JESUS THESIS AND OTHER CRITICAL FABULATIONS
Kopano Maroga

November 2020
102pp
200mm x 130mm
ISBN: 978-1-990968-65-5

—

the blossom knows not the violence
it has done unto the bud
this is what it means to bloom

—

In a provocative yet unexpectedly tender debut, Kopano Maroga immerses themself in Christian myth and mystery, emerging reborn.

In a riotous, innovative and unapologetic display of self-exposure, self-examination and self-love, Maroga appropriates and creates a (sometimes literal) collage of religious imagery, sexual want, and embodiedness – eventually widening their gaze to encompass the realities faced by black, queer, femme and trans folk in South Africa and further afield. Indeed, these are poems of pain, loss, introspection, and regret; but they are also works of great and usual beauty, depth, desire, and ambition – in sum, the evidence of a powerful new voice in South African poetry.

Kopano Maroga was born in Benoni in 1994. They are a performance artist, writer, cultural worker and co-founding director of the socio-cultural arts organisation any body zine. Currently they are working as a curator and dramaturg at Kunstencentrum Vooruit in Ghent, Belgium. They believe in the power of love as a weapon of mass construction.

Please note that this title contains depictions of nudity and sex acts.