The Bavino Sermons
Lesego Rampolokeng
Originally published by Gecko Poetry in 1999 and republished 20 years later by Deep South, The Bavino Sermons includes such memorable poems as “Lines for Vincent”, “Riding the victim train”, “To Gil Scott-Heron”, “Crab attack”, “Rap Ranting” and “The Fela Sermon”, as well as some longer poems and prose fragments.
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Passion drives this book. When the matrix of issues is the world we are in now/ yesterday/ the future, and the forecast is strewn with images of gore and madness, we laugh as well. If for some of us the idea of love’s physical gestures might be reduced to twinkling eroticism, Rampolokeng comes in and insists on the bland and blatant […] The Bavino Sermons are sermons of moral outrage. In their satellite eye-view and perspective of witness, the themes crisscross and happen all over…
– Khulile and Sibusiso Nxumalo, reviewing the original 1999 edition
Date of publication: 2019
ISBN 978-1-928476-30-6 / ebook ISBN 978-1-928476-31-3
126 pages
210 x 148mm
R160.00
Lesego Rampolokeng 2019
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Lesego Rampolokeng is a poet and performer, the author since 1990 of 13 books, including eight books of poetry, a playscript, and four novels. He has collaborated with visual artists, playwrights, filmmakers, theatre and opera producers, poets and musicians. His no-holds-barred style, radical political-aesthetic and instantly recognisable voice have brought him a unique place in South African literature. Books published Novels Playscript
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Additional information
| Weight | 0.5 kg |
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Reviews of this book
Review by Richard Bowker of The Bavino Sermons by Lesego Rampolokeng Sunday Independent, 2000 text PDF
Interviews & Articles
Interview with Lesego Rampolokeng by Mphutlane wa Bofelo Daily Vox, 2014 text PDF
Interview with Lesego Rampolokeng by Robert Berold New Coin, 1993 text PDF
Essay by Lesego Rampolokeng on teaching writing ISEA, 2017 text PDF
Special Edition of Alternation on Lesego Rampolokeng's life and work (Open Access):
Article by Danyela Dimakatso Demir: "‘Before the Crimson Downpour’: Reflections on Lesego Rampolokeng’s Oeuvre in Three Fragments"
Article by Warrick Swinney: "Stick-fighting against Extinction: End Beginnings and Other Dada Nihilismus Polemics"
Article by Ayub Sheik: "Word Bomber Supreme! Textual Strategies of Nihilism in the Poetry of Lesego Rampolokeng"
Article by Olivier Moreillon: "Of Solitude, Non-Places, and Mutations, in/and Lesego Rampolokeng’s Poetry of the Nineties" text PDF
Article by Lindy Stiebel: "Lewis, meet Lesego: A Comparative View of Lewis Nkosi (1936-2010) and Lesego Rampolokeng (b.1965)"
Other Links
Social media
"Lucky Majaivane's facebook posts: 'On Aesthetics'" Instagram
Live recordings
"Heavyweight" by the Kalahari Surfers featuring Lesego Rampolokeng Shifty Media Official Channel (YouTube), 2014
"Friends & Opposites (1993)" walkabout with Vusi Mahlasela featuring Lesego Rampolokeng Shifty Media Official Channel (YouTube), 2020
Digital albums
"End Beginnings" by Lesego Rampolokeng with the Kalahari Surfers bandcamp, 1990
"Bantu Rejex (a half century album)" by Lesego Rampolokeng with the Kalahari Surfers bandcamp, 2017
"Babylon Mission Report" by Lesego Rampolokeng with the Kalahari Surfers bandcamp, 2021
Multimedia article
"Stick Fighting against extinction: end beginnings and other dada nihilismus polemics" multimedia article by Warrick Swinney on Lesego Rampolokeng published as a chapter from his PhD dissertation (University of the Western Cape) herri, #10
Other articles
"The fragments of society are filled with poetry" article on Lesego Ramplokeng by Aarti Bhana Mail & Guardian, 2024
"No easy stroll to freedom for SA poetry’s restless howler" article on Lesego Rampolokeng by Miles Keylock Mail & Guardian, 2014
"Post-Freedom Poetry" article on Lesego Ramplokeng by Douglas Valentine CounterPunch, 2013
"English in a Splintered Metropolis: South Africa After Apartheid" (mentions the poetry of Kelwyn Sole, Lesego Rampolokeng and Ike Muila), article by John Trimbur: JAC (Journal of Advanced Composition) (JSTOR), 2009 text PDF
"Carnival and Hybridity in Texts by Dambudzo Marechera and Lesego Rampolokeng" article on Lesego Rampolokeng by Flora Veit-Wild Journal of Southern African Studies (Taylor and Francis), 1997
Special journal edition on Lesego Rampolokeng
Lesego "Papa Ramps" Rampolokeng: Rap Master Supreme special edition of BKO BKO Magazine, 2020
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