Tjawangwa Dema

Tjawangwa Dema
Born1981 (age 44–45)
Gaborone, Botswana
EducationLancaster University
OccupationPoet

Tjawangwa "TJ" Dema (born 1981) is a Motswana poet, known for her spoken word and performance poetry. Her work has been published internationally in literary journals and anthologies, and she has performed at festivals and events in over 20 countries. Her debut collection, The Careless Seamstress (2019), won the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets.

Life and career

Dema was born in 1981 in Gaborone, Botswana. She has a master's of arts degree from Lancaster University.

Dema's chapbook, Mandible, was published as part of the 2014 boxed set Seven New Generation African Poets (edited by Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani, published by Slapering Hol Press). John Taylor, reviewing the set for The Antioch Review, said Dema's work "is especially touching in moments when intimate feelings are expressed metaphorically". She has also had work published in the Cordite Poetry Review, Elsewhere Lit, the New Orleans Review and in the anthology Read Women (Locked Horn Press, 2014).

As a performance poet she has performed at the Gaborone International Music and Culture Week, and internationally in over 20 countries including Germany, Singapore, Portugal, Sweden, and Scotland. She represented Botswana at the Poetry Parnassus in London in 2012.

In 2018 Dema received the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets for her collection The Careless Seamstress. The prize came with US$1,000 and publication of her collection as part of the African Poetry Book Series by the University of Nebraska Press. The collection was a Brittle Paper Notable Book of 2019.

In 2022 Dema published a collection of ecopoetry, an/another pastoral (No Bindings Press), illustrated by Tebogo Cranwell and with a foreword from Chris Abani. The collection was launched on Earth Day. It was a Brittle Paper Notable Book of 2022, described as "[combining] history and race with the climate crisis to create riveting poetry that brings an African ecopoetics perspective to our changing world".

Dema has received fellowships and residencies from the University of Iowa's International Writing Program, the Vermont Studio Center, the Danish Arts Foundation (Danish International Visiting Residence programme, 2014), and the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities at Northwestern University (2016 Artist-in-Residence).

References

  1. ↑ "Delhi International Literary Festival". Atlas Aark Arts. 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Obi-Young, Otosirieze (30 January 2018). "The 2018 Sillerman First Book Prize Awarded to Botswana's Tjawangwa Dema, for Her "The Careless Seamstress"". Brittle Paper. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  3. ↑ Austin, Tiffany (Spring 2016). "Seven New Generation African Poets". Valley Voices: A Literary Review. 16 (1): 149–153. ISSN 1553-7668.
  4. ↑ Taylor, John (Spring 2015). "Poetry Today: Discovering New African Poets". The Antioch Review. 73 (2): 372–380. doi:10.7723/antiochreview.73.2.0372. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  5. ↑ Odubeng, Maureen (25 July 2014). "TJ Dema to perform at GIMC week". Mmegi. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  6. ↑ Tlale, Mpho (5 July 2013). "TJ Dema returns from poetry tour". Mmegi. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  7. ↑ "Botswana-Sweden poetry show this weekend". Botswana Gazette. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  8. ↑ "Dema off to Scotland fest". Mmegi. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  9. ↑ "The Art of Alteration: A Dialogue With Tjawangwa Dema". Africa in Dialogue. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  10. ↑ Ganetsang, Spike (20 September 2016). "Editor's Choice — Tjawangwa Dema". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  11. ↑ "The Notable African Books of 2019". Brittle Paper. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  12. ↑ Anderson, Sarski (29 March 2022). "Tjawangwa Dema launches ecopoetry collection on Earth Day". Bristol24/7. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  13. ↑ Edoro-Glines, Ainehi (18 December 2022). "Brittle Paper's Notable African Books of 2022". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  14. ↑ Tlale, Mpho (2 April 2014). "TJ to embark on Danish residence". Mmegi. Retrieved 11 February 2026.