Andrew-John Hlamulo-HOSANA, affectionately known as“ AJ yoRafiki” is a writer, poet and performer.“ I found my ability to write when I was doing my matric. I did not start of writing poetry, it was just recreational writing. From my fumbles and stumbles a friend of mine advised me to try poetry. There was not much exposure in my school to what poetry can do, and all we ever really knew about it was that people with bold voices and commanding presences could take part. Regardless of the missing link between passion and action I tried to write and fell in love with it, but I was still shy to display it.
In 2010 I enrolled with the University of Limpopo, this is where my craft was furnished and moulded by the performing arts centre and the fellowship of poets in the University. I stopped performing the following year 2011( for reflection purposes); though I was not performing I never stopped writing. This time was very rewarding for me artistically, because I was introduced to an array of performers, writers, poets and a variety of performers other than the Mzwakhe Mbuli complex which had plagued the poetry scene in my locality.
A majority of my performances were held under the auspices of the University of Limpopo because I am still a student there and they have provided a great platform for my personal growth. In 2014 I was published in the second offering of via Grape vine, an anthology curated by Brigitte Poirson from the Free-state. Poetry for me is an expression of something borrowed that needs to be share with the rest of the human race. We do it not for recognition but for supplication, I believe that artistic skill has nothing to do with it but rather the performer or poet is a medium used to communicate the remembrance which was disposed of by a memory forgotten and a chance not taken. It is for this reason that I personally write and continue to write and shall continue to write until God above calls me to the ropes to rest my bones.”
www. megaartists. co. za Mar-Apr 2016 Page 5