular cultu ...

'' in 2006, 2007 and 2009. In 2006, she was named the top personality in television by ''

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'' in their annual Top 100 list, in 2007 she was the recipient of the City Press/

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Woman of Prestige Award, and was also named Woman of the Year for 2010 in the category of Arts and Culture by ''

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'' magazine. Mashile was cited as one of the Top 100 Africans by ''

New African ''New African'' is an English-language monthly news magazine based in London. Published since 1966, it is read by many people across the African continent and the African diaspora. It claims to be the oldest pan-African monthly in English, as well ...

'' magazine in 2011 and in 2012 she won the Art Ambassador award at the inaugural

Mbokodo Award The Mbokodo Awards are presented annually by Carol Bouwer Productions to honor South African women who have made contributions to the arts and culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and n ...

s for South African Women in the Arts. Mashile performed at the Opening of Parliament in 2009. She has been described as "probably the first name that comes to mind when thinking about a female writer making colossal waves in the poetry space".

Selected works

* ''In a Ribbon of Rhythm'', poetry (Oshun Books, 2005, ) * ''Flying Above the Sky'', poetry (African Perspective, 2008, )"Flying Above the Sky"
at Goodreads.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mashile, Lebogang 1979 births Living people 21st-century South African actresses South African women poets South African television presenters University of the Witwatersrand alumni 21st-century South African women writers 21st-century South African poets South African women television presenters