Gcina Mhlophe

Nokugcina Elsie Mhlophe (born 24 October 1958), known as Gcina Mhlophe, is a South African storyteller, writer, playwright, and actress. In 2016 she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women. She tells her stories in four of South Africa's languages: English, Afrikaans, Zulu and Xhosa, and also helps to motivate children to read.

Gcina Mhlophe
Gcina Mhlophe at the Festival Internacional de Poesía de Medellín in 2016
Born
Nokugcina Elsie Mhlophe

(1958-10-24) 24 October 1958
KwaZulu-Natal ,South Africa
Occupations
Years active1988-present
Notable workBlack Dog: Inj'emnyama

Her childhood

Nokugcina Elsie Mhlophe was born on 24 October 1958 in KwaZulu-Natal,[1] to a Xhosa mother and a Zulu father.

She started her working life as a domestic worker, and did not visit a library until she was 20 years old .[2]

Career

Gcina Mhlophe worked as a newsreader at the Press Trust and BBC Radio, then as a writer and a magazine for newly-literate people.

She began to get a sense of the demand for stories while in Chicago in 1988. She performed at a library in a mostly-Black neighbourhood, where an ever-growing audience kept inviting her back. Still, Mhlophe only began to think of storytelling as a career after meeting an Imbongi, one of the legendary poets of African folklore, and after encouragement by Mannie Manim, the then-director of the Market Theatre, Johannesburg. From 1989 to 1990, she was resident director at the Market Theatre.

Mhlophe has appeared in theatres from Soweto to London, and much of her work has been translated into German, French, Italian, Swahili, and Japanese. She has travelled extensively in Africa and other parts of the world giving storytelling workshops.

Mhlophe's stories meld folklore, information, current affairs, song, and idiom. Storytelling is a deeply traditional activity in South Africa, and Mhlophe is one of the few woman storytellers in a country dominated by males. She does her work through charismatic performances, working to preserve storytelling as a means of keeping history alive and encouraging South African children to read. She tells her stories in four of South Africa's languages: English, Afrikaans, Zulu and Xhosa.

Other activities

Mhlophe mentors young people, developing young talent to carry forward the work of storytelling through the Zanendaba ("Bring me a story") Initiative. This initiative, established in 2002, is a collaboration with the Market Theatre and READ, a national literacy organisation.

She currently serves as the patron of the ASSITEJ South Africa, the International Association for Theatre for Children and Young People.

She runs a performance space called "The Storytelling Tree" in Durban.[3]

She also works as a motivational speaker.[4]

Recognition and awards

From 2019,[3] Mhlophe's birthday, 24 October, is recognised as National Storytelling Day in South Africa.[4]

As of 2023 she has been awarded honorary doctorates from seven universities across the world.[3] These include:

Other recognition of her work includes:

Selected performances
  • 1983, lead role in Umongikazi: The Nurse, by Maishe Maponya
  • 1984, in Black Dog: Inj'emnyama
  • 1986, Place of Weeping (film)
  • 1986, Have You Seen Zandile? (autobiographical play, at the Market Theatre, Johannesburg, Mhlophe as Zandile)
  • 1987, Born in the RSA (New York)
  • 1989, storytelling festival at the Market Theatre
  • 1989, performed a poem in honour of Albert Luthuli, 1960 Nobel Peace Prize winner
  • 1990, performed Have You Seen Zandile? at the Edinburgh Festival tour through Europe and the USA
  • 1997, Poetry Africa, presenting poet
  • 1999, guest speaker at the Perth Writers Festival
  • 2000, performed in Peter und der Wolf at the Komische Oper (Berlin)
  • 2002, The Bones of Memory (performance, history-telling from the old and new South Africa)
  • 2003, lectured on storytelling at the Eye of the Beholder seminar
  • 2003, Mata Mata (performance, family musical)
  • 2006, FIFA World Cup South African handover ceremony, Germany

Documentary appearances
  • Acted and narrated in Travelling Songs
  • 1990, performed poetry in Songololo: Voices of Change (how aspects of culture in South Africa have become part of the anti-apartheid struggle)[7]
  • 1993, The Travelling Song (the contemporary process of story gathering)
  • Appeared in Literacy Alive
  • Appeared in Art Works

Recordings

Mhlophe wrote music for her SABC TV series Gcina & Friends

  • 1993, Music for Little People (CD)
  • 1993, reader voice Not so fast, Songololo (videorecording), Weston Woods, Weston CT, Scholastic
  • 1994, The Gift of the Tortoise (contributed to the Ladysmith Black Mambazo album)
  • 2002, Fudukazi's Magic screened in Durban at the African Union Film Festival

Collaborations
  • Pops Mohamed, musician and tribal music preservationist
  • Ladysmith Black Mambazo, choir group, The Gift of the Tortoise (CD), 1994 and Music for Little People in America (CD), 1993
  • Anant Singh, video producer, Fudukazi's Magic (CD and video for German audiences)

Bibliography
  • Mhlophe, Gcina. The Toilet 1987 (Short Story)
  • Mhlophe, Gcina. Molo Zoleka New Africa Education, 1994. (Children's book)
  • MaZanendaba (Children's book)
  • Mhlophe, Gcina. The Snake with Seven Heads. Johannesburg, Skotaville Publishers, 1989. (Children's book, translated into five African languages, the English edition is required in all South African school libraries)
  • Mhlophe, Gcina. Have you seen Zandile?. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1990. (Play, based on her childhood, required in South African university libraries)
  • Mhlophe, Gcina. Queen of the Tortoises. Johannesburg: Skotaville, 1990. (Children's book)
  • Mhlophe, Gcina. The Singing Dog. Illustrated by Erica Maritz and Andries Maritz. Johannesburg: Skotaville, 1992. (Children's book)
  • Mhlophe, Gcina. Nalohima, the Deaf Tortoise. Gamsbek, 1999.
  • Mhlophe, Gcina. Fudukazi's Magic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. (CD – lyrics and music, performance)
  • Mhlophe, Gcina. Fudukazi's Magic. Cambridge University Press, 2000 (CD – lyrics and music, performance, for German audiences)
  • Mhlophe, Gcina. Nozincwadi, Mother of Books. Maskew Miller Longman, 2001. (CD and book, South African roadshow to rural schools)
  • Mhlophe, Gcina. African Mother of Christmas. Maskew Miller Longman, 2002. (CD and book)
  • Mhlophe, Gcina. Love Child. Durban: University of Natal Press, 2002. (Memoir, collection of stories)
  • Margaret Daymond et al. (eds). Women Writing Africa: the southern region. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 2002.
  • Mhlophe, Gcina. Stories of Africa. University of Natal Press, 2003. (Children's book)
  • Mhlophe, Gcina. Queen of Imbira. Maskew Miller Longman. (Children's book)
  • Mhlophe, Gcina Songs & stories of Africa – South African Music Awards Winner 2010 for Best English Kids Album – African Cream Music

See also

References
  1. "South African storyteller, Gcina Mhlophe is born". South African History Online. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  2. "The Power of Storytelling". The Connection. 26 May 2015. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2023. The connection was a radio program broadcast from WBUR FM in Boston... hosted by Dick Gordon
  3. "African Story Magic with Gcina Mhlophe". iono.fm. 1 March 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  4. "Guest SpeakerAbout Gcina Mhlophe". Gcina Mhlophe. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  5. "The New York Obies Awards". Archived from the original on 25 March 2015.
  6. "BBC 100 Women 2016: Who is on the list?", BBC News, 21 November 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  7. Phil Johnson, "Songololo: the sound of freedom". The Globe and Mail, November 3, 1990.
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