Angela Thandizwe Mthembu

BIO

Just as, the eye shared by the three sisters of fate used to engage with destiny, when the heel of her hand rests on a page, her words become weaving Goddesses, spinning stories that resemble her life through the tales of others. Angela Thandizwe Mthembu on page and Angelyric on stage is a multi-talented South African artist manager, events coordinator, writer, performer, TEDx speaker, Band leader, spoken word artist, and published poet. This South African-born expressionist paints her truth to awaken feelings that convey emotional meaning rather than a physical experience. It is through evocative poetry that she creates protest art that offers an alternative to traditional forms of conformity. Her words desire to direct social and political transformation.

After being awarded the bronze prize in the Caxton writing competition for her creative essay titled 'city of Happy Folk', she was inspired to create the art collective PG13. With youthful rhythms accompanied by ancient grooves tied together by the harmonies of tomorrow, PG_13’s sound is not jazz nor is it Rock’n’roll, it is where those rivers meet balancing on a tight rope of Maskandi.

Angela Thandizwe Mthembu has performed at the Joburg, Rockwood, and Soweto theatre, Port Elizabeth Opera House, Soda Studios, Moses Molelekwa Art Center, Alliance Francaise of Johannesburg, African Beer Emporium, Rumours Rock City, Botaki Ba Afrika, 27 Boxes, Scary Canary, Bassline, AGOG Gallery, The Artisan, Carfax, the SABC, Grahamstown Art Festival, The Human rights festival at Constitution Hill, Fete De La Musique, Kwantu Village, and Smoking Dragon Festival. Together with her band, she produced an EP called Hekaya which is available on Bandcamp. (Hekaya | PG_13sa (bandcamp.com). She is also featured on Edgar Kaye Muzah's 'The Calling’, released in 2023 on his deluxe Son of a tribe album which received a Sama Nomination. Contributing to virtual performances for the African Union, Germany's Wicked festival poetry booth, Radioactive Blog, Pick-me-up Poetry, Poetic Thursday, and a heritage celebration by Nike South Africa.

Her primary mission as an Art Administrator is to document and share the stories of the artists, she represents with their target audience. One of her notable achievements is the conceptualization of the 'Food4Soul' charity event in Kempton Park, which offers live music performances in exchange for nonperishable items donated to local charities. This event has hosted renowned artists and bands and supports nonprofit organizations like Sowing the Seed and Tsepang Care Center.

Angela's expertise extends to event management, and she has organized shows at various venues, including SABC's radio park, Kitchener's Bar, Grahamstown Arts Festival, Kwantu Village, and Good Luck Bar. She has also been involved in administrative and promotional tasks for events like the Afropunk Battle of the Bands and the Afropunk Festival. In 2023, she was part of the social media storyteller team for the Folklore Festival hosted at the National School of the Arts.

She currently manages artists such as Double bassist Thuto Mostemme and guitarist, singer, and songwriter Zelizwe Mthembu. Angela has also written artist biographies and handled bookings for various Johannesburg-based collectives. As a stage manager, she has worked with events like Afropunk Battle of the Bands, Dube Son Lifestyle Village, and more. In 2023, she was one of the recipients of the Music in Africa Gender@work 2023 training programme for Females-only music industry training in Tanzania. Which consisted of a music business online module and Event Production classes in Tanzania.
In 2020 she was selected as the top 50 artists under the banner of poetry by the Imbewu Art Festival endorsed by the Department of Sport, Art, and Culture. She formed part of the Music X Words project's top ten, an initiative by Music in Africa that aimed to bring the spoken word and music to a global audience.
In 2021 as an attempt to combat her fear of slamming she entered the word and Sound digital slam, forming part of its current top five. In 2023 Angelyric placed first in the monthly Poetry Africa slam.

Angela Thandizwe Mthembu has been featured on Trendz, VOWFM, Vancouver Co-op Radio (Canada), KayaFM, Power FM, Impulse Radio, Cliff Central, Channel Africa, and Amanda Eke's The Poet Speaks (Japan). In 2022 she formed a third of the Ekurhuleni South African Library Week slam poetry Judging panel. In the same year, she was part of sixty aspiring African storytellers to be awarded a digital storytelling scholarship with NaNairobi-based Africa24Media, placing in the top 20 of her class. In 2023 she delivered a workshop at the Moor Castle in Muldersdrift around how music and poetry interact while featuring on the lineup of Fete de la Musique and the Humans Rights Festival.

As a published author, she is part of the French Institute of South Africa and Impepho Press’s ‘Yesterdays and Imaging Realities: An Anthology of South African Poetry as well as Letting in the Light by Chasing Dreams publishing and is currently working on her own collection called Amazwi we Sizwe. She was one of fifteen South African poets to be profiled by Poetry Potion as part of their fifteen-year celebration. Her thoughts can also be found in the research project, Building together - Towards a Roadmap for African Language Technologies.