SMAC Gallery in association with SAFIM is proud to stage the award winning slam poet, writer and spoken word ambassador Mandi ‘Poefficient’ Vundla on Monday 20 April in Stellenbosch or Thursday 23 April in Cape Town at 18h30 for 19h00.

Vundla’s poetry performances at SMAC will comprise of three poems; Girl Rising, Ode to Kwaito and Mother. She will also be reading from Home Is Where The Mic Is. This recently launched anthology, which Vundla co-edited, features 24 young influential poets across four continents.

‘For the last three years South Africa’s poetry scene has seen a rebirth of poetry with young writers redefining the art form to better suit their lived experiences’

− Qhakaza Mbali Mthembu, 2015

Performance poetry, also referred to as spoken word poetry or slam poetry (when performed on a competitive basis), is a self-identified energetic art movement initiated in the 1980s by American poet Marc Smith. The Urban Dictionary defines this type of poetry as “expressing a person’s personal story and/or struggle usually in an intensely emotional style … powerful, sincere and moving”. Spoken word poetry is often highly politicised, drawing upon racial, economic, and gender injustices as well as current events for subject matter, which is evident in Mandi ‘Poefficient’ Vundla’s work. Vundla describes her stage name ‘Poefficient’ as follows: “If you can’t find a word that best describes you, create one. Hence ‘Poefficient’ – an efficient wordsmith”.

Vundla was born in Soweto, Johannesburg and began performing in 2006 making her debut in the world of competitive poetry in 2011. She has performed on various stages, including the State Theatre’s Night of the Poets, Arts Alive Festival, Poetry Africa, the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown and the Jozi Book Fair where she was part of the protest poetry panel discussion hosted by Poetry Potion.

Mandi ‘Poeffecient’ Vundla has shared the stage with recognised poets and musicians including Afurakan, Joshua Bennett (U.S), Yrsa Daley-Ward (U.K), Phillippa Yaa De Villiers, Myesha Jenkins, Tumelo Khoza, Napo Masheane, Lebo Mashile, Natalia Molebatsi, Tumi Molekane of Tumi and the Volume, Mutabaruka (Jamaica), Neo Muyanga and Kabomo Vilakazi. She has also performed alongside the legendary Pops Mohammed and opened the stage for Canadian hip-hop and spoken word artist Ian Kamau. Additional career highlights include her appearance on TEDx Johannesburg and co-hosting TEDx Soweto.

Dubbed queen of the Word N Sound Mic 2012 in Johannesburg’s prestigious Slam, she went on to win the Poet of the Year award, then broke her own record by defending her Word N Sound Queen of the Mic title in 2013. Vundla is currently a member of the Word N Sound content production team.


Seating is limited, please RSVP to Jean le Clus-Theron on jlt@smacgallery.com or 021 422 5100 by Thursday 16 April 2015.