Boasting a line-up of professional storytellers, it’s safe to say that the re-launch of Imbawula – as the youth would say- is going to be lit!

Kojo says he would love to hear stories about ordinary people. “I’d like to hear a story about a domestic worker who had to live through the struggle,” he says.

“A good friend of mine always says that I have a story for every occasion, and I actually do. I tell stories for a living,” says Kojo Baffoe.

Kojo is a writer and editor who has been writing since he was 16-years-old. “I guess you could say that telling stories and telling different kinds of stories and approaching it in different ways, has always been part of my life.”

Unathi Msengana on the other hand, tells stories through her music and every weekday on Metro FM. The Idols SA judge regards storytelling as the most sacred when it comes to her profession. “Siphiwe [Mpye] has been a great friend, a great mentor and a great example of being responsible with the power that you are given. So when he asked me to be part of this I couldn’t say no”

A lot of us have memories of sitting around a fire listening to stories. For Emmy-nominated satirist, Neo Maditla, her close knit family would have monthly gatherings and instead of fire it would be food and alcohol that held the conversation together. Listening to her hilarious father and aunt, who are never short of interesting stories to share, inspired her to write. Neo’s relationship with storytelling went full circle from being a writer to mentoring young people at Live Magazine to help them tell their stories.

For Sihlangule Siwisa, an author currently working on his fourth book, stories about our struggles need to be told from multiple perspectives, especially the stories about what happened in exile that we still do not know.

Something the storytellers all agree on is the fact that the art of storytelling is not fading at all. “I do think the medium of storytelling has changed, which has necessitated a re-packaging of stories into bite-size content,” says Sihlangule.

Neo, Unathi, Sihlangule and Kojo will be telling their stories at Imbawula on Tuesday, 27 October at The Bassline.

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