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Fascinated
with the world behind the words, Kojo’s poetry embraces the spectrum
of human experience and brings together a range of emotions and thoughts
in free flowing verse.
Uninhibited by boundaries, he is constantly learning and stretching
his craft… “on a quest to find the perfect poem, a gentle
balance between word, rhythm and thought …a poem that sends the
moon and sun dancing over the skyline hand in hand”.
His poetry is a passionate journal detailing a life still finding its
truth, a life that is neither ordinary nor extraordinary, a life that
is representative of us all.
As a performer, Kojo struggles to make peace with exposing elements
of his soul, while driven by the need to interact and share with his
environment.
It is a love/hate relationship … “what is it I do, standing
before you, sprouting words of pseudo-intellectuality … I, the
poet, and you, the listener, or is it, I, the patient and you, the psychiatrist.”
The voices in his head still speak, and the words still come.
The Person
Kojo is a poet and writer who has travelled a journey filled with incident
and accident and has found a home in the world of word, thought and
feeling.
Born in Germany to a Ghanaian father and German mother, he spent his
formative years playing in the streets of Maseru, Lesotho, and eventually
completed his A Levels / International Baccalaureate at Machabeng High
School.
Plagued with typical adolescent drama, he found solace in the blank
page, starting off with the usual ramblings and somehow stumbled into
poetry, thereby saving on therapy fees.
After high school in 1990, he went off to Germany for a year, to find
his Germanic roots, as a Rotary Exchange Student, which he followed
up with three years at the University of Natal – Durban, Bachelor
of Commerce majoring in Economics, Marketing and Business Administration.
At this stage, poetry continued to be a release from day-to-day trivialities,
protectively shared with only close friends and family.
Kojo then returned home to Lesotho where he worked in the family business,
including economic and management consulting, information technology,
hair product retailing and publishing. In 1998, he started to build
relationships, business and personal, in Johannesburg, and with the
emergence of a minute poetry movement in 2000, Kojo started performing
at the traditional, smoke-filled, arty venues in Johannesburg.
In 2001, the pull of poetry was too strong and he leaped into a poetry
career that is still growing. He has since performed at a number of
events and venues, including Soulful Sundays (Rosebank), Monday Blues
(Orange Grove / Newtown), Freespeech (Melville), Cinnamon Toast Party
(Monsoon Lagoon), Bassline (Melville), Poetry in Locomotion (Melville),
Elevators (Rosebank, Sandton, Newtown), Kippies (Newtown), Windybrow
Theatre (Hillbrow), amongst others.
Not content with merely performing, Kojo has translated his creative
writing into a wide range of arenas, including lyric writing, copy for
commercials, greeting cards, and even business writing.
He continues to be driven by his passion, his belief and his love for
the WORD. The voices in his head still speak and the words still come.
Contact Details
Kojo
Cell. 073 166 9777
Email. Kojobaffoe@mweb.co.za |